Abandoned Armies 1.4

[General Barron 0]

Have you checked that the islands are the default OFP islands and not enhanced ones?

Oooh... come to think of it, I do have 'enhanced' ones. I'll switch and see if it makes a difference. Forgot about those.

Quote[/b] ]How you can play with 8fps or even 4fps!? That's cruel torture (of yourself), that's what it is! You have my symphaties, lads.

I used to get upwards of 10 fps playing OFP. Now I 'upgraded' my comp, and I get like 12! That's one of the reasons why I don't use many addons. But playing AA still slows it down quite a bit, even without any addons.

[Guest]

Just wanted to say this is a really great mission. Ive played it through a few times, I honestly ive never seen another single player dynamic style mission like it.

[XCess 0]

Finally!!! I've finally got Abandoned Armies running at a decent speed.. sometimes up to around 12fps  

For some reason my BIOS had main graphics adapter set to PCI instead of AGP.. aswell as ruining the performance of my CPU, this also stopped my mobo recognizing my CPU properly.

Fixed it now and everything runs faster  

Nearly lost my jeep at the beginning though when they scared me at the road blockade after the one with the bus. Drove down to some trees and went back to see if they were following me. Luckily they weren't but then I went back to where I thought the jeep was... took me about 15 minutes to find it again  

Noticed that I now have to drop my weapon when I get to the lodge. You love scaring people half to death don't ya THob

But my luck isn't holding too strongly, now I've got a general OFP bug of not having a death rsc..  

[thobson 38]

Special Ed:  I have been travelling so didn’t respond immediately to the save game issue you mentioned in your post – I also wanted to see if anyone else has a similar problem.  As you have now edited that sentence out of your post I presume all is now well with your new computer.  I know of only two savegame issues:

(1) the large savegame bug which can occur if you have some of the addon ‘enhancements' running as well.  That bug in OFP, and its workaround, is pretty well documented elsewhere but I would be happy to repeat it here if needed.

(2) the fact that when you exit and then resume a mission you don’t go back to the latest savegame, in fact you go back to the position you were at the last time you exited the game alive.  This is a feature of OFP that is fully explained in the readme file.

I am glad you liked the mission enough to play it through several times.  When I was first making the mission (before beta testing when no one else had seen it) I thought that there were probably only 3 or 4 people in the whole world that would like it enough to play it all the way through, and because of its length no one would play it more than once.  So I am always pleased to find that people have played it end to end several times - it is a real time eater.

XCess:

Quote[/b] ] Noticed that I now have to drop my weapon when I get to the lodge. You love scaring people half to death don't ya Thob

 This came from a suggestion by Mikero/Freda during beta testing.  He felt, quite rightly, that it was incorrect to still have a weapon at the ready while waiting for the cutscene to begin. Bye the way the warning shots you hear are real bullets at your feet, not sound effects, so no sudden movements please.

Quote[/b] ] maybe we could make a website with a password that you are told at completion of the mission.

Err... well... actually... there is a document of design notes/spoilers (about 40 pages worth).  I made it available to the mission reviewers at ofpec but all attention there currently is rightly focussed on getting the site up and running again.  Some other people I have offered it to have refused, they prefer not to know but to find out themselves.

This is the first time I have come across people delving into their BIOS because of this mission – it must be a first.

Quote[/b] ] now I've got a general OFP bug of not having a death rsc..  

What is a death rsc?  I am getting a bit old

[XCess 0]

You know.. the titleRsc that comes up saying "You Are Dead" and has the quotes. I don't think it would be a problem with your mission though THob.

**edit** I found the problem.. it was the editorUpdate included with the mission

I downloaded this version of ofpmd if that makes any difference.

[mandoble 1]

Excelent mission THobson, outstanding work.

So far it runs smooth enough to be perfectly playable (AMD XP2100, GF6600GT, 512MB, W98SE).

[XCess 0]

Still can't work out this death scene problem... I switched to a different version.. not sure which.. and the death resources came up again on a test I did on desert island.. then I tried loading the mission and the game crashed, CTD. Tried starting the mission again, same thing, except this time I lost my save point. Then I tried using Mikero's version, worked fine, mission started (from scratch), but then I got shot in La Trinite while trying to take on the southern convoy with nothing but an MP5, and the resource ddn't show again.

[-Snafu- 78]

Well I can honestly say this is THE best mission I have ever played for ofp. It gives a great feeling of desperation when you start the game but you still fight. I'm a bit lost atm as I took the second group of civilians to the lodge some of them got killed, but when I get to the lodge my guy just says, "they could have told me something." But i'm not sure what to do next. Anyways great mission mate.

