Co-op Campaign: APEX PROTOCOL

[zozo 104]

It's been a while since we have delivered a co-op campaign, but today, after a long time we have just dev-branched the Apex Protocol - our new cooperative campaign for 4 players. It takes place after the events in the East Wind campaign, but now everything was moved to the South Pacific, to the Tanoa island. 

Disclaimer: Since it is still in development, it is still missing some narrative elements (mostly videos/cutscenes have not been yet finished). If you would like to enjoy the whole campaign, I would recommend to wait a few days and play it later. But if you prefer hunting bugs rather than enjoying the story, lets play it and tell us what wrong is there (but you might also bless it  ). Especially, you can focus on the dedicated server, quick play feature, playing behind NAT, etc. 

 

 

Features

• 7 cooperative missions 
• up to 4 players (balanced for different number of players)
• placed on Tanoa
• cool story (connected to the East Wind campaign)
• cinematic cutscenes
• new MP systems included (Revive, Respawn, Tasks Enhancements, etc)
• other improvements like native support for MP campaigns (missions link up, MP lobby tweaks, dedicated server)

 

Welcome to the jungle! 

 

---

Dedicated server configuration

class Missions
{
class ApexProtocol {};
}; 

[ineptaphid 6413]

Oh wow-way to present a tough choice... Play now and have absolutely no willpower, or play in a few days and experience it to the fullest. Well, i never was one for willpower.... ;)

 

Tanoa, here I come!

[lexx 1390]

Alright, I've finished the first mission and started the second. It's late, though, and I'll totally need my sleep, so here is a short "first view" opinion.

 

• It looks great.
• Feels completely different than A3 main campaign (style)
• Reminds me a lot of the old Ghost Recon, actually, especially the mission design so far. (That's exactly how I can imagine a Coop-ArmA-- and with the recent ai-tweaks, it really seems to work.)
• Tanoa looks great (we already knew that)
• Production value feels high (quality of animations and cutscenes.)
• Love the background music in the missions. (Creates a fitting atmosphere.)
• End Game showcase had a very tense start. Cool. (sadly bugged out at the second intel point-- simply couldn't collect the intel, so I started up the campaign for now instead)

 

but... yeah, here comes the but.

 

Multiplayer. Yes you can play it alone, but that's literally... now I am a 1-man team and I somewhat doubt this changes in later missions. I know handling ai can be a huge struggle at times... most of the times... but still. Running around alone doesn't feel that good to me either. At least give me respawning ai mates to replace players or something, I don't know. It semi-worked in A2 as well.

The whole interface and mission setup screams multiplayer. You can't even save in the missions- you die and respawn as if you were online. Respawn points seem to be plenty enough, but still... was mid-mission 1 when my computer froze (happens very rarely, no idea why... maybe related to a3, maybe not). Result: I had to redo everything again, because hey, I can't save.

Probably is a cool setup when playing with friends, especially in a good team, but for one alone... meh.

 

Oh, and this ship still isn't in? I couldn't find it in 3den at least.

 

So yeah. That's it for now. Time to get some sleep.

[froggyluv 2136]

 Agree with everything above so far -does remind me of Recon (meets FarCry) and I like these voice actors the best. I am however very worried about the 1-man situation and really, really,really hope this isnt the case for the whole campaign or it'll be a bust despite its coolness. Singleplayer is the bedrock of OFP and it would be traumatic not to have any AI squaddies.

 

 Im still in 1st mission but so far taken on a zaliion enemies singlehandedly which feels abit silly.

[Nathan423 10]

Mission 3 on MP gave me a bunch of scripting errors, along with mission 4. RPT errors are as follows:

