[SP Campaign] M.E.R.C.S. - mercenary expendable ruthless covert selfish

[IndeedPete 1038]

Glad to annoy you with another dev report as I've recently finished the next story mission! In "Surfin' R.o.A" (Republic of Altis) I'm utilising Surfer's Scrapyard, a great place for CQB and stealth action. And what's even better than stealth action? Right, blowing up huge trawlers! Good that there's a dock not too far away from the scrapyard. But take care of the QRF near-by! ;)

Edited August 5, 2014 by IndeedPete

[poddy 1]

I'm having some problems with the Checkpoint Charlie mission:

After completing the vehicle checks and successfully calling in support for the truck carrying an IED, there is a surprise attack by a couple of enemy squads. At this point I call in support who arrive and help to eliminate the attacking forces, this is where the mission seems to get stuck. Even though the attacking forces all appear to have been eliminated (I've tried the mission a few times and have scoured the area for stray enemy to no avail) the mission does not progress. The support group stand idle after killing the attackers and nothing else happens. I tried searching a wide area for stragglers, advancing time a few hours, but calling in evac is never available for some reason so I can't ever finish the mission.

Am I missing something obvious?

[IndeedPete 1038]

Hey Poddy, sorry to hear but that seems to be some kind of AI pathfinding issue. I wrote a quick solution one page before, here's the link to the complete post, hope it helps:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?177261-SP-Campaign-M-E-R-C-S-mercenary-expendable-ruthless-covert-selfish&p=2737780&viewfull=1#post2737780

Enjoy!

[sig 10]

How many missions are there as I have finished Daddys Girl? Is that the last mission?

[IndeedPete 1038]

Ha, no,of course not! The Alpha v0.54 covers:

• One intro mission.
  
• One hub mission.
  
• Eleven contract missions.
  
• One transit mission. ("To be continued..." - that's where the Beta will continue.)
  
• Two endings.
  

So, one could say it's 16 in total. Since you've just passed Daddy's Girl (the first contract mission, meant more as tutorial) you've got ten contract missions ahead plus one of the two possible endings or the transit mission as last one. Depending on your choices. ;)

[sig 10]

What happened, I killed all the pirates and then I clicked extracted but nothing happened. Sped time up, still nothing happened. So I ended mission but did not progress to the next phase?

[IndeedPete 1038]

Okay, which mission are you talking about? What was the last thing that happened? Where are you stuck?

Edited August 7, 2014 by IndeedPete

[sig 10]

Okay, which mission are you talking about? What was the last thing that happened? Where are you stuck?

Its ok now. I replayed the mission Daddys Girl. My buddy was killed when I played it first time round, I dont know if he is meant to survive? But the second time I played it he survived and when all the pirates were killed I linked onto the next mission. Back to base, made a few purchases...

[IndeedPete 1038]

Hm, your buddy was killed? oO How did that happen? Do you use any mods?

[sig 10]

Hm, your buddy was killed? oO How did that happen? Do you use any mods?

Yeah I'm running a few mods. Blastcore mods is a must! CBA3, Aggressors, and the ones that require A3MP. I have stopped using A3MP, I've noticed it slows the machine up. I'm 16gig with a 650Ti. But now I've taken that mod out (A3MP), games load much faster. I think the bloke who put A3MP together should divide each land in a separate folder, so the player has the ability to load the right land to go with the mission/campaign.

Bit so far the campaign is going great! Really like it! what mods do you favour if any for M.E.R.C.S?

[IndeedPete 1038]

That's why I'm asking: I recommend against using any mods at the current state of development, because many issues I'm responding to here or on steam are actually caused by other 3rd party stuff. However, since many users like to use gameplay enhancing mods I've adapted my development roadmap and will see to it to support at least a handfull of the most popular ones in the final version (Gold).

Happy you enjoyed it so far! Keep on playing and don't hesitate to post if you stumble across any problems. I can only fix what I'm aware of. ;)

[IndeedPete 1038]

What makes an AAF defence line, a cease-fire agreement and a bunch of stolen EUROFORCE tanks under ION's control? Right, the perfect example of a "diplomatic incident"! And precisely that is the name of the contract mission I've just finished. Expanding the concept of vehicle combat in M.E.R.C.S. more Raif and his allies will get their dirty little hands on said tanks to kick some Greenback ass. Why? Find out yourself on Beta release!

[IndeedPete 1038]

Hey again!

Just finished another story mission, introducing a new character. <username> is a brilliant, yet slightly paranoid IT-Security specialist and causes some troubles finding him. A simple pick-up mission turns into what we Germans call a "Schnitzeljagd", following cryptic hints and a tiny bit of math included. ;) Stay tuned!

[corporal_lib[br] 396]

A Snowden-like mission???

