What Makes a Good Arma Campaign?

[Sniperwolf572 758]

First things first, I'm loving this thread, it's full of interesting, thoughtful posts.  

 

Anyway, I'll disagree with the sentiments expressed above with regards to mods.

 

What would be the point if every single campaign was limited to the narrow scope of the vanilla universe and assets? There would never be a modless campaign with Spetsnaz, Bundeswehr, USMC, WW2 factions in environments other than "arid greek island" and "lush pacific jungle island" where the civilians are "people in shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops" driving "luxurious car in 2 variants and a jeep wrangler".

 

What I find more important is the campaign coverage of any content used. Requiring RHS because you want to use a single weapon/vehicle? No. Requiring RHS because you want to tell a Russia vs CSAT story. Hell yeah. Requiring 5 mods that cover the same thing? Nope. Requiring 10 mods that add something actually worthwhile throughout the campaign. Do it.

 

Sure, if you need something small and simple, you'd include it in the campaign PBO. But you most certainly will not include terrains, factions and entire collections of weapons in them. Common sense is important.

[lexx 1363]

Sure, but if a campaign requires 3 different weapon mods and a mod that adds new hats, then I most certainly won't even bother with it.

[IndeedPete 1038]

I was writing from the point of view of a developer with long-term projects in mind. If you work on something for a year and rely on a mod that breaks one week before release, author's gone and you don't have any permission to fix that mod, you're fucked. It's just a consideration one should make before randomly selecting all sorts of mods. To bring up M.E.R.C.S. again, it's built on vanilla but allows a ton of optional gear and weapon packs. With a bit of scripting it is possible to allow certain mods without actually relying on them.

[Sniperwolf572 758]

Sure, but if a campaign requires 3 different weapon mods and a mod that adds new hats, then I most certainly won't even bother with it.

 

Well, common sense applies certainly. But as I said, if the content features prominently and adds value to the campaign, I'd have no problem with "3 weapon mods and some hats". Problem is actually making those things matter. And that's where the question really comes in for the author: "Can I do what I want without this". And I believe that is the better measure. Could the author have gone without something, is anything of substance lost if that was not used, etc.

 

I was writing from the point of view of a developer with long-term projects in mind. If you work on something for a year and rely on a mod that breaks one week before release, author's gone and you don't have any permission to fix that mod, you're fucked. It's just a consideration one should make before randomly selecting all sorts of mods. To bring up M.E.R.C.S. again, it's built on vanilla but allows a ton of optional gear and weapon packs. With a bit of scripting it is possible to allow certain mods without actually relying on them.

 

Yes, optional content like "more weapons" which you can inject dynamically would work. But most of campaigns that can do that for all the content are of the "dynamic sandbox" type. You can't really craft a focused campaign and story around Bundeswehr, with voice acting in german and all, but if you don't have the BW mod, they're dressed in american NATO uniforms and riding Hunters. You can't really dynamically inject an island.

 

All I'm trying to say is that it isn't as simple as "depends on mods = bad".

[Kydoimos 916]

Okay, gentlemen, I've compiled a few notes (possibly for some thread polling) based on the above. Again, just a massive thank you to everyone who has contributed; I think what we're covering here is a really awesome resource for content creators! Please let me know if I've missed some major points in the below (I just know I have! So, apologies in advance!):

 

Mods

 

An aspect of community campaigns that should be considered.

 

Character / World / Personal Development

 

The evolution of the player and characters in a persistent, evolving environment. Weapon storing.

 

Challenging

 

A balanced and challenging experience. Not necessarily combat driven (strategy, problem-solving and planning).

 

Consequences for Player Actions

 

In-game consequences for player actions; e.g. failing to destroy a weapons cache in one mission leads to better armed opponents in another.

 

Civilian Interaction

 

The return of interaction with civilians.

 

Realism and Authenticity

 

The emphasis of realism and authenticity as a contributing factor to an immersive experience.

 

Non-Linear / Linear

 

Divided opinions on approach - but an important aspect of campaign creation to consider.

 

Freedom

 

A degree of freedom, allowing for players to do things in unexpected ways. Optional tasks etc.

 

Storyline

 

A rich, immersive, interesting, and well-considered storyline. Though perhaps not one that detracts from gameplay or overshadows it. Loose story where player fills in the 'blanks', or detailed story, where everything's explained.

 

Voice Acting / Cutscenes / Cinematics / Music

 

The aesthetics, audio, and general presentation of a campaign.

 

Well Scripted

 

Capable scripting without errors and RPT spamming.

