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nominesine

Blue Skies I

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Thanks for your very quick reply regarding the camel.pbo.

I have come upon another problem. It seems there's a bug in the mission where you have to destroy the rebel tanks. I place satchels around the tank, apc, two trucks and the aa gun and when I blow them up, my men start shooting at me. I assume some of those units are marked friendly?

I'll try to get around it by blowing everything up with the T-55 and then blowing it up with RPGs.. Just thought to let you know so you can check it out. Great campaign so far, BTW..

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It's not a bug, it's a feature tounge2.gif

No, seriously... since you carry over score from previous missions, your negative score might make you a "renegade" if you blow up to many inocent boxes, empty apc:s and so on. I'd guess you shot some civies before, right?

Or maybe you accidentally killed one of your own men with the satchel???

I tried to recreate your problem, but was unable to achieve that effect without hurting civilians in the beginning of the mission, or killing my own men.

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No, they're supposed to go straight to the vehicle. But rememmber that they are OFP AI  

I tried to stop them from running around in circles by heavy scripting. But their behaviour depends on player actions as well as scripted waypoints. In playtesting they behaved like that 1 time out of 10. It's the best ratio I can get with my rather limited scripting skills.

this has to do with the engine in tonal they created, setting skill levels, scripts, triggers even a truck or where your men in your squad go can make the ai do different things. its preview and preview and edit, 100 times, with many different out comes.

 I tried to stop them from running around in circles

as a wise man once told me

their looking for contact lenses i tryed to keep my ai under control and they either ran all over the map or did nothing banghead.gif  but its still fun and challenging thumbs-up.gif  nominesine your a legend and the mission (campaign) is a inspiration! can ya do it again? whens the next one coming out tounge2.gif

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can ya do it again? whens the next one coming out?

Yes I can do it again. But I'm not planning any more releases before Armed Assault. I don't know if Ofp-missions are going to work in AA and I don't want to work with something that has do be remade from scratch when BIS releases the new game.

Blue Skies II is already planned, though. The story will be about a young Tonalese freedom fighter and his familly, who takes part in demonstrations against the Tonalese government. Their goal is to overthrow the American supported government with democratic means. The outro of the current campaign will be the intro to the next part. I'm not going to give you any more information. That would be too much of a spoiler.

Joseph Conrad has a small part in the story too, but he's not the main character any more.

While waiting for Armed Assault I'm making missions for the Swedish Forces Pack (SFP4).

Keep the faith wink_o.gif

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@el fisho

No, they're supposed to go straight to the vehicle. But rememmber that they are OFP AI smile_o.gif

I tried to stop them from running around in circles by heavy scripting. But their behaviour depends on player actions as well as scripted waypoints. In playtesting they behaved like that 1 time out of 10. It's the best ratio I can get with my rather limited scripting skills.

lol

ode to the joys of the OFP AI icon_rolleyes.gif

generally, great campign, truly exellent notworthy.gif

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@el fisho

Thanks. I'm glad you liked it.

@everybody.

I've updated the first post with new (and more reliable) download links for addons and mirrors.

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Fixed the OFPEC download link in the first post smile_o.gif

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lorengauE.jpg A small teaser pack of Blue Skies II is on it's way. This is the story:

Martin King is the local editor of a small Tonali newspaper named The Lorengau Evangelist. When the small but dirty civil war errupts on the Tonal islands, the president postpones the autumn elections. Martin King's job is to write reports from the small villages in the Lorengau Valley.

The Lorengau Evangelist's supports the political oposition and demands that the canceled elections must be held. Thus Martin King finds himself in a dilemma. As an editor, he must argue for democracy. But his family, friends and neighbours are all plantation workers. They remain loyal to the armed guerilla forces and want him to take part in the brushfire revolution.

As a player, you will have to make that choice for him.

Meanwhile, there's a discussion thread about the unfinished single missions, that will form the backbone of Blue Skies II at Ofpec. Any help with the details of the story is welcome.

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Hey mates!

Im havin a trouble in the very first mission...when the soldier comes to formation and asks Conrad to get in Jeep. So when im getting in the game stops and there opens an error i cant read, cause i cant switch on it...what can it be? In other campaigns the same jeep is okay.

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I ned more info to help you...

Does the game freeze or can you still move around?

What kind of error message are you refering to (the one you cannot read)? Is it a grey box with an OK button or is it the small white print that shows up in the top half of the screen to indicate a scripting error?

I tested the scene and was able to recreate the following problem...

