Campaign Episode 1: SURVIVE - Feedback thread ** SPOILER WARNING! **

[rehtus777 10]

SPOILERS......so ignore this post if you haven't played the campaign yet:

I started the campaign over and now I'm nit-picking the little stuff so the Dev's can maybe fix it by Oct., 31.

1) Take Staff Sgt. Adam's voice out of the beginning news broadcasts as a TV announcer....his voice is over used (he was one of my favorite characters....hated to see him go so early....it would have been fun to go all the way through the story with his leadership and humor.).

2) Give Cpl. Kerry a headset with a Microphone and earpiece (like what S. Sgt. Adam's has on his head). We are suppose to be playing Cpl. Kerry, but while in the Helo we can hear Adam's and Lacey talking on the other side of the chopper while in flight and Kerry doesn't have Com's on ... or.... when we are in the truck leaving Rogain and when we are running for the forest, we can hear the Com's....but Kerry doesn't have a headset.

3) One enlisted man calling another enlisted man "SIR" is a "no-no". You only call Officer's "Sir."

4) Enlisted men don't salute other enlisted men. Also, when you first get to Rogain, the Lieutenant salutes you (Kerry). In a Combat Zone, you don't salute each other because of snipers and such....it gives away the leaders of the outfit.

I'll keep playing the campaign again and when I see something that is out-of-sorts, I will report back in. Sure, I realize that the voice acting probably won't be changed because that part is done and the actors are gone, but the saluting and putting a voice com / headset on Kerry shouldn't be too tough to fix. The Campaign is SOLID, but being ex-military, I'm trying to make things perfect before release. :p

Carry on.

---------- Post added at 01:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:43 AM ----------

Sound is fine, but I get performance problems when ever you go through the woods/forests. Disabling shadows helped improve FPS.

---------- Post added at 18:54 ---------- Previous post was at 18:49 ----------

Honestly, and I know some will hate me for saying this, but if we had to choose between a LOT of freedom or a fully scripted campaign, I'd go for the fully scripted campaign that's trying to tell a very specific story. Why? The AI don't act human, and therefore don't react the way real people would react. You need actors for that. Sure, the enemy AI can be just that, AI, but the NPCs especially need to be motion-captured and acted. That's one of the downsides of being a small studio though.

I agree with you. It's not like BIS has a 5 story building in downtown Stockholm with 500 Dev's and a 1/2 Billion surplus of money. :cool: Considering the shoe-string budget they have with only 70 Dev's, they have done an amazing job.

Edited October 28, 2013 by rehtus777

[Guest Ti0n3r]

Splendid campaign. I really like the Flashpoint vibe.

[HKFlash 9]

4) Enlisted men don't salute other enlisted men. Also, when you first get to Rogain, the Lieutenant salutes you (Kerry). In a Combat Zone, you don't salute each other because of snipers and such....it gives away the leaders of the outfit.

This point is invalid. When you first get to Rogain, Stratis is not a Combat Zone (the green on blue came later).

[suprememodder 11]

SPOILERS......so ignore this post if you haven't played the campaign yet:

I started the campaign over and now I'm nit-picking the little stuff so the Dev's can maybe fix it by Oct., 31.

1) Take Staff Sgt. Adam's voice out of the beginning news broadcasts as a TV announcer....his voice is over used (he was one of my favorite characters....hated to see him go so early....it would have been fun to go all the way through the story with his leadership and humor.).

2) Give Cpl. Kerry a headset with a Microphone and earpiece (like what S. Sgt. Adam's has on his head). We are suppose to be playing Cpl. Kerry, but while in the Helo we can hear Adam's and Lacey talking on the other side of the chopper while in flight and Kerry doesn't have Com's on ... or.... when we are in the truck leaving Rogain and when we are running for the forest, we can hear the Com's....but Kerry doesn't have a headset.

3) One enlisted man calling another enlisted man "SIR" is a "no-no". You only call Officer's "Sir."

4) Enlisted men don't salute other enlisted men. Also, when you first get to Rogain, the Lieutenant salutes you (Kerry). In a Combat Zone, you don't salute each other because of snipers and such....it gives away the leaders of the outfit.

I'll keep playing the campaign again and when I see something that is out-of-sorts, I will report back in. Sure, I realize that the voice acting probably won't be changed because that part is done and the actors are gone, but the saluting and putting a voice com / headset on Kerry shouldn't be too tough to fix. The Campaign is SOLID, but being ex-military, I'm trying to make things perfect before release. :p

Carry on.

