Jump to content
IndeedPete

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

Recommended Posts

Might be an option, I'll think about it.

I'm not a friend of timeouts but that would be one option. Or again a seized by trigger but that's also unreliable. Maybe another approach by forcing their movement. But then again, I'd destroy the dynamic of AI in combat which is also one point that makes the fights more interesting, not like in CoD where every evemy is fully scripted. It's a tough problem and I'd much rather see AI jsut following they waypoints or move commands more properly. But even in the official campaign they use nasty workarounds (scripted walking and such) because they know signle AI units are sometimes stucking somewhere else. Saw that when dePBOing a few missions of BI's campaign. I fear the AI issues will somehow remain part of the game forever. Maybe that's the price for having such a diversive and generic AI. Most games tend to script that behaviour and on first sight enemies seem to behave smart. But Arma's AI needs to be generic and able to handly an unlimited variety of different situations. Considering that BIS did one hell of a job already but still, the flaws and certain unpredictability make scenario creation a bit tricky sometimes.

You shouldn't be able to see nor hit them. oO Not sure what went wrong there but I'll take a look at it. Funny thing, you can also skip the whole fight and just leave the area, the mission will handle that as well. I mean, it is obvious that they're trying to fuck you.

It will turn out the same - with Ground Zero.

Again, IP_MERCS_CSATOfficerAlive is the variable which should be true to enable meeting the CSAT officer. That variable is true of the officer survived CQB at all, his position is irrelevant. ["MOutCSAT", true, true] call IP_fnc_endMission; executed in Smash And Grab should take you directly to the CSAT ending.

Huge thanks for the kind words and also for the feedback! It was a hell of a project I must say, eight months of continious development more than 20 hours a week on average I guess (haven't tracked it) - and it still hasn't reached Gold state. At this point complexity is getting so high, I sometimes really don't exactly know what's happening. It's getting a bit too much for one person to overlook the whole thing - and I did it all by myself (except the thrid party stuff mentioned in the credits). I haven't counted it yet but it should be several 10.000 lines of code, the shop configs alone are 6000 or 7000 LOC. But I'm a bit proud to see that it turned out so well - when I started creating the shop system I had no idea where this was going. And I changed the story quite often. :D M.E.R.C.S. was and still is one gigantic experiment where I've tried lots of things, hence it has become so complex and sometimes a bit unpredictable. It's not truly open world like Rydygier's Pilgrimage but also not totally linear like Kydoimos' Resist, it's something in between and I was unsure if this "semi-open-world" approach could work. I wanted to combine the freedom of choice of open world missions with the storytelling / narrative of linear scenarios. It's not on me to judge if I succeeded, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I don't think I'm going to win the contest but being promoted and getting all that great feedback is enough for me. :)

I'll see to it to sort out the nasty bugs and develop some kind of side-missions / action for the second hub. Background scenario of a constantly shifting frontline between FIA and AAF offers a lot of opportunities, we'll see.^^ Not sure on the helo mission but there will be more vehicle and strategic gameplay in future projects.^^

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So, hopefully last update before that MANW deadline!

Changelog

0.94 Beta - MANW RC - 26.10.2014

  • FIXED: Minor chanegs and fixes.
  • FIXED: BI's randomsation scripts' leftovers.
  • FIXED: Riot Control, fleeing was still enabled for hostile units.
  • FIXED: Payback, script error on init.
  • FIXED: Case Of Defence, added an ugly teleport for the Buddy because of his pathfinding / stucking issues.
  • FIXED: Good Bye Altis, Buddy was not invincible.
  • FIXED: Panzerfaust, AAF officer was diving.
  • FIXED: Sanctuary, Meet And Greet, Case Of Defence, transport / support heli was still full of parachutes.
  • CHANGED: Very Important Pickup, player is now an engineer and can fix the car.
  • CHANGED: Enforced Cooperation, Doctor is now being added to player's squad.
  • CHANGED: Case Of Defence, due to AI waypoint issues (they get stuck...) the win ratio has been set up from 25% to 30% of the last wave.
  • CHANGED: Shop System, lowered the selling price for every weapon, magazine, item or vehicle from 1/2 to 1/5 of the buying price.
  • ADDED: Ransom Demand, two more vehicles.
  • ADDED: Good Bye Altis, one more enemy fireteam.

Download

Addon Version

Dropbox v0.94 BETA - MANW RC

Steam Workshop v0.94 BETA - MANW RC

Campaign PBO Version

Dropbox v0.94 BETA - MANW RC

MANW Contest Page

Vote & Support

Please note that the first upload attempt to the steam workshop FAILED. I'm trying to sort this out and hope it doesn't affect playability.

Seems like now I'm getting these errors other contestants had as well right on the final MANW version, now isn't that great? Please excuse my small rant but seriously: F*** you, steam workshop!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

hey, first of all, great campaign !!!!

second, I think I found a bugg.

In the mission "enforced cooperation" you have to choise how you want to kidnap Dr. Diaz...

so I go to his house and make the 2 sons hostages... then I call to diaz... and after that it seems that Diaz get stuck in that base :(

reloaded savegame many times, restarted mission many times, but everytime he gets stuck always on the same place (right above the exit of that compound entrance)...

Don't think this is normal....

With kind regards

DylanE

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Glad you like it! How does he stuck? Is he just standing around, not moving? Which entrance is it (west or east)?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi IndeedPete, could You please, if it s possible add in next version of the campaign shop support for new, great HLC MP5 pack, its suppressors and mags?

