Abandoned Armies – Secrets revealed (Mostly)

[thobson 38]

Appendix 1 – Instructions for Testing the Mission

For a mission of this size it is obviously necessary to be able to test parts of it independently without having to play through to the point that is to be tested.  The following are a set of instructions that can be used to test individual parts of the mission.

 

Unless you particularly want to be shot at you should change Resistance to be friendly with everyone in the mission editor.

 

Unless you particularly want it to be dark, rainy and foggy you should set _setEnvironment = false in Init.sqs

 

Some of the instructions below require a radio trigger to be used.  Only use Radio Charlie to Radio Golf.  All the other radio slots are used by the mission.

 

For many of the cut scenes you may wish to place a dead soldier near the player so you can pick up a weapon before triggering the scene.

 

Cadet Mode:
Just start the mission (not a saved game) when in Cadet mode.

 

Anything in Vigny at the start of the mission: 
Move the player into Vigny in the mission editor and wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before doing anything.  Try shooting Tatyana and also inspecting the three dead bodies for example.

 

First Mountain Lodge cutscene: 
Put the player outside the trigger area (Ed38). 
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
Vigny_CutScene = true
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before entering the cutscene trigger area.
You might want to put an empty vehicle nearby to test arriving in a vehicle.
Note that because Tatyana will still be alive a couple of the shots in the scene will seem odd.  You will know them when you see them.  This is a good location to have a dead soldier nearby so you can pick up a rifle before starting the cutscene.

 

First civilian cutscene: 
Put the player outside the trigger area (Dd46). 
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
Civil_radio_message = true
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before entering the cutscene trigger area.
You may wish to place a jeep and a truck nearby to see what happens if you get in a large and a small vehicle before and after the scene.

 

Second Mountain Lodge cutscene: 
Put the player outside the trigger area of the first Civilian hut (Dd46). 
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
Civil_radio_message = true;
Mountain_CutScene = true;
{[_x] join Alexi;_x setPos getPos Alexi} forEach [Ruslan,Karl,Erik,Irena]
Put an empty truck on the map about 200m from the mountain lodge and call it TestTruck.
In Scene_Civi1.sqs remove the semicolons shown below in red from the code in the following lines:
;================== Testing ======================
;{unassignVehicle _x} forEach units group Alexi
;{_x setPos [(getPos testTruck select 0)-10,getPos testTruck select 1,0]} forEach (units group Yuri) + (units group Alexi)
;=================End Testing ===============
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission, then activate the First civilian cutscene. At the end of that scene you will be transported to near the TestTruck,.  Get in and drive it to the mountain lodge.

 

Second civilian cutscene:
Put the player outside the trigger area (Fd35). 
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
YuriJoined = true
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before entering the cutscene trigger area.
Note that the dialogue will be different if you have also set Truce = false

 

Houdan (Sergei) cutscene:
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission (just copy and paste the whole lot into the activation field of the trigger):
YuriJoined = true;
Sergei setDir 273;
Sergei setPos [7147.74,6052.06,0];
Sergei doWatch [(getPos Sergei select 0) + sin(getDir Sergei),(getPos Sergei select 1) + cos(getDir Sergei),0];
whx = 7146;why = 6050.5;whz = 0.1;
wH1 = "weaponHolder" createVehicle [whx,why,whz];
wH1 addMagazineCargo ["M16", 2];
wH1 addWeaponCargo ["M16", 1];
wH1 setPos [whx,why,whz];
wH1 setDir 240;
wH2 = "weaponHolder" createVehicle [whx,why,whz];
wH2 addMagazineCargo ["HandGrenade", 2];
wH2 setPos [whx+1.7,why+1.4,whz];
wH2 setDir 45
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before entering the trigger area.
Note that the dialogue will be different if you have also set:
Truce = false and/or
LaTvisited = true

 

Dourdan Woman Scene 1:
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before entering the building.

Dourdan Woman Scene 2:
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
DoneFirstMsg set [7,true]
Note that the dialogue will be different if you have also set:
Sergei setDammage 0.6 or
Sergei setDammage 1.or
left him undamaged
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before entering the building.

Dourdan Woman Scene 3:
Do scene 2 and then re-enter the loft.

Dourdan Woman Scene 4:
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
LarcheDone = true
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before entering the building.
Also try re-entering the loft after seeing scene 4

 

Le Port Concentration camp Scene 1:
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
Mountain_CutScene = true
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before entering the cutscene trigger area.

Le Port Concentration camp Scene 2:
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
Mountain_CutScene = true;
PavelJoined = true
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before entering the cutscene trigger area.

Le Port Concentration camp Scene 3:
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
Mountain_CutScene = true;
PavelJoined = true;
Pavel setDammage 1
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before entering the cutscene trigger area.

Le Port Concentration camp Scene 4:
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
Mountain_CutScene = true;
PavelJoined = true;
Put in a radio trigger (Charlie to Golf only) that sets:
Pavel setDammage 1
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before entering the cutscene trigger area.
When scene 2 is finished leave the trigger area, activate a radio trigger that kills Pavel and then re-enter the cutscene trigger area.