So the beta is due to Setember or October? Anxious to get back to the tragicomical tale of Rafik the M.E.R.C. ;D

cheers!

[silentghoust 132]

Having a Issue with Checkpoint Charlie mission. I don't have any mods on, but I can't seem to progress beyond calling in AAF support. The IFV and Alpha Victor arrives, but after they clear the attackers nothing seems to happen. I assume at some point the cammander comes back down to dismiss you, but so far no luck.

[IndeedPete 1038]

@Corporal: Well, <username> is a contractor just like Raif, his weapons are spying software and encryption algorithms though. I'd rather say he's one of the crooky intel guys who secretly browses our porn folders and then blackmails us with the shocking contents we consume. :D

I'm really working hard to get the Beta done by the end Septembre so you guys have enough time to play and vote before the contest deadline. I'm focussing on the main missions and leave other ideas aside for now but it's still a buttload of work, especially considering that there will be some more branching towards the ~six different endings. And it doesn't help much that I'll leave for a two-three weeks holiday on Saturday.

@silentghoust: Hi, I believe you're encountering a bug many users seem to run into these days. A more detailed explanation and temporary solution is a few pages back: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?177261-SP-Campaign-M-E-R-C-S-mercenary-expendable-ruthless-covert-selfish&p=2737780&viewfull=1#post2737780

[zachtan1234 14]

Hey again!

Just finished another story mission, introducing a new character. <username> is a brilliant, yet slightly paranoid IT-Security specialist and causes some troubles finding him. A simple pick-up mission turns into what we Germans call a "Schnitzeljagd", following cryptic hints and a tiny bit of math included. ;) Stay tuned!

Hmm.... A nameless "ally" which aids you.... Wonder if it would be like the Tasmanian Devil tips from the original OFP Resistance.....

[IndeedPete 1038]

As far as I recall you've never met the Tasmanian Devil, right? :)

Also, this guy actually has a name, well an alias at least. <username> is a small "gift" for the player as it transforms into the current profileName. Means when I play it he's called IndeedPete, when you play it his name might be something around zachtan1234 (or whatever your ingame profile is called). So, you're basically trying to find yourself in that mission (not in a philosophical way).^^

---------- Post added at 12:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:37 PM ----------

Funny thing, I've got an extra playtesting profile and it feels kind of weird to have a task called "Find Playtesting". oO

[silentghoust 132]

So, I been playing your campaign for awhile now. I was wondering how much scripts did you create and how many have you gotten from other sources? I'm developing a campaign that involves some what similar activities. Only your the FIA and "buying" weapons usually involves either taking them from the battlefield or going around into a dark ally to purchase them give or take a back stabber in the deal. I'm pretty noobish on the scripting side. I'm mainly interested in how you manage to save your weapons from each mission, and the currency system.

[IndeedPete 1038]

Hey,

a major part of my time went into architecture and functions. I've started development of the shop in February and built all systems around it step by step. But it really pays out. With many things automised I can setup a complete campaign mission in two or three days (depending on complexity) - a week tops. Just need to place a few units, make up the mission flow and let my systems take care of the rest.

Of course I rely on a few thrid party scripts (all with author's permission!), mainly because it saved time to use packages that are already existent and suit my needs. My current funtions library covers (my own stuff aside), aeroson's loadout functions (for setting/getting a unit's loadout), aeroson's explosion detector and cleanup scripts, cobra's halo jump and parachuting, SHKPos, a few of TPW's civie scripts and VComAI (unsused at the moment).

The central command for making data persistent throughout the campaign is saveVar, really handy as it saves stage-based to enable reverting. And then I have two functions, mainInit ran on every mission start and endMission ran on every end.

mainInit:

if (!(isClass(campaignConfigFile >> "campaign"))) exitWith {
[([_this, 0, IP_Main, [objNull]] call BIS_fnc_param), "main"] call IP_fnc_applyTemplate;
IP_MainInitDone = true;
};

// Necessary to prevent lost uniform bug after briefing.
_this spawn {
_unit = [_this, 0, IP_Main, [objNull]] call BIS_fnc_param;
_keepLoadout = getNumber(missionConfigFile >> "keepLoadout");

_mainLoadout = IP_MERCS_MainLoadout;
_money = IP_MERCS_Money; 
_debts = IP_MERCS_Debts; 
_team = IP_MERCS_Team; 
_clothes = IP_MERCS_Clothes;
_playerBox = IP_MERCS_PlayerBox;
_missionsDone = IP_MERCS_MissionsDone;

// Special for Stage B
_campEnhancements = if (isNil "IP_MERCS_CampEnhancements") then {[]} else {IP_MERCS_CampEnhancements};
_campVehicles = if (isNil "IP_MERCS_CampVehicles") then {[]} else {IP_MERCS_CampVehicles};
_killedTeammates = if (isNil "IP_MERCS_KilledTeammates") then {[]} else {IP_MERCS_KilledTeammates};

