The Cause Campaign

[Rejn 0]

THE CAUSE CAMPAIGN CHAPTER 1:

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=1624

A Foreword:

This is my first campaign and includes the first 5 missions I have ever made in full for Arma. I have spent alot of time on scripting/location scouting/voice acting/music composition.

During this time I have discovered some of the advantages and limitations of the engine itself and these first 5 missions have been an exellent way for me to learn Arma scripting.

I can only say that my missions will only get better from here on in as I progress in my abilities.

This camapign includes the last 5 missions I made all tailored to v1.08 plus a storyline cutscene at the beginning that hopefully sets the tone for a story which I plan to have unfold over the next few chapters. All missions have been touched up here and there (see changelog below).

Please post feedback. Thankyou.

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CAMPAIGN INFORMATION:

Made for Arma Version 1.08

Singleplayer

5 Missions with cutscenes

Introductory/storyline Cutscene

Voice acting: Full

Composed music (nothing special but hope you like it anyway)

All missions Beta tested: Yes.

Required Addons: None

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The story is set a few months after the initial SLA invasion and begins with the aftermath of the RACS invasion of Corazol which has left the SLA's 4th Armoured division (fighting near Cayo) cut off from their native North Sahrani. The story does not revolve soley around the player. The player is more a product of the story. The player sees life through the eyes of a lowly SLA soldier for the most part of the campaign. This Chapter is set along the west to south west coast of North Sahrani. I plan to take the player all around the two countries systematically in the next few chapters while keeping within the frame of the unfolding story.

CAMPAIGN MISSION OUTLINE/Warning.. possible spoiler:

CAMPAIGN INTRODUCTION - CUTSCENE

THE CAUSE 1 - VENGEANCE

-A U.S. patrol exterminates your village for reason's unknown to you. Together with your friend you plan to take revenge.

THE CAUSE 2 - FIRST PATROL

-Don your uniform as you join the SLA's 5th Motorized Rifle Division, 31st Rifles battalion, D Company on your first patrol

THE CAUSE 3 - BATTLE OF THE HEDGE

-Fight off a combined RACS infantry and U.S. armoured contingent as it advances along North Sahrani's hedgerows.

THE CAUSE 4 - OPERATION PICKPOCKET

-Advance and cut off the enemies supply route to Obregan in Operation Pickpocket.

THE CAUSE 5 - BACK TO CORAZOL

-Link up with the 2nd Airborne Division and take on the enemies 109th infantry battalion in Corazol.

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The story itself may be considered quite cleche (spelling?), guess I'll get your thoughts once you've played it.

You may notice in the readme that I am advertising my services as a commerical voice actor, I am partially using my love of Arma to practice my voice acting. Im not a professional but its a good hobby that ocassionally pays.

For those of you who have downloaded and played any of the individual missions listed in the Campaign, here is the changelog:

Mission Changelog:

The Cause 1

-Added News Radio sound briefly detailing Sahrani political/military events

-Slightly edited camera script for outro and intro so that the camera wouldn't scrape along the floor

-Charachter Faces configured for v1.08

-Due to Civilian AI not being aggressive enough with waypoints, have added a few domove commands.

-Edited tile sound distance for some vocals that should seem like their further away

The Cause 2

-Edited Bmp waypoints a bit so that reinforcements are dropped off where they are supposed to be dropped off. And that BMP's take the road to your location like their supposed to.

-Added Ambulance and Ammo support which parks along the road once the action starts.

-Refined medic reinforcements. There are no longer multiple medics running around but there is always a medic nearby.

-Markers for your Battalion or allied markers that represent units appearing in the mission are now yellow.

-Charachter Faces configured for v1.08

The Cause 3

-Outro has been changed and is albeit short a little more ... pretty

-Some of the unimportant markers have been deleted so that you can clearly make out 1st,2nd and HQ platoon markers.

-Charachter Faces configured for v1.08

-A marker appears on Miguels position at the end of the mission

-Enemy scripts totally redone, now uses only local variables and no Global variables for enemy units.

-Enemy now attacks on 4 fronts: West along the hedge (HQ platoons problem ), East along the road, through the middle of the field and some vehicles from behind.

-Markers for your Battalion or allied markers that represent units appearing in the mission are now yellow.

-Friendly ai will now assume defencive position and not charge out to engage the enemy

As there is a large difference how this mission plays between Super AI on and Super AI off I have compensated for the eventuality that the players position is overrun before the end condition is met:

-Added minefield (with limited ammount of mines) note: Some units may still make it across the field.