Regards.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ah, that must be a new one, thought I added all of toadie's packs. But yes, I see to it, thanks for the heads-up!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

OH, and could You also add AAC Haney Badger dedicated silencer because when You implemented HLC AR15 pack You forgot to add silencer for that great pdw and since silencer although detachable is integral part of the gun like in MP5SD we ended up with half the weapon system.

Regards.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Just checked, the classnames for attachements from the AR15 pack were not documented. At least not in the thread, seems like they are in the readme though. Will do.

---------- Post added at 11:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:53 PM ----------

Addendum: They're really not documented. 5.56 and .300 silencers are the only classnames in the readme and they're in the shop already. What's not documented won't get implemented. I don't want to take apart modder's configs to look for the classnames.^^

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Just checked, the classnames for attachements from the AR15 pack were not documented. At least not in the thread, seems like they are in the readme though. Will do.

---------- Post added at 11:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:53 PM ----------

Addendum: They're really not documented. 5.56 and .300 silencers are the only classnames in the readme and they're in the shop already. What's not documented won't get implemented. I don't want to take apart modder's configs to look for the classnames.^^

OK. I understand. Thank You anyway. You re the best.

Hi I just checked more thoroughly to be sure. You couldn t find aac honey badger silencer because there isn t one, That s why there are two aac honey bedger rifles in shop You copied classnames from readme correctly, one hlc_rifle_honeybadger is complete rifle, other hlc_rifle_honeybase is just backbase of the rifle without the business end I just bought the wrong one that s all. Anyway sorry to bother You with this hat s not a bug.

Regards.

Edited by Bolo861

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ah, I see.^^ No problem, good to know I haven't missed anything.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi there!

The voting deadline for the MANW contest just passed around one hour ago and I'd like to throw out a huge "Thank You" to all 91 Voters and 135 Supporters! Thanks to all the great people here on the forums, on steam, facebook and twitter who played and tested M.E.R.C.S., provided feedback or helped me with technical problems, or supported me in the creation of ingame assets! Thank you, I'd take my hat off if I had one! *plop* :yay:

Now go, open a bottle and find yourself a slutty dressed Halloween boy/girl for the night! :p I'll drink to you people!

Oh, and if anyone's interested in future work, the development on M.E.R.C.S. is not completed and I will continue fixing bugs and enriching the existing content. However, I've also commenced work on a joint operation with Surfer. I don't want to reveal too much, so I'll just leave you with some quickly taken development shots:

2014-11-01_0000147ue5.jpg 2014-11-01_00002rdup8.jpg 2014-11-01_00004qluuz.jpg

Enjoy! :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There should be a speaker on some bases transmiting this message: "STALKERS, we are here to protect you from the ZONE, not the ZONE from you!" ;) (anxious for this endevour of yours with Surfer... wow, is that Arcology made of dozens of Hospital buildings glued together? That´s a quite "russian" improvisation method for skyscrapping on A3 lol))

I was one of the first voters, and a diehard fan, keep the updates coming, IndeedPete!

cheers!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah, the stacked hospitals are actually Sufer's creation but they work quite well and it feels great. :) There are a few building types where you can actually get on top of the whole stack by entering the higher building from the lower one.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah, I wasn´t criticing, just a little sarcastic lol, indeed, the reactor chamber on Siberia map was done stacking up A2/A3 buildings, Surfer is a genius on this naive architeture =D

You could add some of those makeshift buildings on MERCS too (like the ION headquarters lol), IndeedPete!

cheers!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Champagne to you, Indeed Pete!

Be proud of yourself, not only for shifting what's possible but also for having an open ear and solution for everybody's queries. You really did a great job with MERCS, it's a wonderful campaign where the human is in the center of attention and not just cannon fodder. And shame on me, I didn't even play through the whole campaign yet. But winter is around the corner and there will be times when I leave the editor and actually PLAY the game :-P

Thanks for answering my own questions and fixing my buggy beginner's scripts all the times and especially in Somewhere In Siberia.

Pulling off the new Zone together is taking it to a whole new level and the honor shall be yours to open its own thread, so we can throw screenshots, movies and feature lists at the hungry zombies ehm crowd.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@Coporal: Non critique taken. ;) Until there's a good Switzerland map ION HQs are a no-go I'm afraid.^^

@Surfer: Huge thanks! Yeah, I'd say we open up a sparate thread when we have more material to show. We should take some shots while testing or so and you post process them with your skills, same goes for a proper overview / logo and I should be able to capture some gameplay footage sometime. We could cobble together a small trailer made from gameplay scenes.^^

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Use the drone. ;)

I must be doing it wrong because the drone is usually dead after 3 minutes in air.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Are you sure you're not hitting a tree or flying too close to the enemy? :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Are you sure you're not hitting a tree or flying too close to the enemy? :)

It seems to me everywhere on that island is too close to the enemy. I love the campaign but I'm a little bit annoyed with this mission. I understand I'm supposed to launch a drone and track the black SUV, then setup an ambush somewhere on it's path?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes, that's the intention. It's usually possible to scout with the drone when staying clear of the AAF camps and using a decent altitude. Might also be affected by daytime and weather conditions.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi IndeedPete, quick question, is the campfire story abaut briefcase full of cash just a bull or is it actually a sidequest and you can find the briefcase somewhere?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Short answer: Quest was planned but never implemented. So it's bullshit right now, might develop something later.^^

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

×