A few no-respawn COOP missions

[igor drukov 0]

New mission out, 'Data Raze', 11/07/2014

Hey there -

Here are 8 H.A.R.D.C.O.R.E. cooperative missions:

• ==> Missions pack (v5.0, 5678Ko zipped) <==
  
• Armaholic mirror.
  

H.A.R.D.C.O.R.E. stands for 'Harmonized Anti-Respawn Designing. Cooperative, Ordered and Randomized Engagements.'

HARD means 'feasibility'.

Missions are designed not to feature AI or player respawn from the bottom-up.

CORE means 'plot with replayability'.

AI units are strategically placed, yet never at the same location from one attempt to another.

Players are meant to play collaboratively, and they fight for a reason.

These missions are for players like me who love: 1) working in a team; 2) feeling scared of dying; 3) knowing why they're fighting.

They should offer feasible, replayable challenges, and hopefully meet the highest standards of mission designing.

1. High Noon (5 players): destroy a petrol station and leave. Good ol' infantry combat with plain weapons.
   
2. Fire Cutters (5 players): run away from the enemy and retaliate if you can. The hunting season's open, and you're game.
   
3. Flare Wolves (5 players): prevent a chopper from refuelling by disabling the refuel truck, and insert at night in the base to place an explosive charge on the chopper. No NVGs, illumination only.
   
4. Hack n' Blast (5 players): countdown to destroy the enemy's comms and blast a convoy. Intense, time-critical combat.
   
5. In Cold Moon (5 players): a war criminal is quartering in a nearby town. Take him out. Gear superiority (NVGs and silencers), but you're outnumbered.
   
6. One Hell Swoop (5 players): friendly guerrillas are taking a drubbing in a small town. You've volunteered to HALO there to support them. Intense urban combat to seek and destroy armored vehicles.
   
7. LRRP OPs (10 players): Long-Range Penetration Patrol. HALO deep into enemy territory, locate, paint and destroy targets.
   
8. Data Raze (5 players): (NEW) Grab three laptops and run.
   

• Description:
  
  • Game mode: Coop 1-5
    
  • All missions were tested thoroughly on dedicated servers with vanilla DEV builds.
    
  • Addons required: None
    
  • All missions contain their own scripts to enhance AI-behaviour.
    
  • All missions are compatible with ASR AI, TPWCAS, and Task Force Radio.
    
  • Core game style: infantry vs. infantry + armour
    
  • About Join In Progress (JIP): It should work, but it is recommended players start together.
    
  • Respawn: Psycho's revive system
    

  [*]Features:

  • Clear, specific objectives;
    
  • Random yet strategic AI or player placement;
    
  • Simple AI behaviour enhancements;
    
  • Full briefings, including OFP-like notes;
    
  • Little flexibility.
    
  • Easter egg;
    
  • Secondary objectives;
    
  • Visual tweaks.
    

CHANGE LOG

----------

Version 5.0

ADDED: new mission, 'Data Raze'

CHANGED: streamlined and fixed, 'LRRP OPs'

Version 4.0

ADDED: New Mission, 'LRRP OPs'

Version 3.0

ADDED: New Mission, 'One Hell Swoop'

REPLACED: -=BTC=- Revive script with Psycho's revive system

IMPROVED: task system

REVAMPED: Flare Wolves - it's a completely different mission now - ambush with a twist.

ADDED: character customization using Dsylexci's dialog

TWEAKED: AI forces and communication system across all missions

Version 2.0

ADDED: JIP

ADDED: possibility of revive in the MP lobby (-=BTC=- Revive script)

TWEAKED: simplified objectives in Fire-Cutters and In Cold Moon

ADDED: player in team so the missions can be played in SP.

Version 1.0

INSTALLATION:

-------------

Standard:

Copy the pbo file(s) to .\ArmA3\MPMissions (installation) folder or to .\ArmA3\Missions.

ISSUES:

-------

- NONE known yet.

CREDITS & THANKS:

-----------------

• BIS;
  
• Rickydrier for extensive beta-testing and suggestions.
  