-If the combined total of Platoons 1 + 2 + HQ becomes to small the end conditions will automatically be met and the retreat begins.

-Friendly reinforcement infantry from Obregan will reinforce the road position at some point during the mission, which helps you hold out longer.

The Cause 4

-Units now move into stealth mode during the second phase of the mission.

-Redid the voices for Dimitri on the outro ( I realized that his charachter had a deeper voice in the cause 1 while I was making The cause 5)

-Markers for your Battalion or allied markers that represent units appearing in the mission are now yellow.

-Charachter Faces configured for v1.08

The Cause 5

-Markers for your Battalion or allied markers that represent units appearing in the mission are now yellow.

-Added M1A1 to the street combat.

-Less Global Variables

-Have shortened the mission a bit, Enemy now retreats after 150 losses and not 180. Some of you may be dissapointed with this however this is still a somewhat experimental system for City Combat which I would like to refine using more local variables.

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Possible Spoiler in mission videos:

I found the first two on you tube.

One is the first mission and the other the 2nd:

1st mission posted by Maccollo (using Xam 1.4 mod?):

1st mission

Some footage of mission 2 and 3 by Rakgitarmen using Sfx mod and FX mod I believe.

2nd mission posted by SicDisaster (using Xam 1.4 mod) :

Some footage of the last mission taken by Mr.Burns using a few fx and sound addons.

Enjoy.

[CameronMcDonald 146]

Nice nice nice! Waited for this for a long time.

You want good missions - play this.  

EDIT - Soz for not including feedback mate. But some advertising couldn't help, no?

[Rejn 0]

Thanks Cameron always appreciated

[mrj-fin 0]

Very much thx to add more SP playing. And those missions ae very well done and exciting to play.

[Snake Man 407]

39mb in size, five missions, okay. What do I get for that size?

[Yeb 0]

39mb in size, five missions, okay. What do I get for that size?

5 awesome missions, full own voices acting and own musics, and such more i won't say to spoil you the missions...: play it and get addicted.

[Maddmatt 1]

Great, downloading.

@Snake Man: Read the first post. I thought you were smarter than that It's only 39MB anyway

[Guest Ti0n3r]

Cheers and thanks for helping ArmA SP stay alive

Edit: wow, the voice acting is absolutely excellent. Probably the best I've heard in a user made campaign ever. Anyway, some suggestions for the future;

* Add subtitles. It's kinda hard to hear speech sometimes.

* Add hotlinks to the mission briefings.

* Lower the music volume quite a bit.

btw, what skill level did you use for the US soldiers in the first mission. It seems pretty much horrible at the moment. After 10 retries all my mates have been killed every single time within just a minute.

Cheers

[stun 5]

I have played the first 2 missions so far, and I'm impressed. The voice acting is great (better than that of the arma campaign)and adds a lot to the atmosphere of the missions. I have enjoyed the missions so far, they are well designed (despite the odd bug here and there), they felt a lot like the original ofp campaign missions - very immersive. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Great work mate!

[Rejn 0]

Thanks for the feedback everyone Im glad you are all enjoying the campaign.

In future I will add:

Hotlinks, subtitles and where nessacary I'll lower music levels

The skill level of the U.S soldiers in the first mission is pretty high, this U.S. patrol is pretty elite. There are only around 10-12 enemy soldiers but they can be pretty challenging.

The first mission is probably harder than all the others but you do not have to follow waypoints so try and flank the town if you find the tree line to be poor cover.

Although Ivan and his mates have some military experience they have nothing on the U.S. soldiers.

Let me know how you go Hope you all enjoy the other missions and please post feedback whenever possible. Thankyou

EDIT: I will probably make a trailer next week to show you what you get in the campaign and post it on you tube if I have time.

[william1 0]

great work , i've played the 2 first missions too (the ones i already knew) surprisingly the second one has been more difficult for me than the first one, but i enjoyed it very much , very challenging with all those enemies running through the trees . well, as suggestions i'd also add subtitles to the dialogs and decrease the music volumen a little, i usually put db+7 to the tracks and they sound just fine. i'm going to play the next ones

[Rejn 0]

Thanks William

EDIT: Can I also get some quick feedback on the campaign intro? Just wondering if it manages to do what I wanted it to do. Sorry about the poor graphics for The Cause sign. I'll try and get something better done for you all for chapter 2.