Mission 3
...
20:31:22 Error in expression <n {
BIS_RscRespawnControls_escHandler = BIS_RscRespawnControlsMap_display displa>
20:31:22   Error position: <BIS_RscRespawnControlsMap_display displa>
20:31:22   Error Undefined variable in expression: bis_rscrespawncontrolsmap_display
20:31:22 File A3\functions_f\respawn\fn_showRespawnMenu.sqf, line 69
20:31:22 Error in expression <
openMap [true,true];
showScoretable 0;
BIS_RscRespawnControlsMap_ctrlControlsGr>
20:31:22   Error position: <BIS_RscRespawnControlsMap_ctrlControlsGr>
20:31:22   Error Undefined variable in expression: bis_rscrespawncontrolsmap_ctrlcontrolsgroup
20:31:22 File A3\functions_f\respawn\fn_showRespawnMenu.sqf, line 61
20:31:22 Attempt to override final function - bis_handlerespawnmenu_fnc_selectdefaultmenuitem
20:31:23 Error in expression <S_RscRespawnControls_showScoreHandler = BIS_RscRespawnControlsMap_display displa>
20:31:23   Error position: <BIS_RscRespawnControlsMap_display displa>
20:31:23   Error Undefined variable in expression: bis_rscrespawncontrolsmap_display
20:31:23 File A3\functions_f\respawn\fn_showRespawnMenu.sqf, line 85
...
mission 4
...
20:34:38 Error in expression <t"] call BIS_fnc_DoorNoHandleOpen;
};
...
BIS_lantern attachTo [BIS_lanternPos, [0>
20:34:38   Error position: <BIS_lantern attachTo [BIS_lanternPos, [0>
20:34:38   Error Undefined variable in expression: bis_lantern
20:34:38 File a3\missions_f_exp\campaign\missions\exp_m04.tanoa\initServer.sqf, line 126
...
20:59:59  Mission file: exp_m05
...
Error in expression <(speed factor[4, 1] * water)>
21:00:02   Error position: <* water)>
21:00:02   Error *: Type Array, expected Number,Not a Number,Expression
21:00:02 Error: Sound volume expression: (speed factor[4, 1] * water)

 

Mission 3 ended up stopping at a black screen just after the timer finished counting down at the beginning, and had to skip playing it (three people present on local hosted)

 

 

I had a very enjoyable experience with the campaign (so far, only on mission 5). Loving the free form of the layout, feels like you can do what ever you want. The respawning system also works great.

[ineptaphid 6413]

Didnt realise the campaign was so multiplayer focused.For people like me who only play SP, a kind of hacky way to get a team is to use MCC.Spawn a couple of freindly troops and use the MCC console to make a "join group as leader" waypoint.Then they will join your squa.I use that for some multiplayer style missions in SP

 

Regarding the End Game showcase, i also could not collect the intel at the second area like the post above.

 

Love the night sky on Tanoa-hopefully we will se Altis get some brightness back to it's nights now as well.

[kylania 568]

So what functions are used for the untie interaction and the mission time/place text please? :)

 

Untie interaction is done with BIS_fnc_holdActionAdd.

 

Mission time/place is done by BIS_fnc_EXP_camp_SITREP

/*
Parameters:
	- Each array you pass represents a line that should be displayed
	- Lines will be displayed in the order you define them
	- Each line's array consists of the following information
		_array select 0: STRING - Contents of the line to be displayed
		_array select 1: NUMBER (Optional) - Fade-in duration
		_array select 2: NUMBER (Optional) - How long it should wait before showing the next line
		_array select 3: NUMBER (Optional) - Fade-out duration (only used by the last line, fades all other lines as well)
*/
		
[
	[
		"Somewhere south of nowhere."
	],
	[
		(str(date select 1) + "-" + str(date select 2) + "-" + str(date select 0)),
		1,
		5
	],
	[
		"This line was delayed by 5 seconds", 
		1, 
		1, 
		4
	]
] spawn BIS_fnc_EXP_camp_SITREP;

[ataribaby 54]

Concept looks co cool. Tried MP on mission 2 and worked well then got same black screen in mission 3 start after I should spawn into mission. All is nice and slick in design. I like it.

 

Dunno if it's because dev version but AI team had some bad double comms, reverb or echoes or how to describe it.

 

Be alone in SP play is strange. At least there is that other AI squad.

 

in End Game I collected all and then I cant upload at FOB. That green thing on ground that probably is supposed to be uplink terminal just right bellow task marker had no action or whatever to initiate uplink so I was not able to finish mission.

 

Are missions all unlocked in this dev preview? It's supposed to be unlocked one by one as you progress in final version?

 

Oh jesus how much I wanted to shoot Miller

[cosmic10r 2331]

I am very pleasantly surprised that mission 1 ran at 55-60 fps with vsync on .. 

[bullet purveyor 85]

I hope you can remove respawn system in singleplayer and bring back the old save system.

[MacMillan11 1]

*deleted*

[probad 44]

Missions just feel way more organic and pleasant to play than the vanilla campaign.

I'm kind of okay with the respawn system, but lack of AI to fill out your team does make things awkward.

 

Love these new voice actors, wish American radio protocols could have these guys too.