• Smiley Nick for hispatience and suggestions
  
• Prophet/Sentinel, idem.
  
• Deep Blue (not a real H.A.R.D.C.O.R.E. fan - thanks for your patience, mate)
  
• [FRL]Myke for the Timer script on Hack n' Blast.
  
• -=BTC=- for their Revive script
  
• Dsylexci for his character customization dialog
  
• Psycho for his revive system
  
• kylania for the missile script in LRPP OPs
  
• cobra4v320 for the HALO script
  
• Variable for testing and accurate, professional suggestions
  
• aliascartoons for thorough reviews that keep me on my toes
  

These missions will not be released on Steam.

Hopefully a few of you will enjoy playing them as much as I enjoyed creating and testing them with my friends.

Please read the ReadMe, especially if you would like to share a game on our server some time.

Finally, feedback is always welcome!

Play hard and die hard,

Igor

Edited July 12, 2014 by Igor Drukov
Release of v5.0

[Phantom Six 25]

Awesome, more no respawn/revive missions. I like the concept. I'll inform Variable to add it on the server for testing and playing :)

It's nice to see more no respawn/revive coop mission makers. Keep up the good work.

[Variable 322]

Igor I remember your Arma 1 mission, Black Dagger was it? Glad to see you are keeping the spirit of the hardcore style! Looking forward to play these missions. Any chance you will make more missions for a larger player count?

[papanowel 120]

Igor I remember your Arma 1 mission, Black Dagger was it?

It was Black Sword if I'm not mistaken, awesome mission!

We appriciate that you made a mission pack without any respawn/revive. Thanks Igor!

[thenach 10]

I love this style of mission!!! I want more!!!!!

Thanks!

[igor drukov 0]

Gentlemen,

Thanks a lot for your interest, it's much, much, much appreciated!

Black Sword it was indeed - my 15 minutes of fame, I guess: these missions are nothing like it, and unlikely to be as popular.

They're just missions corresponding to how I like playing (with team spirit and fear of death), and to how ArmA3 is meant to be played (imho): with NO RESPAWN!

Finally: how many playable slots would you CiA guys like to have?

Play hard and die hard,

Igor

[Variable 322]

They're just missions corresponding to how I like playing (with team spirit and fear of death), and to how ArmA3 is meant to be played (imho): with NO RESPAWN!

That's music to my ears. All this emphasis on realism and authenticity and a man has trouble finding a mission where he can actually DIE in these days...

Finally: how many playable slots would you CiA guys like to have?r

Our Arma 3 sessions are topping 16 players these days, so ~18 will be great! Thanks a lot...

Play hard and die hard,

You are welcome to join and die with us Igor!

[igor drukov 0]

These missions being quite challenging (especially for players not used to playing together), I've added a few tips/spoilers below each mission in the first post.

That's music to my ears. All this emphasis on realism and authenticity and a man has trouble finding a mission where he can actually DIE in these days...

How funny! Precisely the point I was making in another thread...

Our Arma 3 sessions are topping 16 players these days, so ~18 will be great! Thanks a lot...

Don't expect anything tomorrow, but you've got it!

You are welcome to join and die with us Igor!

Believe it or not, I have been considering joining since maybe day 1 - but RL was always in the way...

Thanks a lot for the invitation, I'm hoping this will soon possible!

[ck-claw 1]

Believe it or not, I have been considering joining since maybe day 1 - but RL was always in the way...

Thanks a lot for the invitation, I'm hoping this will soon possible!

Will be good to see you :cool:

[sergeant rock 3]

My squad has enjoyed playing these quite a bit. You have created some great missions with a nice sense of balance, mood, and context. Thank you very much.

[igor drukov 0]

Will be good to see you :cool:

Hey ck-claw

Thanks a lot for the invitation!

If all goes well, I should be able to join a game before Xmas - can't wait!

My squad has enjoyed playing these quite a bit. You have created some great missions with a nice sense of balance, mood, and context. Thank you very much.