***spoiler? hint below***

In the second mission it is more important to take cover than to do alot of shooting. By all means take out as many enemies as you can but the main thing is to make sure the reinforcing bmp's have a little room to breathe. The bmp's will then go on to clear the path towards the communications post. Beaware of enemy activity from either left or right of the road and advance with caution behind the reinforcing infantry.

Spoiler:

Once at the communications post, the garrison at Obregan will send tanks to reinforce your position.

The enemy in this mission is far infront of the frontlines and do not have huge supplies of ammunition.

[froggyluv 2135]

Great campaign Rejn!

I didn't find the first 2 missions very difficult but the 3rd one is a beast! I spent 40 minutes in that field firefight only to bleed to death trying to flank from the hill (bloody awesome)

Really top notch stuff here and i love the voices

[Rejn 0]

Thanks Froggy

Make sure you displace a bit when firing, I tend to roll behind the hedges after taking out a few enemies then repeat process, and you don't need to conserve ammo either Don't listen to that poor excuse for a squad leader haha... there's an ammo crate next to the AT gun and another one down near HQ platoon.

[Snake Man 407]

Thanks for the feedback everyone Im glad you are all enjoying the campaign.

As you didnt want to answer my previous question, let me rephrase it; how did you design/implement the custom music and sounds?

I mean give some technical details or design decisions, how many minutes of speech, how many music tracks etc.

[Rejn 0]

39mb in size, five missions, okay. What do I get for that size?

umm.. Not a question of want, I interpreted your original question qoted here to mean:

"Is it worth downloading the 39mb of the campaign and what do i get for doing so?"

To which I indirectly answered that I will release a trailer next week or so when I get back (im away from home working at the moment). I thought the feedback might also help you decide.

Your current question:

Quote[/b] ]As you didnt want to answer my previous question, let me rephrase it; how did you design/implement the custom music and sounds?

I mean give some technical details or design decisions, how many minutes of speech, how many music tracks etc.

Is still somewhat broad when asking how this was implemented but I'll do my best to answer your question.

There is quite possibly more than an hours worth of speech in the campaign.

There are around 2-3 music tracks for each mission as well.

How I implemented these, do you mean how I got them into the game or how I put them to use?

I wont go into how I put them into the game as you can find that in the Bohemia Interactive biki but if you mean to what use; I used the speech for in mission briefings, charachter convos, radio transmissions etc...

Music is there to create atmosphere and is usually triggered by events.

The missions themselves are aimed at immersion/story and making the player feel like he is a small part of something larger (within reasonable limits, Ie I didn't go overboard)

As far as the question on wether its worth downloading, that depends man, IUm not sure what your taste in mission style is etc and perhaps you have a limited download limit.

If you can hang on till nexct week I'll upload you some images and a fraps movie of some of the missions ingame.

Hope this helps.

[froggyluv 2135]

39mb in size, five missions, okay. What do I get for that size?

What you get is an outstanding campaign and what you should give is a little more respect and gratitude rather than demanding information on how the author constructed it.

Remember the 'tact' in tactical

[Snake Man 407]

umm.. Not a question of want, I interpreted your original question qoted here to mean:

"Is it worth downloading the 39mb of the campaign and what do i get for doing so?"

Yeah no need to interpret anything, just read what I write. I never asked if its worth of anything

Quote[/b] ]Is still somewhat broad when asking how this was implemented

I think it was pretty specific, I mean if the initial question was not not understood and this second one still is difficult to comprehend then I dont know what else to say anymore.

Quote[/b] ]There is quite possibly more than an hours worth of speech in the campaign.

Now, thats a lot of speech. Sounds promising.

Quote[/b] ]There are around 2-3 music tracks for each mission as well.

Thats quite a alot for a one mission, usually one mission has one track which even dont get to play until the end. I'm interested to see how this is designed, you know just out of curiosity.

Quote[/b] ]How I implemented these, do you mean how I got them into the game or how I put them to use?

I wont go into how I put them into the game as you can find that in the Bohemia Interactive biki

Heh yeah I know how to make campaigns, I was wondering just what you answered above that are the music tracks all in the root dir playable from each mission or is the setup like how you just described it to be.

While your way is not "wrong"... it certainly isn't right. I fail to see why the music tracks have to be limited to specific mission only. Its now five missions... what about when its ten, how about twenty...do we get 80-100mb download then as each of the mission has 2-3 music tracks. THAT was my reason to ask this.