 

End scene:
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
Mountain_CutScene = true;
YuriJoined = true;
MarekJoined = true;
PavelJoined = true;
SergeiJoined = true;
ViktorJoined = true;
{[_x] join Alexi;_x setPos getPos Alexi} forEach [Ruslan,Karl,Erik,Irena,Yuri,Marek,Pavel,Sergei,Viktor]
Put in the following radio triggers (Charlie to Golf only):
Trigger C kill Stamenov:  Stamenov setDammage 1
Trigger D kill south army: {_x setDammage 1} forEach west_loons – [stamenov]
Trigger E kill Andropov: Andropov setDammage 1
Trigger F kill north army: {_x setDammage 1} forEach east_loons – [Andropov]
Trigger G kill some of the team: {_x setDammage 1} forEach [Ruslan,Sergei,or whoever you want]
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before activating any of the triggers.
Note that because Tatyana will still be alive one part of the scene will seem a bit odd.  You will know it when you see it.  Also Stamenov may seem to be in a strange place – not to worry, in the real final cutscene he will be where you killed him.

 

The killing of Stamenov:
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
Mountain_CutScene = true
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before entering Stamenov’s HQ.

 

Changing a flag:
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
Mountain_CutScene = true;
{[_x] join Alexi;_x setPos getPos Alexi} forEach [Ruslan,Karl,Erik,Irena,Yuri,Marek,Pavel,Sergei,Viktor]
Put Alexi in one of the border towns and place a trigger near him with radius 500 that does the following 30 seconds after the start of the mission:
{_x setDammage 1} forEach thislist
Note that for the southern towns the condition of the trigger should be West Present, for the northern towns it should be East Present.
Then either wait a few minutes or use a radio trigger to run the following:
[] exec “CheckFlag.sqsâ€
You may wish to put some east soldiers in a southern town (after the occupiers are dead of course) or west soldiers in a northern town, and just watch them change the flag.

 

Any voiceover at an atrocity or in Chapoi:
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
Mountain_CutScene = true
(note the above trigger is only needed for testing within Chapoi)
Wait 2 minutes after the start of the mission before going near the location of the voiceover.

 

Voiceover at the house in Larche:
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
Dourdan_CutScene = true
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before entering the trigger area.

 

Listen to the sound of the electricity generators:
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
Mountain_CutScene = true
Wait 2 minutes after the start of the mission.  Note the building used for the generators are: 14287 and 35903

 

Vehicles: Play music/out of fuel message/damaged message:
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before getting into the vehicle.  Try it with a vehicle that has no fuel or is badly damaged.  Also try a vehicle that is fine but keep driving it into a wall until it is too damaged to move, then repair it again

 

Reorganising the team:
Put a trigger on the map that does the following a few seconds after the start of the mission:
Mountain_CutScene = true;
YuriJoined = true;
MarekJoined = true;
PavelJoined = true;
SergeiJoined = true;
ViktorJoined = true;
{[_x] join Alexi;_x setPos getPos Alexi} forEach [Ruslan,Karl,Erik,Irena,Yuri,Marek,Pavel,Sergei,Viktor];
1 setRadioMsg "Reorganise team"
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission before activating radio 1.

Note that the messages you get will depend on whether:
Truce = true or false
allDeadW = true or false
allDeadE = true or false
endGameW = true or false
endGameE = true or false
YuriJoined = true or false
MarekJoined = true or false
SergeiJoined = true or false
Stamenov is alive or dead
Andropov is alive or dead
Ruslan is alive or dead
Erik is alive or dead
Irena is alive or dead
Any of your team has an AT rocket, or the team in total has > 3 LAW or RPGs when you reorganise for the first time.
Sergei has told you about the woman in Dourdan in a previous reorganisation- not the current one.

 

Taking Ruslan to Vigny:
Put a radio trigger on the map (Charlie to Golf only) that does the following:
[Ruslan] join Alexi
Ruslan setPos getPos Alexi
Move the player into Vigny and wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission then enter the house and trigger the Tatyana cutscene.  Once Tatyana has been killed move about 300m out of Vigny and use the radio trigger to get Ruslan to join you and move to your location.  Make sure more than 2 minutes have passed since the start of the mission, then take Ruslan into Vigny.  Note you must have been through the cutscene with Tatyana and she must be dead for this to work.

 

Vehicles being captured by the soldiers at La Trinite:
Place a empty vehicle near La Trinite.
Put a radio trigger on the map (Charlie to Golf only) that does the following:
[west] exec "CaptureVehicles.sqs"
or alternatively:
[east] exec "CaptureVehicles.sqs"
Put the player outside the town where he would be if hiding from soldiers – but put him somewhere where you can see one of the wire barricades on the main road at the exit to the town.
Wait 30 seconds after the start of the mission and then activate the radio trigger.  Or just wait until a convoy arrives.

This will work for any vehicle – even some that are not on the mission.  For some reason an M113 ambulance and a V80 chopper proved more difficult than other vehicles.