---------- Post added at 01:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:43 AM ----------

I agree with you. It's not like BIS has a 5 story building in downtown Stockholm with 500 Dev's and a 1/2 Billion surplus of money. :cool: Considering the shoe-string budget they have with only 70 Dev's, they have done an amazing job.

to be fair, 70 devs is A LOT. there exists single digit manned studios that have done amazing things, so the expectations should really be higher when the devs teams are large.

my impression of the episode. fairly decent, has coherent narrative structure and a decent storyline so far, why the "greenbacks" have betrayed their nato allies is a gripping sub plot i would like to unravel, though gameplay is a little less impressive. basically, go here, shoot these guys, go back here. some missions have more interesting objectives like calling artillery or setting up a bounding mine field.

also, what's with the constant cussing and the americans always displaying a haughty attitude? and the americans dialog seem way too relaxed and jokey considering they're essentially trapped in a seemingly unwinnable situation. the brit characters delivery a much more sane and sensible attitude without the constant sarcasm and interjections. we are adults, we can handle grim and realistic dialog.

[chortles 263]

Pretty much "stereotypes of Americans at war" and "stereotypes of British at war".

[2nd ranger 282]

I realize that the voice acting probably won't be changed because that part is done and the actors are gone

I may be wrong, but I get the impression the actors are part of some sort of studio to whom BIS emails the dialogue, rather than actually coming to BIS. That would explain why there are mistakes in the way some lines are read, because a BIS guy isn't standing there directing them. So if BIS wanted something added or changed, I don't think it would be too difficult. Except that it would cost more money, which is probably why some of the mistakes are allowed to stand.

[KingoftheSandbox 10]

Thanks for this script! Now i googled and took a look at the BIKI, didnt find how to define a function. Scripting noob would appreciate help=)^

EDIT: Um, this got merged and the post I was replying to apparently didn't make it.

It's a custom function for the campaign.

Here's the function:

//Parameters
private ["_position", "_direction", "_distance"];
_position 	= [_this, 0, position player, [[]]] call BIS_fnc_param;
_distance	= [_this, 1, 500, [0]] call BIS_fnc_param;
_direction 	= [_this, 2, random 360, [0]] call BIS_fnc_param;

//Relative positionn
private "_relativePosition";
_relativePosition = [_position, _distance, _direction] call bis_fnc_relPos;

//The bold
private "_bolt";
_bolt = createvehicle ["LightningBolt", _relativePosition, [], 0, "can_collide"];
_bolt setVelocity [0, 0, -10];

//The lighting
_lighting = "lightning_F" createvehiclelocal _relativePosition;
_lighting setdir random 360;
_lighting setpos _relativePosition;

//The light source
_light = "#lightpoint" createvehiclelocal _relativePosition;
_light setpos _relativePosition;
_light setLightBrightness 30;
_light setLightAmbient [0.5, 0.5, 1];
_light setlightcolor [1, 1, 2];

//Some delay
sleep (0.2 + random 0.1);

//Clean up
deletevehicle _bolt;
deletevehicle _light;
deletevehicle _lighting;

//Some delay
sleep (1 + random 1);

//Random thunder sample
private "_thunder";
_thunder = ["thunder_1", "thunder_2"] call BIS_fnc_selectRandom;

//Play thunder sound
playSound _thunder;

And here's how it's used in the mission:

[] spawn {
while { true } do {
	private ["_position", "_height", "_distance", "_direction"];
	_position 	= position player;
	_height	= 50;
	_distance	= 350;
	_direction	= random 360;

	//Set thunder height
	_position set [2, _height];

	//Create thunder
	[_position, _distance, _direction] spawn BIS_fnc_camp_thunder;

	//Delay
	sleep (45 + random 30);
};
};

You'd need to define it as a function though, because it's not part of the functions library.

[frag 0]

Guys,

in the mission that you have to destroy the chopper wreck ... your chief tells you to search the ennemy corpse for a demo charge. i am following the "SEARCH" waypoint, but I find nothing on those dead guys. Am I missing something?

[mr_centipede 31]

Guys,

in the mission that you have to destroy the chopper wreck ... your chief tells you to search the ennemy corpse for a demo charge. i am following the "SEARCH" waypoint, but I find nothing on those dead guys. Am I missing something?

In that mission, I remembered that I already have a demo charge in my backpack, along with 3 mines. Cant remember having to search for demo charge

[antoineflemming 14]

Guys,

in the mission that you have to destroy the chopper wreck ... your chief tells you to search the ennemy corpse for a demo charge. i am following the "SEARCH" waypoint, but I find nothing on those dead guys. Am I missing something?