[kylania 568]

Had quite a few bugs.  There were duplicated players as stock units each mission which meant that  deployment always timed out.  One guy was dead at the start of every mission.  At one point after we got to the start of the ambush I as host was teleported back to the start and locked out of my controls.  We often lost players as respawn positions.  Lots of "Empty Unit" waiting to join ending areas.  A lot of voice overs were triggered per player unit, (so 8 times each since we had 4 players and 4 duplicates players).  Couldn't pilot the UAV, only gunner and only then laser but the missiles never fired.

 

Fighting guys in the jungle.. SUCKS.  Too much suspense and shooting at shadows.  That absolutely rocked.

Viper team.. in the fog.. in that thermal proof uniform... also sucks in an amazing way.  Those guys were fantastic throughout!

 

Loved the feel of the entire thing.  The lobby is amazing, everyone loved that.  Interactions were great too.  

 

Revive time needs to be up'd a lot.  Seemingly it was 5 seconds or something. We stopped even trying to revive since no one could disengage quick enough to save anyone.

[AveryTheKitty 2626]

Spoilers

Alright, just finished the whole thing. It's good. I loved the overall design, production quality, and all that. However, it feels short and very rushed during the last three missions. I didn't like the ending either, and how we never see CSAT's pacific forces (apart from Viper), and we rarely see NATO forces. Viper is ridiculously accurate at the end of the last mission too. Also... isn't James supposed to be dead?

[somesangheili 111]

Love these new voice actors, wish American radio protocols could have these guys too.

Yeah, it's quite weird with Raider 1 having the same voice protocol as Staff Sgt Adams...and with the end game showcase, your character's scripted dialog is a different voice to your radio protocol. So yeah, I think these American voices should definitely come with new radio protocols

[probad 44]

the respawn point system really heightens the suspense since you can't savescum engagements. the more i play it the more i like it.

 

these characters are just overall likeable too, i liked salvo and grimm a lot

[IndeedPete 1038]

I've just started it in SP but the obvious MP-focused implementation is just afwul. No pause on Esc, no savegames, and I have to deploy within two minutes. That is not SP, that is "play alone on your own local server". I'm sorry to be so blunt here, but that was a terrible first impression and I'm just five minutes in.

 

Edit:

 

Another problem is communication to the player. When I started the first mission, I had absolutely no idea what to do. Got that task to secure the outpost but I thought I'd had to follow these two AI lads. So I ended up somewhere else and had to run all the way back.

 

Edit 2: The obvious MP-focus is not getting any better. I died halfway through the first mission and was able to respawn - at a point much closer to the objective than where I died. That is kind of convenient but also pretty hillarious. But most of, it is very immersion-breaking. And frankly, after the East Wind's awesome and super immersive first mission, I'd have expected more from Apex Protocol. I know Arma 2's Harvest Red is a red tape for some, but I actually liked the way it combined SP and COOP (when it worked, that is). It's sad to see official SP content seems to be going down the drain in Apex Protocol.

 

As someone who played a great deal of SP and only recently picked up MP in a clan, I kind of like both worlds. But what I saw so far killed the major selling point SP had for me - the immersion. Respawning, walking around completely alone for absolutely no reason, less engaging dialogues (so far). Not really a good start, I must admit.

 

- Keep in mind that I'm only sharing very early first impressions here which might change over time, when I play more of it. And I'm playing and writing this during my morning coffee, so please pardon my rudeness. -

[bek 744]

I've just started it in SP but the obvious MP-focused implementation is just afwul. No pause on Esc, no savegames, and I have to deploy within two minutes. That is not SP, that is "play alone on your own local server". I'm sorry to be so blunt here, but that was a terrible first impression and I'm just five minutes in.

 

Well, it's not SP. It's CO-OP. Given the thread title you'd think that obvious, but apparently not...

[pundra 8]

Well after running through the campaign by myself, the three things at the front of my mind are:

 

1. That was pretty cool but it was REALLY short.

 

2. The Viper units take way too many shots to kill with the 416 rifles. That last mission was a nightmare because I had to shoot these guys like 5 times to kill them, and they would kill me in one shot.

 

3. Since you were using the respawn system anyway, with selectable spawn locations, it would have been nice to be able to choose a couple different insertion points. Just for a little bit of replayability, and it's always nice to have choice. I like the role/kit selection.

[IndeedPete 1038]

Well, it's not SP. It's CO-OP. Given the thread title you'd think that obvious, but apparently not...

 

I know that. And don't get me wrong, I want to play it with other people at some point. I'm just disappointed by the whacky SP-adaption. Why bother adding a "play in singleplayer" option if it completely dismisses proper SP gameplay? But well, it's just a first impression, maybe they will polish that until release and my comment becomes obsolete. (I hope so.^^)

[Awkarran 0]

 

3. Since you were using the respawn system anyway, with selectable spawn locations, it would have been nice to be able to choose a couple different insertion points. Just for a little bit of replayability, and it's always nice to have choice. I like the role/kit selection.

