Marooned Platoon: An S/MP Campaign

[igor drukov 0]

Hello

This thread will be for the release of a series of missions making up an MP campaign of sorts.

<ul>[*]Links

<ul>

[*]Episode I:<ul>[*]==>Download Episode I<== courtesy of El Nino Foxhound from ArmAholic.com

[*]==>Download Episode I<== from my homepage

[*]Gameplay Spirit

The missions are slow and rely on AI pathfinding a lot. They are mostly for players who like to know who they are and why they fight, and like to feel they belong to a wider structure than their own squad. Part of combat experience is also about waiting, and getting caught unawares. That's how the somewhat slow AI pathfinding is an asset from where I stand. I resort to cutscenes to try to add atmosphere and while away the time when needs be, but the missions are definitely not for when we need a quick firefight.

[*]Key-Features

All missions:

<ul>[*] can be played in SP as a non-commanding foot-soldier (put it in your User profile Missions folder);

[*] can be played in MP with up to 11 playable slots (put it in your User profile MP Missions folder);

[*] can be played using the Platoon-Control Panel (put it in your User profile MP Missions folder); for more details, SEE THIS THREAD.

[*] are plot-driven and have different endings;

<span style='color:red'>No respawn or teamswitch whatsoever are implemented. </span>

[*]Credits

<ul>[*] DOA =ASP= for testing and access to his dedi server;

[*] Kronzky for his String Library;

[*] Charonos for his TroopMon;

[*] Kegetys for his Spectating Script.

[*]The Big Picture

On November 30th, 2007, the American Congress agreed to dispatch 100-odd military personnel to the island of Sahrani. Their mission is to protect the monarchy in oil-rich southern Sahrani, which is currently under threat from both the Communist North and more and more aggressive activists.

The campaign will mostly follow a fire-team of the Stryker Platoon dispatched in Sahrani (more details inside the briefings).

===============================

<ul>Episode I: The Riots

==>Download here<==

A demonstration seems to have turned into riots in Somato and the Royal Army guards are overwhelmed...

===============================

4 other episodes are in the making. It takes about a month to make one, so hopefully Episode II will be ready by the beginning of June.

I hope you'll enjoy this, feedback is more than welcome!

Regards,

Igor.

[nettrucker 144]

Hello Igor

I just played your mission.

The first 3 times I failed to complete the mission due to my squad suffering heavy casualties.

The 4th try I succeeded. Nice touch with the unarmed civillians. You can't just go in there and shoot everyone.

In the cutscene i'm suffering heavy lag. but this is due to camera in movement. I wish someone could figure out how to move it smoothly.

BTW I placed the pbo in the single mission folder. Hope it's the right place to be.

I'm looking forward to the next episode.

regards

nettrucker

[PaveQ 0]

Question: Why there is not more playable slots? IMO whole platoon should be playable.

Feedback: First time we tried this with our squad, we picked normal as starting parameter, which was obviously wrong pick. Its not clear which one you should use... Maybe rename "normal" to "AI controlled", and panel to "human platoon commander".

[d3dsh33p 0]

gonna give it a try in about 45 mins to an hour if anyone is down for it

[d3dsh33p 0]

ok gave it a few run throughs before my lame friend went back to warcraft....

first off, all that info given isn't needed during a cutscene, just add it to the info that comes up once you start this mission like "Welcome sgt. d3dsh33p". the cutscene is too long for some people (i prefer to catch up on forgotten drinking) and most get bored quick after doing the extremely hard task of loading up the truck. thats not a joke.

second, i got no clue how to work the platoon thing so commander was out of the option. being just a part of the platoon was really cool till we got to the city and enough died to end the mission, after about 3 times my friend quit. I was going to play as the squad leader but like i said, being a wizard and playing with little fgty gnomes is more important than arma for some people...

so needless to say i never finished but I'm sure its nice....

no known bugs

love the firefights before you even enter the city

[igor drukov 0]

Gentlemen thank you for your interest. I realise I should have given a few more details about it all.

@nettrucker

Thank you mate, I'm really really glad you enjoyed it... You can try various positions if you put the mission in your user profile MP missions folder.

@PaveQ

Thank you for your suggestions, I'm split over whether to make all slots playable or not. My interest is to make the player(s) feel as a part of a bigger structure they can't control. Thaznks again though.

@ d3dsh33p

The cutscene is really about trying to create an atmosphere and keep the players interested while they're being AI driven to their unload WP. Hopefully in subsequent patches AI pathfinding will have been improved so they don't absurdly maneuver at every turn they make. Speaking of wishes, MP game saving would also kick ass. Finally, the info in the cutscene is part of this will to create the feeling that you belong to a wider structure.

I'm considering increasing the limit of casualties so the mission can be completed more easily.

I've updated the first post by adding a section, "Gameplay Spirit", so that nobody feels fooled when trying to play those missions.

Thanks you all again,and regards,

Igor.

[zwobot 22]

I've tried that too and honestly the platoon interface did not work properly.

I ordered the whole platoon to mount the strykers and all got in. But then only 1 stryker obeyed my move orders the others drove directly into the occupied town and got destroyed