[thobson 38]

Those civilians do have some information for you. If any of them are killed you will not get it and so some (actually a very great deal) of the story will be closed off to you. So you have a choice: Continue with the mission and wonder forever what else the island has within it; or go back and do it again and make sure you protect the civilians better.

I suggest the seconds option.

Glad you like it so far.

[-Snafu- 78]

I continued the mission without the civillians and marked areas that could be used for observation posts. I think it was outside La Trinite I spotted a shed, so i scanned the area and made sure there was no enemy troops. I ran over to the shed and when i got close i got shot by an M16, i didn't see who killed me and the M16 kept firing But i think i'll restart and save the civillians.

[thobson 38]

Quote[/b] ]i think i'll restart and save the civillians.

I think that is an excellent idea.  Or at least go back to a save game before you started taking casualties.

Mandoble:

Sorry I missed your post.  Thank you so much for your comment.  It is good to know about smooth running

[5133p39 14]

I am lost.

I saved two groups of civilians, killed Andropov and all of his army, and i think i killed Stamenov too (and his army), but in my notebook the objectives "kill Stamenov" and "Destroy Stamenov's army" aren't completed - but i cleaned whole island, there is no one left alive, except the civilians in my group.

Where is Stamenov? Is he the policeman inside the building in Chapoi? (the building that when you enter it, two women on second floor gets shot) ?

[thobson 38]

Stamenov is indeed the policeman on the upper floor of the building in Chapoi. When you kill him you should get a voiceover (as you should when you kill Andropov) and the objective to kill him should be ticked off. I cannot begin to imagine what might be causing the problem - the mission has been beta tested and played for ~15 months and this problem has not been reported in all that time. The thing that triggers the voiceover and the objective completed is a killed Event Handler on Stamenov. If there was something on your system preventing EHs from working you would not get the Andropov message or objective ticked off - in fact most of the mission would not work without EHs.

Is your system completely free of unofficial addons (if not they should be safely tucked away in folders of their own as is explained above a couple of times)? Has anything changed on your system after you killed Andropov?

I am sorry. This must be quite frustrating.

[5133p39 14]

Stamenov is indeed the policeman on the upper floor of the building in Chapoi. When you kill him you should get a voiceover (as you should when you kill Andropov) and the objective to kill him should be ticked off. I cannot begin to imagine what might be causing the problem - the mission has been beta tested and played for ~15 months and this problem has not been reported in all that time. The thing that triggers the voiceover and the objective completed is a killed Event Handler on Stamenov. If there was something on your system preventing EHs from working you would not get the Andropov message or objective ticked off - in fact most of the mission would not work without EHs.

Is your system completely free of unofficial addons (if not they should be safely tucked away in folders of their own as is explained above a couple of times)? Has anything changed on your system after you killed Andropov?

I am sorry. This must be quite frustrating.

No unofficial addons, except the Editor Upgrade which is needed.

After loading before i kill Stamenov, i noticed an error message - it's something about a '_loon' who is being setDamaged according to whther he can stand or not.

This combination of commands is only in 'DefendBaseE.sqs' or 'DefendBaseW.sqs' scripts. The error is happening on the following line:<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">while {not (canStand _loon)} do {_loon setDammage (getDammage _loon - 0.01)}I can't recall the message now, but its some sort of generic error which doesn't tell exactly what is causing the error, only on which line.

Could be that it is trying to get canStand value for a non existing _loon, but how can this happen - even if the '_loon' is dead, it still exists and should be usable in commands like canStand or getDamage.

But it's a nice mission, although a total FPS killer, maybe i'll try again.

[thobson 38]

What a bummer.  I have not come across this problem in months of play.  The lines immediately above the one you quote are:<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">if ((count _livingloons) < 1) then {exit}

_i = 0

#loop_loons_phase1

_loon = _livingloons select _i

if not (alive _loon) then {goto"skip_loon_phase1"}Followed by:<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">while {not (canStand _loon)} do {_loon setDammage (getDammage _loon - 0.01)}  

So the line can only be executed if there are loons in the array _livingloons and the selected _loon is alive.  Even if you have killed everybody before you reload the mission _livingloons will be an empty array and so the script will exit before hitting that line.  I can only guess that something might have corrupted the save file.

Did you get the voiceover when you killed Andropov?  and another when you killed Stamenov?

I am glad you might try it again.  There may be things in the mission you might not have found so it still might have some interest for you.  You mentioned the two groups of civilians.  Did you find the house of the pregnant woman? or the second medic? or the third?

[5133p39 14]

Did you get the voiceover when you killed Andropov? and another when you killed Stamenov?

Did you find the house of the pregnant woman? or the second medic? or the third?

I got the voiceover after killing Andropov, and then after destroying his army (they surrendered a while after i killed Andropov and some more soldiers).