If you jump in to the drivers seat of the jeep before the soldier, you will block his way into the jeep (you are supposed to sit in the passenger seat and the AI soldier in the drivers position). Then the AI soldier will just stand there and you wont be getting any more instructions. Well, this is just 15 seconds into the first mission. If this is your problem, restart and follow the instructions. A good soldier follows orders smile_o.gif

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I get a different problem with some cutscenes. It says i'm missing an addon called "aabunker1". I click ok and the cutscene is then skipped. I can play all the missions so it is not a big problem but i would like to see all the cutscenes of your great campaign. I put all the bunker addons that i can find in the addon folder but still no luck. Hope u know what it is i'm missing. confused_o.gif

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Yes, I agree you should watch the cutscenes. Unfortunately there is no such thing as an AA-bunker included in the mission, so I cannot help you. I've never heard of the addon and there is no such thing on my hdd. Hence it shouldn't be in the mission smile_o.gif

I'm quite sure it's an addon conflict, caused by an addon that you have and I don't have. Most likely it's a bunker of some sort. Better get them out of your addon folder again tounge2.gif Good luck

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Blue Skies sounds like a great campain, however I get a couple of CTDs including one at the very begining of Operation Sentinel Part III, immediatly after the binocular zoom in crazy_o.gif

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CTD's are usually addonRelated. Do you recieve any error messages after the crash?

The only difference between Sentinel II and Sentinel III (as far as I remember) is that the BAS helicopters turn up for the first time in the last part of the Sentinel trilogy(an MH-60 I think).

What version of BAS-Littlebirds are you using? The release I link to, or the updated unfinished version that TJ released a few weeks ago?!? I believe that the scond one replaces a few of the core files used by all BAS-helicopters (airWeapons.pbo) and I was using the older, official BAS-version when I designed the mission.

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No special error message, just the usual message saying that it will send info to MS  sad_o.gif  When I say usual I must say that I very rarely experience CTD in OFP ...

Quote[/b] ] AppName: flashpointresistance.exe AppVer: 1.0.0.96 ModName: flashpointresistance.exe

ModVer: 1.0.0.96 Offset: 0009ea75

Starting with FFUR2005 prevent the CTD but once the T55 are destroyed the objective is not complete  huh.gif

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I tried to recreate your problem without success. The objective, however, should be completed when you have destroyed all the ARMOURED vehicles (i.e not just the T55:s)

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This campaign was excellent. I loved the detail you went into. I really found it immersive.

Your choice of addons and mods was excellent. They are my favourite addons. They are very functional, provide a good framerate and have some nice effects! (I also played it with FDF. The sound mixing in that mod is great and really made some of the larger situations seem very large (like a-10s on a strafing run, etc).

I found the dialogue and other details quite good, and I found that it got better towards the end. Don't be offended, but I think that this very good story deserves to be redubbed with native speakers (and some of the radio chats turned down in volume).

There is a strange issue where if you complete the campaign and try to go back to replay the Sentinel III mission (I loved that mission.. it was poetry), you retain your loadout from the last mission you played. Obviously, the BAS laser designator is not in there sad_o.gif

All in all it was excellent. I loved the complex (implied) political and social commentary and very dark nature of the story. Pure genius.

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This campaign was excellent.  I loved the detail you went into.  I really found it immersive.

notworthy.gif

Don't be offended, but I think that this very good story deserves to be redubbed with native speakers (and some of the radio chats turned down in volume).

I'm not offended. You are absolutely right. My english has a very strong accent (a mix of russian and swedish). If you play the campaign with OFP volume settings Music: 7, Radio: 5, Effects: 5, you will get a better sound quality (my comp was set to these levels when building the missions, but I noticed it too late).

There is a strange issue where if you complete the campaign and try to go back to replay the Sentinel III mission (I loved that mission.. it was poetry), you retain your loadout from the last mission you played.

Ouch... I thought i hade corrected that one. Well, nobody's perfect tounge2.gif

I loved the complex (implied) political and social commentary and very dark nature of the story.

I was waiting for somebody to say that smile_o.gif

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After finaly playing Blue Skies, I've read through the beta testing thread and this one, to see if I wasn't the only one who noticed special things about this campaign. So my reply will continue some older discussions.

First I would like to compare it with Revolt 1998, as both campaigns focus mainly on the same things: Quality and using the BAS Addons on Tonali, in a modern war against terrorism scenario.

Revolt 1998 has the better mission design. They all have an adequate duration, offer good game play, tactical freedom and seem to be relative realistic from the military point of view. The cutscenes, voices and story are never below the original CWC quality. All this makes it a very good "standardized" campaign.

Blue Skies' missions are more like an interactive movie. They are (supposed to be) easy most of the time, and don't feature the best possibilities of OFP engine game play. But the camera/sound/music work is superb and the story is... well, it's the first OFP campaign that affected me like a movie or novel. So this one is better described as somekind of special OFP art not only as campaign.

While beta testing someone wrote that he doesn't like how the US soldiers are shown. I think that's resulting from using Vietnam war stories on a modern scenario.

I've noticed so many 'nam movie things, it seemed for me your whole "movie" was patched together from them. tounge2.gif The overall atmosphere and Conrad comming from Apocalypse Now/Heart of Darkness and everything concerning Charlie Teams' daily life comming from Full Metal Jacket/The Short Timers.