_count = count _missionsDone;
_arr = [_count] call IP_fnc_getMainRankData;
_rank = _arr select 0;
_picture = _arr select 1;
_avatar = _arr select 2;
_companyRank = _arr select 3;

_unit setIdentity "main";
_unit setRank _rank;
{
	_unit setVariable _x;
} forEach [
	["IP_Money", _money],
	["IP_Debts", _debts],
	["IP_Team", _team],
	["IP_Clothes", _clothes],
	["IP_CampEnhancements", _campEnhancements],
	["IP_CampVehicles", _campVehicles],
	["IP_KilledTeammates", _killedTeammates],
	["IP_Picture", ("Campaigns\IP_CMP_MERCS\img\" + _picture)],
	["IP_Avatar", ("Campaigns\IP_CMP_MERCS\img\" + _avatar)],
	["IP_LiveFeed", true],
	["IP_Faction", "ION"]
];

// Nicht schön, geht aber nicht anders, da sonst Kalkulation die Debts nicht miteinbezieht.
_unit setVariable ["IP_BasicTCR", (call IP_fnc_calculateBasicCostRate)];

_unit createDiarySubject ["Money", "Account"];
_unit createDiaryRecord ["Money", [(name _unit), "Account Balance: +" + str(_money) + "€"]];

if (getNumber(missionConfigFile >> "tacPad") == 1) then {[_unit, "TacPad"] call BIS_fnc_addCommMenuItem};	
if (IP_TESTMODE) then {_unit allowDamage false};	
if (_keepLoadout != 1) exitWith {};

if (count _mainLoadout > 0) then {
	[_unit, _mainLoadout] call IP_fnc_setLoadout;
} else {
	removeAllWeapons _unit;
	removeUniform _unit;
	removeVest _unit;
	removeGoggles _unit;
	removeHeadgear _unit;
	_unit forceAddUniform (_clothes select 0);
};

if ((getNumber(missionConfigFile >> "isHub") == 1) && {(count _playerBox) > 0}) then {
	{IP_PlayerBox addWeaponCargo [_x, 1]} forEach (_playerBox select 0);
	{IP_PlayerBox addMagazineCargo [_x, 1]} forEach (_playerBox select 1);
	{IP_PlayerBox addItemCargo [_x, 1]} forEach (_playerBox select 2);
	{IP_PlayerBox addBackpackCargo [_x, 1]} forEach (_playerBox select 3);
};

// Double stuff because of missing uniform bug
waitUntil{time > 0};

if (count _mainLoadout > 0) then {
	[_unit, _mainLoadout] call IP_fnc_setLoadout;
} else {
	removeAllWeapons _unit;
	removeUniform _unit;
	removeVest _unit;
	removeGoggles _unit;
	removeHeadgear _unit;
	_unit forceAddUniform (_clothes select 0);
};

_uniform = uniform _unit;
if (isArray(missionConfigFile >> "ShopClothes" >> _uniform >> "texture")) then {
	_arr = getArray(missionConfigFile >> "ShopClothes" >> _uniform >> "texture");
	_unit setObjectMaterial [0, (_arr select 0)];
	_unit setObjectTexture [0, (_arr select 1)];
} else {
	if (isText(missionConfigFile >> "ShopClothes" >> _uniform >> "texture")) then {_unit setObjectTexture [0, (getText(missionConfigFile >> "ShopClothes" >> _uniform >> "texture"))]};
};

// Exclude BA Uniform
if (_uniform != "U_O_CombatUniform_ocamo") then {[_unit, _companyRank] call BIS_fnc_setUnitInsignia};

_goggles = getArray(missionConfigFile >> "mainValues" >> "glassGoggles");
if ((goggles player in _goggles) && (isNil "IP_MERCS_Hint_Glass")) then {
	IP_MERCS_Hint_Glass = true;
	saveVar "IP_MERCS_Hint_Glass";
	[["MERCS", "Glass"]] call BIS_fnc_advHint;
};

IP_MainInitDone = true;
};

endMission:

if (!(isClass(campaignConfigFile >> "campaign"))) exitWith {_this call BIS_fnc_endMission};

_isWin = [_this, 1, true, [false]] call BIS_fnc_param;
_mainLoadout = [iP_Main] call IP_fnc_getLoadout;
_buddyLoadout = if ((isNil "IP_Buddy") OR {isNull IP_Buddy} OR {!alive IP_Buddy}) then {[]} else {[iP_Buddy] call IP_fnc_getLoadout};
_isHub = if (getNumber(missionConfigFile >> "isHub") == 1) then {true} else {false};