Yes, you are. Keep looking. Could be that the waypoint is messed up, but keep looking around. One of them should have only one demo charge.

[Smurf 12]

Wonder what is a placeholder, if any...

[rehtus777 10]

This point is invalid. When you first get to Rogain, Stratis is not a Combat Zone (the green on blue came later).

Okay, let me rephrase this: When out in the field in a "possible" combat zone, you don't salute higher ranking officers. It all depends on the situation and what the Commander in the Area orders.....I guess we don't have enough information to know whether NATO is "on edge" or "suspicious" about the AAF (Green Army) that the Commander would order a "no salute zone" during the pull-out..... your point is valid. Also, at Rogain, the Leuitenant salutes Kerry first....it should be the other way around. Now at Maxwell they are saluting each other during WAR and it's enlisted saluting enlisted. tisk...tisk.

People are thinking: "Why are you nit-picking?" Simple...... BIS should know this already, but they let it slip. It looks like they don't understand US Military / NATO protocol..... it comes off looking amateurish. I thought that BIS hired some US Military advisers to assist them with US Military Protocol? Maybe they need to consult Dslyecxi on Protocol.

---------- Post added at 02:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:58 PM ----------

I may be wrong, but I get the impression the actors are part of some sort of studio to whom BIS emails the dialogue, rather than actually coming to BIS. That would explain why there are mistakes in the way some lines are read, because a BIS guy isn't standing there directing them. So if BIS wanted something added or changed, I don't think it would be too difficult. Except that it would cost more money, which is probably why some of the mistakes are allowed to stand.

Well, if what you say is true about the "emails", then it shouldn't be too hard to fix stuff. How much can it cost? These are just voice actors....give them a couple hundred to come back to their local studio and fix the problem ;) At the beginning of the game when the AAN broadcast is going on, you hear the voice actor of S. Sgt Adams..... all you would have to do to change that voice is run it through a synthesizer....use a different pitch. Anyway...... I nit-pick, but it's still a pretty good campaign. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

[Victim9l3 11]

Speaking of the script, I noticed that there are no more "logs" or "diary" or whatever. I can't remember what my team leader said to me and I need to be able to go to the map and Look at what everyone said.

I also noticed talk about the voice actors. One thing that needs to get fixed, that happens every version of the game back to OFP. If you are going to need someone yelling or arguing and loud or mad, you need to record it that way. You guys always record those things with the guy pretending to be mad with no volume. Think back to when you played with G.I. Joes' or whatever you played with. Where you pretend to have them yell or whatever where your voice can't be heard from 20 feet away, but you have that "quiet yell voice" so no one tells you to shut up. When you record that, don't get your mad voice. Get mad! Yell it or say it just as loud as you would for real. Leave it up to the mixers to turn it down rather than you try to say it at a quiet level.

Thank you for your cooperation :)

[antoineflemming 14]

Okay, let me rephrase this: When out in the field in a "possible" combat zone, you don't salute higher ranking officers. It all depends on the situation and what the Commander in the Area orders.....I guess we don't have enough information to know whether NATO is "on edge" or "suspicious" about the AAF (Green Army) that the Commander would order a "no salute zone" during the pull-out..... your point is valid. Also, at Rogain, the Leuitenant salutes Kerry first....it should be the other way around. Now at Maxwell they are saluting each other during WAR and it's enlisted saluting enlisted. tisk...tisk.

People are thinking: "Why are you nit-picking?" Simple...... BIS should know this already, but they let it slip. It looks like they don't understand US Military / NATO protocol..... it comes off looking amateurish. I thought that BIS hired some US Military advisers to assist them with US Military Protocol? Maybe they need to consult Dslyecxi on Protocol.

---------- Post added at 02:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:58 PM ----------

Well, if what you say is true about the "emails", then it shouldn't be too hard to fix stuff. How much can it cost? These are just voice actors....give them a couple hundred to come back to their local studio and fix the problem ;) At the beginning of the game when the AAN broadcast is going on, you hear the voice actor of S. Sgt Adams..... all you would have to do to change that voice is run it through a synthesizer....use a different pitch. Anyway...... I nit-pick, but it's still a pretty good campaign. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