For the Stamenov kill i didn't got the voiceover - i just killed him and nothing happened.

I found the russian soldier, the first and second medic, and some woman in the attic. When i get near the ladder to the attic, a cutscene starts showing me walking in the attic to the woman lying on ground and then i got voiceover that she is resting and i shouldn't disturb her - which was somewhat funny considering all the shooting :-))

Not a word about the fact she is pregnant (or is it some other woman?).

[thobson 38]

I hate it when support people tell me my system is to blame for problems with their software - but I can't think of any other explanation in this case.  The best I can think of is that somehow your savegame was corrupted.  There is a killed Event Handler on each of Andropov and Stamenov that fire the voiceover, as well as other things.  I can tell you that the script with the voiceover is also  the script that checks for that side's army being destroyed, so that objective will never be ticked off if the voiceover script does not run.

So you didn't speak with the woman in the attic?  The second medic you found - was the alive or dead?  There is still some more to the story that might be sufficiently interesting for a second play through (I promise you that I have never heard of anyone having the problem you descripe - so it looks like one of those glitches).  If you want a hint send me an IM

[5133p39 14]

I hate it when support people tell me my system is to blame for problems with their software - but I can't think of any other explanation in this case. The best I can think of is that somehow your savegame was corrupted. There is a killed Event Handler on each of Andropov and Stamenov that fire the voiceover, as well as other things. I can tell you that the script with the voiceover is also the script that checks for that side's army being destroyed, so that objective will never be ticked off if the voiceover script does not run.

So you didn't speak with the woman in the attic? The second medic you found - was the alive or dead? There is still some more to the story that might be sufficiently interesting for a second play through (I promise you that I have never heard of anyone having the problem you descripe - so it looks like one of those glitches). If you want a hint send me an IM

messed up savegame? could be, who knows. Anything is possible with OFP

No no, i was unable to speak with her, the cutscene told me that she is resting and i shouldn't disturb her - again and again.

I even tried is again after i killed Andropov and his army, but she was still "resting".

The second medic was alive - with small group of civilians and few resistance soldiers. There was a cutscene in which i said i don't need another medic because i already got one, and he was ordered to lead the civilians to the mountain lodge.

I am not sure whether he survived the journey - soon after they run off, some armor and infantry appeared and i was forced to fight them despite my best efforts to hide in the nearby woods (cursed AI see thru everything) - BUT the civilians made it to the mountain lodge, and i think it was the medic who reported this, so i think he survived.

[thobson 38]

There are a lot of buildings on Malden and only one has a woman in it. I think I know how you guessed where - but really the player is unlikely to go there until told about her. Then she will speak with you. Unless you have been told about her she will continue to 'rest'. I think the first medic is the one that guides the civis to safety, the second will not join you if you have a medic.

Hint: Talk to you team, sometimes it is waffle, sometimes it is useful - it is random as well as being context sensitive.

[5133p39 14]

There are a lot of buildings on Malden and only one has a woman in it. I think I know how you guessed where - but really the player is unlikely to go there until told about her. Then she will speak with you. Unless you have been told about her she will continue to 'rest'. I think the first medic is the one that guides the civis to safety, the second will not join you if you have a medic.

Hint: Talk to you team, sometimes it is waffle, sometimes it is useful - it is random as well as being context sensitive.

i found her only by accident when going through the houses while searching for something useful (you know, the 'search' location in the H..... village).

Talk to my team??? I can talk to them? how? i didn't noticed any user action or anything which would allow me to do so.

[thobson 38]

When you reorganise them (Radio 1) they talk to you. As I said some times it is waffle, sometimes is is useful. It is random and it is context sensitive.

[pecel2u 0]

i've played this game for a months and nothing wrong with it, viewdays ago i've to restore my computer system, an when i try to play this mission again it's always asking for 88's addon, or missing addon newhqnames.

What i've to do to fix this error?

Sorry for bad english. I'm Indonesian

[thobson 38]

I really have no idea I am sorry. I do not use addons (apart from the General Barron Editor Upgrade). I wonder are there are others out there that do use addons that might be able to help?

[thobson 38]

Sorry for the brief reply yesterday.  Thinking about it over night, all I can suggest is that you make sure you have a clean installation of Flashpoint up to version 1.96, then add General Barron's Editor Upgrade and it should be okay.  That is the set up I used the whole time I was building the mission so I can be sure the mission file is not contaminated by any other un-offical addons.  If you want to add other addons for other missions that is fine but I suggest you use folders just for those addons as described here.

I wish you luck

[pecel2u 0]

Yeah...i thought is the addon thing..i remember this begin to error when i isntall addons from makero and delete all old editurupgrade.pbo and all other thing that Makero said in the readme file...may be i should backup it in another folder, not delete it.

Thanks for helping