Death Valley: WTF, BI

[cozza 24]

Can anybody give me any directions, I'm seriously about to stop playing the campaign this is so frustrating.

Check the ridge to the north or north east of the town. By some rocks. There will be two people. Though if it like the showcase mission they might be in the trys to the north.

[2nd ranger 282]

My problem is the AI not doing that. I can just hang back and then lone wolf the mission if necessary, but I expected the mission to be set up better for the AI to do their job.

Yeah I don't know why the AI leader insists on ignoring orders and going through the valley anyway. It's one more example of the AI being given waypoints that are tactically unsound or downright suicidal. This is my main gripe with the campaign as a whole. The AI leader frequently has terrible waypoints, and you can either be part of the team, and follow him and probably die along with most of the AI, or you can let them march into certain death and then do your own thing, which negates the point of being in a squad in the first place.

I didn't have any problems with this mission on Regular, but I recently started playing on veteran and it's pretty difficult. If the AI followed the original plan and Miller's orders, it would be a little easier and make the AI team leader look less of a lunatic.

[ProfTournesol 956]

Yeah I don't know why the AI leader insists on ignoring orders and going through the valley anyway. It's one more example of the AI being given waypoints that are tactically unsound or downright suicidal. This is my main gripe with the campaign as a whole. The AI leader frequently has terrible waypoints, and you can either be part of the team, and follow him and probably die along with most of the AI, or you can let them march into certain death and then do your own thing, which negates the point of being in a squad in the first place.

I didn't have any problems with this mission on Regular, but I recently started playing on veteran and it's pretty difficult. If the AI followed the original plan and Miller's orders, it would be a little easier and make the AI team leader look less of a lunatic.

I don't have major problems with those WP, as they are quite a standard way of handling AI leaded groups, and from what i have understood, this first episode is aimed at people discovering those games. We'll gain more freedom and leadership in the next episodes.

[2nd ranger 282]

I didn't say I object to the use of waypoints, or being a subordinate, I mean the waypoints given to the AI in this episode often lead them down paths that will get them killed.

[crazytank10 10]

Can anybody give me any directions, I'm seriously about to stop playing the campaign this is so frustrating.

BI already gave you directions. If you look at your tasks (on the map screen), the task about finding spotters has a clickable link that takes you to the right location.This is how I won after I couldn't figure out how to activate thermal :)

---------- Post added at 19:55 ---------- Previous post was at 19:45 ----------

How do you actually paint/designate the spotters once you've found them? I've tried clicking on them from both the driver and turret positions of the drone, but nothing happens (except the cursor changes to/from a plus), even when I keep looking at them for 20 seconds.

In then end, I won this mission in the dumbest way possible. The spotters noticed my drone and started moving around, but couldn't bring themselves to shoot it for some reason. (The enemies to the north were happy to shoot it down, but these guys must be scared of technology or something.) Eventually, they moved all the way into Girna, where they were shot by NATO troops, completing the objective. This isn't how the mission was supposed to work, right?

[HKFlash 9]

I don't have major problems with those WP, as they are quite a standard way of handling AI leaded groups, and from what i have understood, this first episode is aimed at people discovering those games. We'll gain more freedom and leadership in the next episodes.

You completely missed 2ndRanger's point.

[ProfTournesol 956]

You completely missed 2ndRanger's point.

He already explained it very clearly, no need to repeat.

Edited November 2, 2013 by ProfTournesol

[maffa 29]

Can anybody give me any directions, I'm seriously about to stop playing the campaign this is so frustrating.

look at my spoiler at my previous message, it's all there.

[paecmaker 23]

That mission is funny.

First they say like that the valley is basically a kill zone with enemies everywhere but in the end they still say"lets go through the canyon getting ourself killed"

My problems with that mission.

1 You cant do what the squad tells you to do, they tell you to go left but that only makes you die.

2 Your mates die almost instantly when they make contact.

3 The mission is almost identical to the infantry showcase, only a bit more worked on.

This was probably the least likeable mission in the game IMO. Other problems I had with the campaign was that several of the missions were so short.

Butt all in all I did like the campaign and I do look forward to Adapt.

[nicolasroger 11]

I like this mission. On regular difficulty I only lost one man before taking the village. I had to revert twice because I was following my squad leader in the town when the mortal shell hits them.

I also got unlucky with the drone, because it got hit my a mortar shell when I was drving it towards the hills! But whaever, I just went on foot in teh hills and killed the spotters by myself.

[Johnman 10]

I didn't have much trouble with this one on regular difficulty. Just did the same thing I use to in the showcase mission: stick to the rocks and try to kill the enemy quickly before they wipe out my squad. Flaking to the right while the rest of the squad approach the town along the opposite side of the canyon helped catch a couple of enemy soldiers off-guard, but it makes you vulnerable to fire from the buildings.

