[SP] Pilgrimage

[Rydygier 1309]

There is at init executed one time code for set up patrol routes (looped waypoints), taking garrisoning positions (setPos/setDir/doStop). Later in game we have patrolling waypoints for Ambient Combat groups, temporary reinforcement waypoint for armored groups and CAS waypoints for the choppers. If arty option is enabled, there is also separate set of scripts for handling AI artillery. And another custom AI script controlling one special UGV unit. There are also behaviour routines for spawned on-the-fly civilian population units.

Depending on AI mod design and purpose, it may or may not influence/overwrite those behaviours, but no issues are expected because of that, just AIs possibly may do something else with the mod, than without it. Mission is meant as mod friendly, so AI mods, specifically combat behaviour enhancers, shouldn't spoil anything even if will change something in AI behaviour (what is a purpose of such mods actually). I know, some are playing Pilgrimage with bCombat without any known to me problems. Personally didn't tried anything like that, so can't recommend anything else.

[Rydygier 1309]

Mission upgraded to 1.84c. Changelog:

- added binoculars for EASY difficulty level;

- added graphical logo and improved initial GUI aesthetics;

- fixed small error in the code for obtaining direction intel (for higher reputation there was slightly higher risk of misleading direction instead of smaller);

- small code fixes.

As you can see, mostly secondary stuff. However, "minor code fixes" covers also small workaround for the problem with CAF Aggressors - loot was present, but groups wasn't spawned. Well, now you can encounter also enemy patrols from that addon, I hope. Also added some new random chat sentences for companions.

Aesthetics are of course matter of taste (and (lack of) skills, khem). I'm open for any constructive criticism. :)

As for MANW entry, so far it was markes as BETA. Decided, so it is time for GOLD.

---------- Post added at 13:12 ---------- Previous post was at 12:43 ----------

Also updated Incognito to alpha6. The only changes are delaying initialization for 20 seconds and moving notifications from on-screen plain text into silent hints to avoid ugly interferences with displaying on-screen internal mission's text and graphics (eg initial logo).

Edited June 23, 2014 by Rydygier

[tortuosit 486]

Oh, you're still making changes on Pilgrimage - thank you, started another playthrough...

[Rydygier 1309]

(One of the) last update(s) I think, judging by near nil amount of feedback pointing things to fix/change. Thus GOLD status for MANW entry. :) Sequel on the horizon, but I would like to take some break, mean to push forward another project. We'll see.

[tortuosit 486]

Rydy, if we spawn at black night with no NV etc., it's a useless case IMO.

[Rydygier 1309]

Personally I agree. But most probably, as soon I would disable night at init for all difficulty levels but EASY, where you have NVGs, someone will immediately say, so it was his favourite way of playing and I should enable it back ASAP. After "underwear only" mode request such event wouldn't be too surprising really... :) Anyway, it does no harm, you can choose both, having NVGs and initial daytime, and you can wait out the night if you wish, so let's leave such possibility for those hypotetical strange people liking to play in such circumstancies.

Well, I may consider adding flashlight attached to the initial weapon for all modes but underwear, but only by the way, if there will be opportunity, means serious reason for 1.85c. But I remember playing with flashlight in the official campaign's ADAPT recon missions. Rather frustrating anyway.

Edited June 23, 2014 by Rydygier

[tortuosit 486]

Maybe attach a flashlight if (difficulty level>easy)&&(isNighttime). Fom the story it's then simply a well prepared Alexander. You say it does no harm... it does in a way, because if you set start time to random and spawn at night with no light stuff, you have to restart the mission which is an inconvenience. Well at least I restart. Maybe there are players who love playing at pitch black night, seeing only green dots or something on their weapon plus the moon... But however its a small thing.

[alky_lee 278]

I tried starting in the dark once. I had to wair a couple of hours till the moon came out. Starting by moonlight is fantastic.

[Rydygier 1309]

Hmm. Spotted some issue with mad UGV behaviour, not sure yet, what is wrong, looks, like malfunction of targets array update (no shooting sometimes), so after all next version soon is probable.

As for flahslights for SMG - discovered, it is impossible. Odd, but you can't attach flashlight to the SMG in A3. So this works atually only for EASY, where Alex have 5.56 rifle. I'll leave code for that in case, devs decide to fix this in the future. I can also add flashlight attachement to the inventory, but it's pointless until you obtain compatibile weapon.

Edited June 24, 2014 by Rydygier

[Alex72 1]

Thanks for the update. :)

Does anyone else get the problem with not being able to open the configuration menu (video options etc) when playing Pilgrimage? Maybe a feature? Sorry havent seen if thats the case.

[alky_lee 278]

Thanks for the update. :)

Does anyone else get the problem with not being able to open the configuration menu (video options etc) when playing Pilgrimage? Maybe a feature? Sorry havent seen if thats the case.

I didn't have a problem with it this morning, although I am having trouble seeing a tank that's only 450m away, even though my view distance and object drawing distance are well above 2k

[Rydygier 1309]

Does anyone else get the problem with not being able to open the configuration menu (video options etc) when playing Pilgrimage?