 

No 'Rambo' Mechanics

 

The eschewal of the 'one man army' approach and focus on individual as 'cog in the machine' of war. 'Lone Wolf' scenarios, similar to Signal Lost in 'Adapt', are not necessarily detrimental to a good campaign.

 

Gear Selection and Consistency

 

Possibly linked to the entry above, regarding 'World and Environment Persistency'. Basically, the need to build up supplies in a coherent manner, over time.

 

Different Roles

 

Taking advantage of the different play styles and roles available in Arma 3.

 

Connected Missions

 

Missions that are part of a cohesive vision. Tiles in a greater mosaic, if you will.

 

Interesting Characters

 

Characters that are well-rounded and interesting. See 'Storyline'.

 

Variety of Missions

 

The avoidance, or at least consideration, of cliches and formulaic mission types.

 

Non-Terminal Mission Task Failures

 

The ability to fail mission tasks without failing the mission as a whole.

[IndeedPete 1038]

Looks good, I'd just like to comment on a thing:

 

No 'Lone Wolf' / 'Rambo' Mechanics

 

I feel Lone Wolf mechanics are totally fine if they fit the context. I.e. the player was separated from his squad and now needs to survive or make it through enemy territory to an evac point. Generally scenarios and playstiles which are less combat-oriented and more reliant on stealth aspects. A Rambo mechanic for me is a player as elite soldier, tasked with killing 15 officers and blowing up 32 tanks on his own, deep behind enemy lines. But a scenario where the player is just a basic infantryman / lone survivor separated from his squad who needs to survive by avoiding enemy patrols and bases rather than attacking them seems fine and somewhat authentic. The feeling of being outnumbered and underpowered can lead to quite intense missions in my opinion.

[Kydoimos 916]

^^ Good point! Ammended the above! :P Oh, and by the way, good luck today with the presentation!

[jstibbsy 54]

Twilight of the Gods was a pretty well done campaign. Good job wiki. I would recommened this with ALL campaigns. 1. Add music and sound effects. If you can nail the music then the mission feels like you are really involved. It's also cool hearing explosions in the background to give the player a hint at what is currently happening. 2. Lots of optional tasks and the effects of not doing them or doing them. The one thing I really loved about A2 was that each way you approached a situation it would have a different effect. Like in a mission on A2 OA you had to pilot a Apache and if you crashed during the mission the next mission would be much harder. But if you succeeded it would be easier. I don't know why BI changed it but I still enjoyed most of East Wind a hell of a lot.

[Kydoimos 916]

Right-o, the poll is in place; though do feel free to make suggestions for any amendments! I could only do 20 choices, so, bear that in mind too! 

[IndeedPete 1038]

^^ Good point! Ammended the above! :P Oh, and by the way, good luck today with the presentation!

 

Thanks, went okay, I guess. Academics always find something to criticise, no matter how deep you burry it. Oh well, it's over soon. I can smell the freedom already! :)

[delta3242 399]

It would be nice to have a campaign that is vanilla but supports mods including Task Force Radio for those who want to play MP with more realism, and support those who only play SP too. I know that would either require two versions of the mission since TFR has to have modules placed on the map to work. Would be cool to see something like that in the future preferably on the Diyala, Iraq map. 

[nkenny 1057]

It would be nice to have a campaign that is vanilla but supports mods including Task Force Radio for those who want to play MP with more realism, and support those who only play SP too. I know that would either require two versions of the mission since TFR has to have modules placed on the map to work. Would be cool to see something like that in the future preferably on the Diyala, Iraq map. 

 

It is possible to script around this. My recent missions have both vanilla, ACRE and TFAR support. (My gaming community recently moved back to ACRE).  I've tended to make ACE optional, but by now, RHS and ACE are industry standards as far as I'm concerned. 

-k 

[AZCoder 921]

Looking at the poll, I know that Localization is nice to have, but that's probably one of the most challenging to achieve. I can think of one current campaign that was put on hold for awhile because the author couldn't get a reliable French to English translator. I always use stringtables, but I have so many entries in every mission that I just can't ask anyone to translate all that, and I'm not fluent in any other languages.

 

To clarify my views on mods, I think the main mods like previously mentioned are fair game, like RHS and CUPS. For me, CUPS is mandatory because of what stories I want to tell. The way I view it, if you don't want to download it, no worries, it's the campaign author's choice to make it that way, and the player's choice whether to play it.

[IndeedPete 1038]

I'm a bit divided on stringtables because the German localisation of Arma 3 is so hillariously bad, I've set my game to English anyway. In any case, I think localisation efforts should probably not be prioritised during development. Unless one develops in a different language than English of course. Sure, it's nice to have (and I'm actually trying to get German and English language support going in my own recent releases) but I don't view it as a particularly interesting feature.