_money = IP_Main getVariable "IP_Money";
_debts = IP_Main getVariable "IP_Debts";
_team = IP_Main getVariable "IP_Team";
_clothes = IP_Main getVariable "IP_Clothes";
_campEnhancements = IP_Main getVariable ["IP_CampEnhancements", []];
_campVehicles = IP_Main getVariable ["IP_CampVehicles", []];
_killedTeammates = IP_Main getVariable ["IP_KilledTeammates", []];
_mission = IP_Main getVariable ["IP_Mission", (getText(missionConfigFile >> "name"))];
_insertion = IP_Main getVariable ["IP_Insertion", "foot"];

IP_MERCS_MainLoadout = _mainLoadout;
IP_MERCS_BuddyLoadout = _buddyLoadout;

IP_MERCS_Money = _money;
IP_MERCS_Debts = _debts;
IP_MERCS_Team = _team;
IP_MERCS_Clothes = _clothes;
IP_MERCS_Mission = _mission;
IP_MERCS_Insertion = _insertion;
IP_MERCS_CampEnhancements = _campEnhancements;
IP_MERCS_CampVehicles = _campVehicles;
IP_MERCS_KilledTeammates = _killedTeammates;

IP_MERCS_Date = date;
IP_MERCS_Weather = IP_Weather;

{saveVar _x} forEach ["IP_MERCS_MainLoadout", "IP_MERCS_Money", "IP_MERCS_Debts", "IP_MERCS_Team", "IP_MERCS_Clothes", "IP_MERCS_Mission", "IP_MERCS_Insertion", "IP_MERCS_CampEnhancements", "IP_MERCS_CampVehicles", "IP_MERCS_KilledTeammates", "IP_MERCS_Date", "IP_MERCS_Weather"];
if (count IP_MERCS_BuddyLoadout > 0) then {saveVar "IP_MERCS_BuddyLoadout"};

if (_isHub) then {
_boxWeapons = weaponCargo IP_PlayerBox;
_boxMagazines = magazineCargo IP_PlayerBox;
_boxItems = itemCargo IP_PlayerBox;
_boxBackpacks = backpackCargo IP_PlayerBox;

IP_MERCS_PlayerBox = [_boxWeapons, _boxMagazines, _boxItems, _boxBackpacks];	
saveVar  "IP_MERCS_PlayerBox";
};

if (_isWin && !_isHub) then {
_mission = getText(missionConfigFile >> "name");
_missionsDone = IP_MERCS_MissionsDone;
if (!(_mission in _missionsDone)) then {
	_missionsDone = _missionsDone + [_mission];
	IP_MERCS_MissionsDone = _missionsDone;
	saveVar "IP_MERCS_MissionsDone";
};
};

// saveProfileNamespace;
_this call BIS_fnc_endMission;

Of course they're in relation to other campaign systems. Feel free to take the PBO apart and see for yourself. ;)

[silentghoust 132]

Interesting, I always wanted to get good enough to make some sort of campaign save system. Were you had to manage not only your personal equipment, but your troops as well. Meaning if your not paying attention to your bases overall weapon and ammo pool. Your troops might be very low on ammo if non at all.

Also, why I'm not a scripter by any means, I am a 3d modeler. I have been doing it for about 6 years now and wanting to make models for Arma 3. Maybe we could work some trade for scripts and model assets? Maybe your Ion Faction would like some uniforms? A fancy robotic terminator?

[IndeedPete 1038]

Yes, high command and an advanced commerce / procurement system combined with a more strategic approach is the next logical step for me. I already have a rough idea for a post-M.E.R.C.S. project partly focussing on these elements. But, I will keep you people in the dark for now, more details will follow post-MANW. ;)

That's an interesting proposal. Though you (and aybody else who's interested) are free to take, adapt and use my stuff, a 3D modeler could come in handy as I'm already working together with a graphics designer. I think we could pull off some cool stuff together. However, there are no custom 3D elements planned for M.E.R.C.S.; this poject will mosly rely on custom textures. But, as I've mentioned there's a raw post-MANW plan already. ;)

Anyway, this project is currently distributed under the APL-SLA license for MANW reasons; I guess we could think about a separate release with a less restrictive license model. Plus I've successfully ported the shop system to another mission; there are many little things that need to be adapted as I've often tied sevaral systems together here and there. Good luck, and feel free to ask if you need help anywhere!

[anrio 11]

I have a problem with "checkpoint charlie". After night attack and calling reinforcements the mission doesn't finishing. Extracting is not available too.

All my units are alive, all enemies are dead.

MERCS 0.54

ARMA 1.24

Edited August 22, 2014 by Anrio

[IndeedPete 1038]

Hey Anrio, common problem, check the solution a few pages back: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?177261-SP-Campaign-M-E-R-C-S-mercenary-expendable-ruthless-covert-selfish&p=2737780&viewfull=1#post2737780

[anrio 11]

IndeedPete, thanks!. It works.