HKFlash needs to listen. You, sir, are right. There is no saluting in the field, whether during combat or not, as it's still treated like a combat environment when deployed or simply training. It's stuff like this that separates realism from simulation. Being militarily authentic and using US and UK military advisors (since the two BLUFOR factions are such) would help make the game more realistic/authentic/whatever word you want to use. That's also why I've got no problem with NPCs being scripted and the campaign being a bit more scripted. Because I want a campaign that seems real, and real isn't a bunch of AIs running back and forth because they are trying to calculate every known object and condition in the game. Sure, it's complex, sure it's simulation, sure it's taking everything into account, but it's a far cry from human. And, again, criticize arcade FPS games for their lack of simulation and their lack of realism, but at least during their SP campaigns, their NPCs and AIs act real (because they are acted out by motion capture actors). In single player, I'd take COD's AI that only takes cover and shoots from behind predefined cars, walls, and buildings (as yes, that's the "scripted" nature of their AI. Depends on certain objects in the world and certain movement paths that are defined and no more than that) over Arma 3's AI that runs all over the place (before going prone shooting, and repeating) and taking forever to turn and engage you yet having eyes in the back of their heads and having pin-point accuracy to kill you.

[Serpentras 10]

Sound is fine, but I get performance problems when ever you go through the woods/forests. Disabling shadows helped improve FPS.

The problem can't be the shadows for them because they never had any similar problems with their setup. Since alpha the game wont drop fps like that for all the time out of nowhere. They can play any other SP scenario with more action and more AI units under the calculation of their own CPU. Same for any MP scenario.

[LoneCrow66 10]

The quality of the missions were better than any player made ones so far. Very well done albeit very small in scale and not very believable at all. A little too much dialogue that sort of tried too hard. But overall I enjoyed my 3 hours or so it took to complete it. Very small bugs, nothing game stopping.

I still can't help but feel ripped off after waiting this long for some actual content only to be finished it so quickly. At this rate the entire campaign will be dragged on over the course of a year. Is that what we get when we buy a game nowdays? A work in progress?

[Gera_CCT 12]

This campaign was a light of hope! Very good! The music is fantastic and it fits very well on the missions! Solid and fun! 9/10

[chortles 263]

Is that what we get when we buy a game nowdays? A work in progress?

Nowadays, we get consoles that are work-in-progress!

[fabio_chavez 103]

does challenge count as campaign too, because this bug is really annoying and i dont want to encounter it in the campaign anyway:

if you change stance to crouch while running you will not be able to pass but instead keep hitting an invisible wall, i dont want to feel this clunky, especially in 1st person its even more distracting because you dont even see whats going on...

16seconds...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x2ouJHDqCg

[antoineflemming 14]

does challenge count as campaign too, because this bug is really annoying and i dont want to encounter it in the campaign anyway:

if you change stance to crouch while running you will not be able to pass but instead keep hitting an invisible wall, i dont want to feel this clunky, especially in 1st person its even more distracting because you dont even see whats going on...

16seconds...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x2ouJHDqCg

No, it doesn't count as campaign. So this is the wrong thread for that. The proper place is the feedback tracker.

[laxemann 1673]

I really enjoyed the campaign. Felt cinematic and well-scripted (story- and gamewise) without losing the ArmA feeling.

A bit longer missions would've been nice, but I'm sure that this will change with the next episode(s).

Great job, BIS, and... thanks!

[MavericK96 0]

This may have been mentioned before, but when I'm trying to listen to AI speak near me, like in the beginning of a briefing in the mission, they are very quiet or silent unless I angle my character's head just slightly to the right, so they are speaking into the left ear. Some sort of sound channel issue I guess with the speech, but it's not on my end as everything else works fine.

[HKFlash 9]

This may have been mentioned before, but when I'm trying to listen to AI speak near me, like in the beginning of a briefing in the mission, they are very quiet or silent unless I angle my character's head just slightly to the right, so they are speaking into the left ear. Some sort of sound channel issue I guess with the speech, but it's not on my end as everything else works fine.

Are you using a 5.1 sound system or similar?

[DasBoot 10]

Do you have any mod's loaded up? If so, one of them might be messing with the game. I have the sthud, bloodmist, VTS wind, VTS Weapon resting, and JSRS Sound loaded up....and it works like a charm.

No, I don't have any mods loaded up. The only anything extra I have is a few Steam Workshop scenario missions. That aside, I still can't comprehend why it won't let me get past the "Maxwell" load screen. I've tried a fresh install, and still no dice. Maybe I'll just wait until it comes out on the stable build and gets off of DevBranch and try again. As for now... multiplayer will just have to hold me over.

[AveryTheKitty 2626]

Also, I bet Kerry and Miller lived. Look at the FIA story guys. Kerry, and Miller!