Happened to me sometimes, but last time was long time ago. Can't recall any explanation, thus this seems to be another mysterious game bug.

[haleks 8212]

Thanks for the update. :)

Does anyone else get the problem with not being able to open the configuration menu (video options etc) when playing Pilgrimage? Maybe a feature? Sorry havent seen if thats the case.

I've been experiencing this sometimes; from what I can tell, it happens when a lot of scripts are running at the same time - it's probably a glitch related to memory usage.

Might be worth creating a ticket - if we can find a way to reproduce it systematicaly.

[jokerl90 10]

Loving this mission! Have played nothing else since finding it a couple of weeks ago. I loved Tonic's Wasteland, I will catch myself thinking in a Wasteland mindset, looking for good hiding places and so on. Duh lol.

Played with default settings until a helo made me it's "special project" lol The thing would not leave me alone. I stumbled into a firefight with probably a 7 or 8 man squad in a small town. Killed 4 or 5, the helo showed up, then left. I lingered around the town, checking gear, etc. The helo came back and would not leave. It was just flying around till I looked at it through the scope of my rifle, then it began attacking me. I found a rocket launcher, and I swear, it teased me into shooting at it, just hovering close in front of me. I shot, missed, died... lol. I left my vehicle behind, sneaking away, the helo seemed to sense where I was at. Away from the town (icons did not show till I got close) I found a couple of surrendered AI's. Maybe I missed one, and that's why the helo stayed around. Helo's are now turned off in settings...

Tried "underwear mode" with "realistic loot". Doing it Wasteland Style! hahaha. At a large base found lots of equipment, including drivers coveralls,civvies clothing, and military fatigues. Game would not let me wear them. Gave up on that mission. A mobile artillery piece did come driving by while I was at the base. First time for that.

Playing now with "easy" difficulty, Since he is PMC, I'm thinking he would come to the island well prepared. Loot is set at "realistic", I don't think you would find military equipment scattered around in civilian houses.

In the Wasteland Missions, there is a "survival/health" system where you have to find food and water to stay healthy. Something like that might be good for this mission, could be too much work to apply it to this one though. Don't remember seeing this already discussed.

This is really a great mission as it is, thanks for making it!!!!

[Rydygier 1309]

Thanks for the feedback. :)

Difficulty of implementing food etc. depends on the approach. May be done also fairly simple way. But I do not want it in the Pilgrimage. For me it is not realistic overcomplication. Not realistic, because average gameplay takes several hours, too short to make food etc. crucial. Overcomplication, because if you are looting whole cities, it may be safely assumed, you can find some food in the nearly every house, not mentioning water. IMO not worthy of bothering. Pilgrimage is not meant as scenario about survival. Goal is clear, and provided features are and should coherently serve that goal somehow, not distract from it.

If you want to wear uniforms of other sides, you can play with Unlocked Uniforms addon.

Helo's behavior isn't changed by mission code. These are doing just plain and simple SAD waypoints, when called by OPFOR, that spotted you. Then RTB. In all my tests, as long you are on foot and not shooting at the chopper, chance, so it will engage you is near zero. If you have a vehicle though... Well, quite another story. If helo is behaving abnormally, it may be due to used addons or who knows, bug or something, but not due to mission itself.

Edited June 25, 2014 by Rydygier

[Rojas 10]

Thanks for the update. :)

Does anyone else get the problem with not being able to open the configuration menu (video options etc) when playing Pilgrimage? Maybe a feature? Sorry havent seen if thats the case.

Sometimes the menu takes a few seconds longer than normal.

Just that.

...and thanks, Rydygier.

[neofit 65]

I've played this mission with almost every combination of settings I could think of (of course I did not play nb_settings! times, but I've tried every setting at one point or another). I have one suggestion left though: an extra setting! :) Well, not exactly a setting, but a button. You press it at the start of the scenario, it randomizes all the settings and sends the player into the game without telling what settings was chosen. If you have a bit of extra time, these randomized settings should not be initialized as the default for the next playthrough (to my deepest shame I must admit that while typing this I have already thought of a way to cheat :) ). At the point I am at I want to be surprised, and I think this will be a good addition.

[Rydygier 1309]

That's interesting idea. Thanks, I'll think about best way of implementation... :)

For example - I could add somewhere special button to randomize everything, but how about adding "RANDOMIZE" option to the each setting separately instead? Same, as it is for the daytime and starting location currently, what BTW makes this way smooth and most cohesive with current state, as logical enhancement of existing idea. Not as fast, as one-click button, but instead player can selectively choose, what to randomize (this may be wise move, as some settings impact performance, so if player uses weak PC, may be forced to keep low settings like enemy presence, civilian population density or AC, while still may want to randomize the rest), and this way it may be saved as default next play without loosing unpredictability (just is saved, what should be randomized), so only first time there is more clicking.