Try it with a chopper or a truck for example, make sure you are not in the vehicle when you activate the trigger but then get in the back of the vehicle as the crew are getting in just to see where the vehicles go.

If the vehicle is placed in the town near the huts then it is not always possible for the ai driver to get out of town successfully.  To help with this the script checks to see if the vehicle is there and if the player is far enough away that they will not be able to see then the script will setPos the vehicle on to the main road in the town facing in the correct direction (facing north for capture by east and facing south for capture by west).

Note that the distance from La Trinite that empty vehicles will be captured depends on the levels of Rain and Fog.  This is to simulate the effect of reduced visibility these cause.

 

Peeping Civilians:
Probably the best way to test this is to be one of the civilians.  Find the group of women civilians located at Hg53 and make one of them the player.  Then run the mission and just wait.  There will be a longer wait at the start as other things in the mission initialise, then it will get into a pattern.

 

Alternatively give the player a sniper rifle and put him on the hills overlooking Larche.  Then just watch and wait – but it could take a long time.

[thobson 38]

Appendix 2 – Statistics

 

 

 

Number of units (a)

Number of Groups

North (East)

290 to 320 (b)

36

South (West)

290 to 320 (b)

44 ©

Resistance

30

8

Civilians

25

9

 

Notes:

(a)   This is the number of living two legged units.  The crew of a vehicle are all counted individually but the vehicle itself is not counted.  Dead units are not included.

(b)  The number of soldiers in most of the infantry groups is random and so the total number of enemy can be different each time the mission is played.  The range shown is the range I experienced during testing, theoretically it is possible that .the numbers will be outside this range.

©   The larger number of groups in the Southern army is as a result having several individuals and small groups of soldier for Tatyana’s scene at Vigny, and the roadblock and garrison at Le Port and the towns south of Chapoi.  The average size of the northern groups has been increased to compensate for this..

 

Vehicle count

 

North

South

Empty

Hind

1

1

0

Cobra

1

1

0

Abrams

2

3

1

T80

3

3

1

T72

4

3

0

Bradley

2

1

2

BMP2

1

2

0

Vulcan

5

5

2

M2 Jeep

4

4

4

Jeep/UAZ

0

0

5

Police Jeep

0

0

1

5t and Ural Repair truck

1

1

5

5t and Ural Fuel truck

1

1

4

5t and Ural Ammo truck

2

2

2

5t and Ural truck

2

2

5

Cars and motorcycles

0

0

5

M2 Static machine gun

9

8

4

Civilian Truck

0

0

1

Boat

0

0

1

The above includes the damaged Repair truck at La Trinite, but excludes Police Jeep at Sainte Marie that starts the mission destroyed.

Music capability is provided in all vehicles except for:
- Police Jeep
- Motorcycle
- Boat
- M2 Static machine guns (Flashpoint treats these as vehicles)

‘Out of fuel’ and ‘Too damaged to move’ messages available for all vehicles except for:
- M2 Static machine guns
- Boat

So – yes – if you manage to capture a chopper you can play onboard music!!

[thobson 38]

Please refer to posts 1 & 11 if you are puzzled by these recent posts.

 

All the best

[Macser 776]

:D Now I'll have to try it again. Nice to see you finally got sorted out Thobson.

[thobson 38]

Many thanks.  I feel happy that the document will now be preserved fro the historical record.  I know of one person who has just tarted to play the mission but I doubt there will be (m)any others.

[inlesco 233]

Daaaamn, man. I just randomly remembered the name of this mission and it was simply the MOST AMAZING single-mission in OFP/Arma history. The story and the world were fleshed out flawlessly and all the situations, personal stories, etc. seemed to interesting to handle and solve in different ways.

 

Now that you've posted all of the secrets, too, it's astonishing to see the attention of detail and extra features implemented into this. One thing I can say - AMAZING.

 

I'd love to see this mission remade in Arma 3. Never seen something similar.

[swillis12931 13]

Just wanted to say that this is a great mission and I am quite impressed at the level of detail and complexity of the scripting for this mission. I read a little bit of the spoilers but stopped myself so that  I don't ruin it. I have been playing this same mission on and off for almost 3 years now and have yet to finish it. I hope to continue after this semester of college is finished and hopefully get closer to the end. 

 

Glad you made this mission and thank you for 3 years of happiness! 

 

swillis12931

[Undeceived 392]

thobson, I don't know when I played this mission, but it as been a long time since. And until today I see these memories in front of my eyes. Abandoned Armies is an absolute masterpiece! I was so sucked into its atmosphere - wow! It was just awesome.

[Marc13Bautista 60]

One of the most amazing missions. Ever.

[duckandcover 0]

I still play this mission, even now. Earlier today I started it again, for the umpteenth time.

 

This time I thought I might try to Rambo the whole thing, bypass Vigny, go direct to La Trinité, pick up some decent gear, and then trot over to the airport to whack Andropov without bothering to meet up with my cousin and the insurgents. Looks like my sneaky attempt to avoid the mission's scripting was predicted... heh heh heh.