/\_______Million times this.

 

Aside from a couple of awkward dialog timings in different parts of various missions, or dialogs that seemed to be triggered out of sequence (I can't think of any specifics at the moment),

the biggest immersion breaker for me was mission 2 or 3 (again can't remember which) it was stated that the teams would be inserting via boat and the very next moment a helo is seen flying away as you spawn in.

 

Other than that, I had a great first play, enjoyed the story (a little shorter than I was expecting), and I'm looking forward to having another go when everything is done next week.

[lexx 1390]

Well, it's not SP. It's CO-OP. Given the thread title you'd think that obvious, but apparently not...

 

It was said multiple times you can play it in singleplayer- which technically is true, but not in a way I would imagine "singleplayer". Basically as IndeedPete wrote: It's hosting your own server with password protection and not "singleplayer." Being able to "play the campaign in singleplayer" means to me: AI team mates and non-multiplayer interface. So allowing save, disable respawn, etc. 

 

This just as a side note. Keep in mind that otherwise I really like what I've seen so far and I can see this being a lot fun when playing with friends.

[probad 44]

There needs to be a restart button in addition to respawning

[IndeedPete 1038]

It was said multiple times you can play it in singleplayer- which technically is true, but not in a way I would imagine "singleplayer". Basically as IndeedPete wrote: It's hosting your own server with password protection and not "singleplayer." Being able to "play the campaign in singleplayer" means to me: AI team mates and non-multiplayer interface. So allowing save, disable respawn, etc. 

 

This just as a side note. Keep in mind that otherwise I really like what I've seen so far and I can see this being a lot fun when playing with friends.

 

Exactly. A way to get rid of that particular problem would be to just make it run in SP, which already gets rid of that silly respawn, and add some good old save points. The gear selection in the briefing screen is totally fine and I don't even mind being alone, considering that controlling AI squad mates is tricky at best.

 

But as of now, I feel like Rambo. I just finished the first mission and killed, what, 30 people? And how? Recon by fire, run 'n' gun, random grenade bombing... And why? Because I could. Every time I died, 25 seconds later I respawned, conveniently with full ammo, and often right behind the enemy patrol that killed me. There is not a single game mechanic or design choice in place to prevent me from going all pew, pew, pew. I don't have to do proper recon. I don't have to apply any tactics. I don't have to conserve ammo or FAKs. I can just respawn - bam, full ammo, full health, no setbacks. One could argue that loading a savegame in SP is doing the exact same thing. But that would be not true as gear, health, position, and amount of enemies is saved to re-create the exact same situation. The respawn system on the other hand allows me to just walk into a difficult situation, pew pew a few enemies, die, and then come back at full force to beat off the remainers. (Please keep in mind that I haven't tried different difficulty settings yet; if the respawn is disabled on a higher difficulty level, my criticism in that regard becomes largely invalid.)

 

For me, that fact completely kills any form of tension or immersion. So far, I cannot take Apex Protocol seriously. Arma, in my very personal opinion, was always a game about tactics, situational awareness, slow and careful approaches. The respawn system makes all that obsolete, it becomes very casual. I hope this is just a matter of tweaking, we're talking about an unfinished product after all. In my clan, we also use respawn in most of our missions. However, it comes with drawbacks such as long ways to get back into action, a longer timeout "in the M.A.S.H." etc. But at the moment, every time I die, I can actually respawn at a position closer to the current objective than where I originally was. It's a mechanic I immediately exploited because there was nothing in place to prevent me from doing so.

 

Before anyone says I can only criticise in a bad way: I do like the settings they built and how they play with the weather conditions. Tanoa is beautiful and they manage to show off quite well. The sounds are great, the music works so far. And the beginning of the second mission actually looked a bit better than the first one. Even though it suffers from the same problems I already stated above.

[QuiGon 10]

Hmm, a respawn system in a coop campaign like this? :huh:

That's not good news. I liked the old save system, which worked pretty well for the ArmA2 coop campaign (and also in standalone coop missions). I miss the opportunity to save my game in MP like I can in SP since the release of ArmA3. It worked great in the previous games (all the way back to OFP) and I hoped it would come back with Apex. I've never understood why this has been dropped. Having to respawn after death really destroys the immersion for me :(

 

Apart from that, the new campaign sounds really nice