Maybe it's true that nowadays all US soldiers are volunteers and don't act that much demotivated/unprofessionel like conscripts in Vietnam. Or maybe that's just what current movies like Black Hawk Down make us believe. I mean what about The Green Berets movie with John Wayne? Only perfect soldiers there.

For me it really looks like you've created the counter part of Apocalypse Now in OFP nominesine. thumbs-up.gif Like that movie, your campaign could be criticized for unrealistic/unbelievable military work and reviling "our" soldiers. But the story is fascinatingly disturbing and in every rumor is a little bit of truth. More than ever, when I think about that you already worked as a war correspondent.

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Blue Skies' missions are more like an interactive movie. They are (supposed to be) easy most of the time... it's the first OFP campaign that affected me like a movie or novel. So this one is better described as somekind of special OFP art not only as campaign.

That was my intenton with the campaign. I'm an average gamer myself, at best. Hence I find hard core OFP missions often become repetetive and boring, because I die and have to restart them over and over.

Quote[/b] ]While beta testing someone wrote that he doesn't like how the US soldiers are shown. I think that's resulting from using Vietnam war stories on a modern scenario.

Maybe it's true that nowadays all US soldiers are volunteers and don't act that much demotivated/unprofessionel like conscripts in Vietnam. Or maybe that's just what current movies like Black Hawk Down make us believe.

I started working on Blue Skies when I came home from Iraq in spring 2004. It was part therapy, part a wisch to tell a good story. But, and this is important, Blue Skies is in no way a "true" campaign, even though the 75th Ranger Regiment exist in RL. I never intended to be realistic. I wanted to create an illusion of realism, creating a willing suspension of disbelief.

I do however think that movies like BHD contains as much propaganda about soldiers behaviour as The Green Berrets did in the 60's, or any Soviet War movie from the 70's. I've met regular troops, special forces, militias, teenagers with guns in different hot zones in the Middle East. They all have one thing in common. They are all human and they all become scared when bullets start flying. War does not bring out rational behaviour in most people.

Quote[/b] ]I've noticed so many 'nam movie things, it seemed for me your whole "movie" was patched together from them. tounge2.gif The overall atmosphere and Conrad comming from Apocalypse Now/Heart of Darkness and everything concerning Charlie Teams' daily life comming from Full Metal Jacket/The Short Timers.

Correct again. I grew up with 'Nam movies and Rock music (and parents that forced me to read The Heart of Darkness and Short Timers). Apocalypse was one of my favourite movies when I was young(er).

Btw: Part II of Blue Skies is 95% done (only briefings remain). The theme in the second part will be taken from Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar if you care to do a little reading in advance tounge2.gif

Thank's for the interesting feedback. It's reactions like these that make's it worth to spend hour and hour designing a mission (that and watching the download counter tick away)

EDIT: If you look carefully in the Scene where Hudson is firing at the civillians you will notice that he doesn't kill a single person. He is firing in the air. The killing is done by the Government troops, Kowalski, Joker and perhaps yours truly wink_o.gif It's a panic reaction triggered by an eventhandler. Just my two cents concerning the banality of evil that men do...

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Now that's embarrassing. I really killed one of those guys at the roadblock after he hit me with a rock. It wasn't an emotinal act but impulsively. The many Tonalis were way too close and after hearing the first strange gun shots (without seeing any weapons on the civilians), I felt a direct threat for me and my group as soon as the all around aggression hit me directly. - But still it was only a rock.

I've got to tell you that the last mission of the campaign turned out to be repetive and boring for me without beeing too difficult. sad_o.gif

I guess that was because I'm often playing hard core missions were I'm able to use all my OFP tactic skills. In Nightstalker III I wasn't able to do that, because the dense Tonali jungle makes controlling OFP AI almost impossible. Plus the enemys are almost invisible in the jungle with nightvision.

Some problems with triggers/scripts I've noticed:

Brother in Arms. I had to restart the mission until Hudson started shooting after his speech.

Ending Sentinel I. After the briefing I wasn't aware that I've got to spot all three truck drivers to end the mission. Had to read the beta testing for that. Used endmission cheat.

Ending Sentinel III. I've waited forever on our hill after the mission was done. Until I found out that I had to visit the village to end it.

Either you need to be more clearly in some briefings or the triggering of events has to be more flexible and user friendly.

Oh and please, no "follow him" hints for Blue Skies II anymore. Just let the guy talk if he wants the player to follow. smile_o.gif

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Oh and please, no "follow him" hints for Blue Skies II anymore. Just let the guy talk if he wants the player to follow. smile_o.gif

Roger that chief. They will talk smile_o.gif

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Love the campaign

The introduction to various people and areas was done in such an inovative way.

The character blacking out sequence was amazing.

Well done.

This is one of the best.

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