[MartinFromZeusCommunity 15]

Immersion. You have to create a sense that there is that much more depth and things in your game and its world, than what there really is from a technical standpoint alone. You also have to maintain that believe by making the player experience things that confirm it. 

[almanzo 144]

Right-o, the poll is in place; though do feel free to make suggestions for any amendments! I could only do 20 choices, so, bear that in mind too! 

In regards of story, add a bullet point about the story being told through the main protagonist rather than being about the main protagonist

[Kydoimos 916]

In terms of length, does anyone have any thoughts about how many missions a good campaign should have?

[almanzo 144]

In terms of length, does anyone have any thoughts about how many missions a good campaign should have?

Remember this?

It was three missions long, and it was by far the best campaign for ARMA II in my mind. Lenght isn't that important, for as long as it has the same quality througout. 

[IndeedPete 1038]

It really is not the size that makes the campaign. And one can always make a sequel to add content later on. Just don't try to artificially stretch the experience by adding unnecessary tedious and/or repetetive tasks. And generally, I prefer multiple smaller over a few longer missions. From a development point of view, I found it to be more rewarding to create smaller pieces of content and in return publish things more frequently. A constant flow of feedback keeps up the motivation and your project(s) stay(s) alive.

[lexx 1363]

Eagle Wing was awesome.

 

Just saying.

[petek 62]

Eagle Wing was awesome.

 

Just saying.

...... and wasn't it a freebie? ;-)

[almanzo 144]

...... and wasn't it a freebie? ;-)

Yes, yes it was

[Kydoimos 916]

I agree, I feel length is not a vital aspect of what makes a good campaign. Personally, I feel anything from about 4-10 missions works quite well; obviously, only 3 did the trick in the case of EW. It's quality, not quanitity, right chaps? :D

 

Also, interesting to see Arma 2 is currently in the lead for everyone's favourite campaign.

[ineptaphid 6413]

I know localization tends to get overlooked in favour of the more exciting things like non-linearity and cut scenes, but it is SO important. At the moment if you go to the workshop and select top rated missions of all time, the first 40 or so are all by Helios.Having played his SEALS campaign I can tell he is an amazing mission maker, but all of those missions are in french. I dont speak french, therefor I have no idea what my objective are and so cannot play the mission.

 

I too like others would like some more civilian interaction. The first Arma campaign I played was A2 and that first mission where you are sent off with your 4 man squad to track the war criminals-Manhattan I think it was- amazed me in it's realism. I remember approaching a woman at a bus stop and asking her some questions.She gave me a tip about a car that i then followed up on. I know those missions were really buggy, but still-done well they would be incredible.

 

Especially regarding the East Wind, I expected a lot more civilian interaction. Coming from a country which has had a lot of trouble with sectarianism and guerrilla groups, getting assistance from the local population is essential to any groups ability to survive when facing a superior enemy. Having civilians providing safe houses, supplies, communications and spying services is a massive part of any guerrilla movement and to play a campaign like the East Wind, while I did enjoy it, I found i unrealistic to be a guerrilla and not be engaging with  and hiding among the population.

[IndeedPete 1038]

 

Also, interesting to see Arma 2 is currently in the lead for everyone's favourite campaign.

 

That's interesting. Though I'd be careful as this might just be the backlash of the recent disappointment with Apex Protocol. From what I got, many expected Harvest Red well done. In any case, the sample size is probably too small and it's just leading by one or two votes.

 

Especially regarding the East Wind, I expected a lot more civilian interaction. Coming from a country which has had a lot of trouble with sectarianism and guerrilla groups, getting assistance from the local population is essential to any groups ability to survive when facing a superior enemy. Having civilians providing safe houses, supplies, communications and spying services is a massive part of any guerrilla movement and to play a campaign like the East Wind, while I did enjoy it, I found i unrealistic to be a guerrilla and not be engaging with  and hiding among the population.

 

That's true. I might add that, while I also enjoyed it and actually voted for it as best campaign here, the whole thing didn't make any sense. In reality, the story could have ended after mission two or three. AAF had air planes with bombs equipped - and all NATO survivors came together in one place. If my name was Akhanteros, I'd have Miller and the NATO survivors fried in their camp by noon of the first day.^^

 

But even if the survivors made it to Altis, there was still CSAT with drones, tanks, and even more planes. And the resistance is again bunching up in camps with fancy shooting ranges and lights everywhere. It's just a campaign designed around the mechanics of 1985 instead of 2035. Arma 3's fault to implement actual futuristic mechanics is an entirely different story though...