Quote[/b] ]As far as the question on wether its worth downloading

I never asked that.

Quote[/b] ]you should give is a little more respect and gratitude rather than demanding information on how the author constructed it.

Respect? How have I insulted/etc this campaign? How about you stop putting words into my mouth. Demand? I have not demanded anything, arent this topic created so people can discuss about the campaign; I'm discussing. Too bad if its not allowed to ask questions anymore, hehe

[froggyluv 2135]

I don't think you'd appreciate people coming to PMC's forum and bluntly asking -"What is it and why should i download it?"

39 mb is not a lot to ask for when it's high quality stuff. I've downloaded mod's bigger than a gig and barely used it so I deleted it- whats the big deal?

[vitesse 0]

Hi,

First post.

Thanks for these missions. Most enjoyable and probably the best SP I have tried.

Well worth the DL.

cheers, Vitesse

[stun 5]

Well I've just finished the campaign. It was brilliant. I agree with vitesse, it is the best arma user campaign/missions that I have played to date.

I was hooked just like the old days with ofp. I couldn't stop playing 'cause I had to find out what happens next!

If the BIS campaign was this good they would have attracted a whole new generation of gamers to arma rather than relying on OFP fans.

thanks, and keep up the good work! I look forward to the next instalment.

[Franz_Schall -SWAF- 0]

As the others, I have been fairly impressed by your work. Nicely done, Rejn.

The fighting through the first three missions took me some time, but the action was worth it.

Thumbs up.

[Sevan 0]

yeah I agree the BIS ArmA campign was a big let down. very poor, and unrealistic mission design. I've had much more fun playing user made campigns like this one.

[Rejn 0]

Thankyou very much for your feedback everyone

The feedback is what makes it worthwhile, without it there would be no point in making the campaign.

Thanks again everyone and I look forward to making the second chapter for you all when I get back

[Rejn 0]

umm.. Not a question of want, I interpreted your original question qoted here to mean:

"Is it worth downloading the 39mb of the campaign and what do i get for doing so?"

Yeah no need to interpret anything, just read what I write. I never asked if its worth of anything

Quote[/b] ]Is still somewhat broad when asking how this was implemented

I think it was pretty specific, I mean if the initial question was not not understood and this second one still is difficult to comprehend then I dont know what else to say anymore.

Quote[/b] ]There is quite possibly more than an hours worth of speech in the campaign.

Now, thats a lot of speech. Sounds promising.

Quote[/b] ]There are around 2-3 music tracks for each mission as well.

Thats quite a alot for a one mission, usually one mission has one track which even dont get to play until the end. I'm interested to see how this is designed, you know just out of curiosity.

Quote[/b] ]How I implemented these, do you mean how I got them into the game or how I put them to use?

I wont go into how I put them into the game as you can find that in the Bohemia Interactive biki

Heh yeah I know how to make campaigns, I was wondering just what you answered above that are the music tracks all in the root dir playable from each mission or is the setup like how you just described it to be.

While your way is not "wrong"... it certainly isn't right. I fail to see why the music tracks have to be limited to specific mission only. Its now five missions... what about when its ten, how about twenty...do we get 80-100mb download then as each of the mission has 2-3 music tracks. THAT was my reason to ask this.

Quote[/b] ]As far as the question on wether its worth downloading

I never asked that.

Quote[/b] ]you should give is a little more respect and gratitude rather than demanding information on how the author constructed it.

Respect? How have I insulted/etc this campaign? How about you stop putting words into my mouth. Demand? I have not demanded anything, arent this topic created so people can discuss about the campaign; I'm discussing. Too bad if its not allowed to ask questions anymore, hehe

Hey there, I understand your question would have been very apparent in meaning to you but everyone uses different glasses and sees things differently. Because Im not talking to you in person it makes it even more difficult to see were you are coming from.

Anyway Im glad the information I've given has helped, I hope you enjoy the campaign, the music tracks arn't the kind that you can play over and over again so I made them mission specific. Ie: the music is nothing special as I stated before, I merely placed it for some atmos.

39 megs for 5 missions is pretty big. The BIS campaign is 129 megs worth. Some of my missions will be less in size etc, I won't always release music with missions unless I have made a track that fits for it.

Due to the large size Im releaseing the campaign in chapters.

The question of right and wrong depends really on the aim. It may be so wrong that its right lol jk...

Anyway have a look at it if you like and post some feedback/crits/comments etc Thanks