I used 3 reverts, and two of them were because I messed up with the UAV. The other because I ran out of time with the last task. I didn't die at all.

[bonchie 39]

It seems all the people having issues are on veteran difficulty.

Just play it on regular. No one is going to take your man card.

I got through this mission the first time and most of my team survived just fine (and they did a fine job killing the enemy). The only reverts were because of learning to fly the drone. Regular difficulty is the sweet spot for this campaign. You don't feel like you are compromising anything and your team stays alive for the most part.

[St. Jimmy 272]

I played on Veteran and only reverts that I needed to do were the dam random mortal shells that got me or the UAV.

[maffa 29]

well i played all missions and showcases @veteran and i didnt know the problem was the difficulty setting.

I dont know what should change between normal and veteran, but i think all AI skill set should improve, not only enemy AI.

[bonchie 39]

Sure, but when most scripting of the missions includes you attacking entrenched enemy positions, the enemy AI will probably win that battle on veteran.

[Tyl3r99 41]

i agree.... same mission as the infantry showcase!

my whole team died in that valley and i ran off and completed it on my own... (very hard!)

when i first went into the woods i said to myself.... "wait a second... this seems familiar"

[maffa 29]

Well, if the laid out plans for friendly AIs are always suicidal frontal assaults against entrenched superior enemy forces, it comes with a surprise they can work on regular... i mean, i understand the desperation of the situation at hand, but there is no plan -given the strategic objective- that makes any sense. Please explain to me how this is no CoD.

[froggyluv 2136]

Yep, 1st time trying this mission and I thought it was just tough due to the AI mod Im trying out -this is a lone gun Rambo all the way! Worse still, theres a dead body cleanup happening and I keep running out of ammo. Rather than a nice corpse to go loot, I get a gun with 1 clip....wtf? Please BI, don't impose these kinds of scripts on us -not only are they not practical from a rearming point of view, but utterly immersion breaking. Sure I can understand the dead guy some 1000m back, but the guy I just killed 10m behind me has just disappeared??? Put an option in the Configuration for X amount of corpses much like Mount and Blade has. This series has always been the one that left dead bodies around and we like it that way!! :p

[Zipper5 74]

We are not using dead body cleanup scripts, especially not in this one. I made it.

[froggyluv 2136]

Hmmm, well that is odd then -must be something Im running on my end :confused:

Apologies.

Edit: Yep my bad -4th Wall mod causes this.

Edited January 23, 2014 by froggyluv

[wickerman 10]

In Arma AI is set unrealistic!

[lugiahua 26]

I don't think this one is difficult, didn't lose single man.

I used a F2000 with grenade launcher, ran to left hill as SL ordered, ran down grenades on AAF in the village.

Here is the point

1. pick up UAV pack and terminal

2. set UAV outdoor in the open, go indoor (to avoid mortars) and use the terminal

3. right click the UAV on the map to connect it, give it a way point near spotter area.

4. click "direct control" on the right side of the UAV map, then "turret control".

5. turn on thermal by pressing N, look for spotter near the tree line.

6. Once you found him, either shoot him yourself, or lase him with UAV to let Charlie to take over.

7. Run back to hill before the jet bombs the village.

[best2nd 10]

I don't think this one is difficult, didn't lose single man.

I used a F2000 with grenade launcher, ran to left hill as SL ordered, ran down grenades on AAF in the village.

Here is the point

1. pick up UAV pack and terminal

2. set UAV outdoor in the open, go indoor (to avoid mortars) and use the terminal

3. right click the UAV on the map to connect it, give it a way point near spotter area.

4. click "direct control" on the right side of the UAV map, then "turret control".

5. turn on thermal by pressing N, look for spotter near the tree line.

6. Once you found him, either shoot him yourself, or lase him with UAV to let Charlie to take over.

7. Run back to hill before the jet bombs the village.

Same here, although I lost 1 guy because it did not bring more 40mm grenades :(

[trooper117 10]

Lost one guy on the way to Girna, wasn't to difficult :) but even when I get the drone airborne I keep getting a message that Bravo have been killed and the mission ends... has anything changed since the last update?

Edit... Sorted it. Used the laser on the drone, then the other fire team engaged the spotters... as they ran for cover, kept using the laser to show where they had gone to until they were engaged and killed. :)

Edited January 28, 2014 by Trooper117

[wombat50 3]

Played this multiple times and always got stuck trying to connect the UAV.

I did 1. and 2. in post #47 but never could got past 3.

3. right click the UAV on the map to connect it, give it a way point near spotter area.

No luck doing 3.

The only option in the scroll menu was to disassemble UAV.

I did get to the controls once but I don't know how.

Finally just hunted down the spotters to complete the mission.

Just recounting my experience and nothing more.