Your compliments mean a lot to me.

Thank you, Sergeant Rock.

[rickydrier 0]

Hey everybody,

I've been playing Arma with Igor for the better of the last 10 years, maybe more.

Over the years, he has scripted countless numbers of missions for us to play, as we progressively refined the type of experience we were looking for and found only too rarely in third party missions.

The missions he created for us would range from the quickly thrown together skirmishes to carefully crafted, skillfully scripted, deeply thought over missions (some of you might actually remember Black Sword, Metal Claws or Bleeding Skies).

The one you're looking at is of the latter sort. Except it comes in a pack.

As Igor stated in is foreword, it might not appeal to all types of players. It is designed for serious COOP players, looking for a intense and immersive experience, where the fear of dying and a cohesive group spirit pushes you somewhat beyond a casual gaming session. It is also very much focusing on infantry.

I'll put it in a nuttshell :

- It is stripped down to the essential: no cutscene, no music, no addon.

- It's not a fragfest either: insertion is a key element, exfiltration as well, and there's a lot of thought that went into making missions that offer more than just one way to completing them.

- It has a HUGE replay value: units are never at the same place twice, there's always a surprise lurking somewhere, and more often than not, if you approach one of Igor's missions with too much confidence or haste, you'll watch your buddies from the skies finishing the missions without you.

- A lot of attention to details: the mission briefings are throughly written and complete, and the missions all come with either an easter eggs or a twist in the plot.

----- SO... -----

If you're part of a smallish squad (4∼10) focusing on infantry and like getting a kick out of working as a team facing challenging odds, then Igor's H.A.R.D.C.O.R.E. pack vol. 1 is definitely something worth trying.

I consider myself very lucky for having been able to test play these missions over the course of the last months, and imho, it's one of the best mission packs available.

Enjoy !

Edited December 2, 2013 by rickydrier

[major_shepard 82]

Good mission. Could you however let the playable AI enabled by default at the mission slot page. Indeed if you loose the connection with the server during the game you won't be able to come back. Second reaon is that you won't have to wait for player to connect to the server before launching the game.

[Variable 322]

Good mission. Could you however let the playable AI enabled by default at the mission slot page. Indeed if you loose the connection with the server during the game you won't be able to come back. Second reaon is that you won't have to wait for player to connect to the server before launching the game.

I second that.

Also, Igor, have you seen my PM? Let me know if you would like to proceed with your idea :)

[tom3kb 15]

@ Igor Drukov

Can you check if you set teamleader as "player" not playable. Without that we can't play your missions in SP. I checked 1st mission and i have message "no players are selected", so can't play them in SP.

Edited December 17, 2013 by tom3kb

[Variable 322]

We have finally tried this! Cold Moon is one of the most immersive missions I ever played in Arma 3, right from the briefing through the mission itself it feels so... real!

We got to the power station and blew up the generators but the objective didn't tick.

[igor drukov 0]

Gentlemen

Thanks a lot for your comments and feedback - they are hugely appreciated.

Hopefully the new changes below will have taken your remarks into account.

Version 2.0 is now out.

The biggest changes are that JIP has been implemented, and the option to have one revive is available in the MP lobby (some compromise can't hurt, can it?).

Credits for that go to =BTC=- revive script.

The player slot has also been reimplemented.

See the first post for a more detailed change log and the link to the missions.

@Variable: the briefing should be slightly clearer in v2.0 - you need to destroy all three generators to complete the objectives.

Was that the case?

Hoping a few of you will have as good a time as my friends and I (especially rickydrier) had testing, retesting and reretesting the pack,

Igor

[rickydrier 0]

Just a quick note to those of you who might be interested: we will be playing some of those missions tonight on our server (starting at 2300 CET - filter for H.A.R.D.C.O.R.E. to find our server) and will be glad to have some support outside of the official crew of Drukov's guinea pigs, hehe. :cool:

We also have a TS server going, so please communicate and ask for the TS address upon your connection to our server.

See you tonite !