Edited June 26, 2014 by Rydygier

[neofit 65]

For example - I could add somewhere special button to randomize everything, but how about adding "RANDOMIZE" option to the each setting separately instead?

This would of course be the best way. I thought about it since I would like to randomize everything but not have any artillery, but I didn't dare ask for too much and would rather have Pilgrimage II sooner :). But please do not put the randomized settings into the default settings for the next run. OTOH, maybe there should still be a way to look at them in the log or something, for debugging purposes.

[Rydygier 1309]

Yes, effects or randomization will be not saved for next play, only which settings should be randomized. Next time game will randomize same settings by default, but results will be chosen anew, not inherited. In fact this shouldn't be too time consuming to implement. Diary log with chosen settings is next thing to do indeed, I thought about it earlier, but then there wasn't good reason. Now there is - player IMO should know, which values was set.

[alky_lee 278]

Yes, effects or randomization will be not saved for next play, only which settings should be randomized. Next time game will randomize same settings by default, but results will be chosen anew, not inherited. In fact this shouldn't be too time consuming to implement. Diary log with chosen settings is next thing to do indeed, I thought about it earlier, but then there wasn't good reason. Now there is - player IMO should know, which values was set.

I think a record of the mission settings is a good idea. On longer missions, and when real life gets in the way, I can't always remember what settings I started off with and start to wonder if things are going wrong with the mission when it was just a setting I had changed.

[Rydygier 1309]

"Dev branch" updated to 1.85c beta:

- added "RANDOM" option to the each initial setting except "Caching mode" and "Landing area";

- "RANDOM" option for "Landing area" setting renamed to "UNKNOWN";

- rearranged settings order in the initial GUI;

- added Diary entry with "Setting review" log;

- several code fixes and changes.

Rearrangement, as I learned personally, can make the veteran player, used to the old order, a bit confused at start. It was needed for two reasons:

1. There was too messy. Now settings are better organized by categories:

- spawning settings (loot settings/opfor settings/civilian settings/companion/special - arty, choppers, AC),

- difficulty changers (difficulty level, multipe hideouts, circle intel),

- notification helpers (killed marks, 3d icons, ADM&phone),

- "spacetime" settings (daytime, landing area),

- maintenance/performance (caching mode).

2. Last line of settings must not contain setting with too many options, or will be expanded upwards, not downwards, which simply is ugly.

There was considerable amount of text to type for settings log, and a lot of tedious code changes with rearrangement, I hope, I corrected all typos and mistakes, still I'll be grateful for being watchful and reporting any spotted errors etc around initial GUI and the settings log.

Not tested much, but AFAIK settings randomization works fine.

BTW. Noted, so to the SMG "Sting", and this one alone (?) flashlight actually may be attached (and is, as I kept code doing that). If requested, I can make this shittiest of all available shitty SMGs the only possibility if there is dark at init... :)

Edited June 27, 2014 by Rydygier

[neofit 65]

Good job!

If requested, I can make this shittiest of all available shitty SMGs the only possibility if there is dark at init... :)

Come on, I won't throw any names, but you KNOW someone will ask for it :).

[rangerlump 1]

dumb question alot of pages to read through. What is the prepare box etc for? and how do I interact with the civilians that say they need more boxes etc.

Love this mission!!!!

[Rydygier 1309]

"Prepare empty box" is used for selling loot put into it (usual way - action menu at the box). It is crucial, if you play with settings, that give you very little or none other boxes for selling stuff, and useful any way you play. Think about it as simplified "looking around for suitable container to stash the loot, you want to hide and then sell online info about its location".

and how do I interact with the civilians that say they need more boxes etc.

Interactions with civilians:

1. Asking for Intel via action menu;

2. Buying Intel same way (better chance for useful data and slight reputation increase);

3. Occasionally completing for them assassination mission, that will give you valuable intel via e-mail (action menu) and some ff;

4. Getting close to the civilian and staying there for a while may cause, civilian start to watch you. That also increases a chance for the comment;

5. Shooting will make most of near civilians panic and run for cover;

6. Killing bad guys and few other things for increasing reputation amongst the locals;

7. Killing civilians will seriously decrease reputation.

I think, that's all... 3D comments, including that about the boxes, is just random talk, that indicates, what local population think about you and does not require any interaction. Just read and enjoy or ignore. If comment is not referring to you, or you are treated as a not important stranger that means, you are not famous enough yet. In such case locals may say various sad, strange, casual or funny stuff. Once you rise reputation or on the contrary, you'll notice more comments in other colours, referring to you positively or negatively.

What's the meaning of whole this reputation? Apart from satistaction from being recognized it alters noticeably chances for valuable intel from the locals. Reputation mechanics is simple from user side (kill bad guys, do not kill civilians), but behind the scenes quite complex to emulate spreading of the rumors dynamics in time and distance. After long time such news will be also gradually forgotten. Anyway, not so easy to become famous. You must kill many enemies for that. Reputation/recognition is calculated individually, per each citizen basing on time and location of each affecting reputation actions, you have made.

Edited June 27, 2014 by Rydygier