[Variable 322]

Just a quick note to those of you who might be interested: we will be playing some of those missions tonight on our server (starting at 2300 CET - filter for H.A.R.D.C.O.R.E. to find our server) and will be glad to have some support outside of the official crew of Drukov's guinea pigs, hehe. :cool:

We also have a TS server going, so please communicate and ask for the TS address upon your connection to our server.

See you tonite !

I'll try to be there! :)

[Variable 322]

Here's our failed attempt at Hack'n Blast!

[giorgygr 61]

I know OP has suggested these missions are not designed/tested to be played with external AI mods but..

in case we have already some feedback from someone who tested those with the use of AI mods..i m

interested to hear the story.

We 'll definitely try the pack ASAP tho..

[Variable 322]

I know OP has suggested these missions are not designed/tested to be played with external AI mods but..

in case we have already some feedback from someone who tested those with the use of AI mods..i m

interested to hear the story.

We 'll definitely try the pack ASAP tho..

The above video was played on the CiA server that runs ASR AI and TPWCAS suppression.

[Variable 322]

We tried Hack'n Blast again and it was great!

We managed to hack the laptop on time and moved on to the factory optional objective. During the battle that ensued there, Our sniper that was left on top of the tower of the first objective reported the convoy is approaching and visible. We pushed forward and managed to take out all the trucks except for one that managed to slip by and reached its destination. Having failed this objective, we returned to the factory. It was already dark and we could not find anything other than infantry there, which we took out, but the objective didn't tick. We disengaged and proceeded to the bridge, destroyed it, and evacuated safely, fighting all the way to the cemetery safe house, in pitch dark. It was quite an experience! This question remains - What are we looking for at the optional objective?

Thanks for a great mission, we are definitely going to have another go at it, and all the others as well!

[Gunter Severloh 4052]

Question for you guys, or the OP, how do you play one life (no respawn) missions when the AI are like aimbots, in the vanilla game their to accurate, i read that the

Ai have a change in their behavior, is this something in the missions that make them less accurate like a parameter, this reason alone is what prevents me from playing

one life missions, although from variable's vid in the previous post, looks like revive is used.

Do you think revive is a decent alternative to no respawn 1 life?

I used to lead a WW2 realism unit in Red Orchestra, and the realism community was all about 1 life, we practiced ALOT! and the realism matches we went to, and or hosted,

as well as the campaigns could take hours to finish they were exciting, I'm fond of 1 life, but as mentioned with the AI being accurate as they are it defeats the idea, or concept.

In RO it was pvp so thats an entirely different setup, your putting skill vs skill.

I do miss it...so scary:lookaround:

[Variable 322]

Good Question Gunter, I'll try to present my view and hopefully provide information how to provide a great 1 life coop experience.

First, tweak the AI. As for Arma 3, we have found that using ASR AI dramatically decrease the aimbotting problem. In Arma 2 we have also reduced the server's skillEnemy setting to 0.625. We feel that's the sweet spot for human-like AI in terms of precision, but in Arma 3 we just use ASR AI with the default settings. Also, we use TPWCAS AI suppression addon. With it, as in real life, firing rapidly over and around the AI will suppress them, and lower their accuracy.

Secondly, in Arma 2 we had BIS First Aid module which was great because it allowed you to have a second chance when hit, but still allowed you to instantly die for good if the damage was severe enough, like a head shot or a close by explosion. Unfortunately, we don't have that in Arma 3 so we do play also missions with revive. The best revive system is Psycho's, because it's almost like Arma 2's First Aid module. With it, you WILL get killed from a fatal shot, but for lesser wounds you will have to be treated before getting back to the action. We do play with other revive systems, but we never play with respawn. If a mission has respawn we will remove it and test to see if it has become impossibly hard. I was surprised to find out that most missions with respawn are quite possible without it.

You are most welcome to come play with us and see for yourself, or check out our latest Arma 3 videos.

I Hope that helps getting you back to play hardcore-1-life-no-respawn, we do believe that's where Arma really shines :cool: