[SP] JTD River and Rock mission-(btest 01j)

[TRexian 0]

Download:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/wndmkjzzjj5/RiverAndRock2211.Chernarus.zip

Thread at OFPEC:

http://www.ofpec.com/forum/index.php?topic=34233.0

Author: Trexian, of JTD

Version: .01j (22 Nov 09)

Required Addons: (likely) JTD_FireandSmoke

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=7383

JTD_ACTON (ambient civilian traffic)

http://www.mediafire.com/file/moy5e2zmz0h/JTD_ACTON_01e.7z

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This is still in betatesting, but thought it would be worth getting some wider feedback on this.

It does require (for now) the JTD ambient civilian traffic module, but it uses the local hpp for the variables (for now).

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"The army's formation is like water."

- Sun Tzu

Which is stronger, the river or the rock?

Mission Description (from the briefing):

Background: Recently, insurgents have grown more bold in their attacks. A highly organized gang of the thugs have actually taken over a city. Intelligence suggests that this particular group consists of former Soviet specialists, mercenaries, and defectors from the national army. There are also reports that Russian regular forces are gathering to support the insurgents. Media outlets have reported that the civilian leaders of the captured town have 'invited' Russian units to assist them against the national government.

While the entire country has seen too much war, the civilian populace in this area were caught relatively unaware by the attack. Contrary to emergency pleas from the government to evacuate, many civilians remain in their homes - either unable or unwilling to leave.

Sitrep: You are the leader of a force recon observation unit. You have been tasked to coordinate the attack of allied forces on a town which has been overrun by insurgents. Allied forces have gathered in a nearby city. (This is indicated with a blue marker.) Intelligence suggests opfor regular army units are also gathering nearby to launch a counterattack.

Target town indicated with green marker:

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c114/TRexian/JTD/A2Pics/pic17-1.jpg

Campsite:Your unit has made its way to the forward observation post on civilian motorcycles located near the target city. There, you will find two sets of weapons boxes. An allied box will have many weapons and devices to assist your mission. We have also intercepted an enemy set of boxes that you can use to augment your supplies, if you wish.

Campsite indicated with yellow marker:

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c114/TRexian/JTD/A2Pics/pic15.jpg

Support:We have arranged for aerial recon, artillery and tactical airstrike support for your mission. This is accessible through the communications menu. Given the complexity of the comms, you may need to re-connect each time you make a support call. Also, be aware that there may be a delay between your request and delivery of the support.

Comms menu:

Assault control: As forward observer, you will also function as a liaison with the air and ground assets. Headquarters is gathering available aircraft to help prepare the battlefield prior to the ground assault. If possible, you should attempt to eliminate any anti-air threats before using the comms menu to call in the air assets. You must understand that the primary mission of these assets is to attack the insurgents. They will not be available to assist you in a CAS role. Also, HQ will await your report as to when to begin the ground assault on the town.

Features:

Civilian module - this mission uses the BIS civ module to add some civilians to the town. Since many (if not most) of the world's hot spots have armed civilians, there is a chance that civs will be armed with an AK. This is important because if you kill them, you could turn the civ population against you... and the forces gathered for the ground attack. HOWEVER - some insurgents are civilian irregulars. You can't tell by looking at the in-game model to know whether someone is a civ or insurgent.

SOM module - this mission basically uses the virtual versions of Arty/UAV/CAS. Those actual elements were not placed in the editor, but initiated in the init script via radio control. The UAV should only be available 1 time, so use it carefully. ;)

Randomness - the campsite will be randomly placed each time you run the mission. It will roughly be on a line from the target city to the city where the blufor are gathered. Likewise, the exact makeup of friendly and opposing forces will be random. There will be some things consistent each time, but most will not be. At mission start, there is likely going to be an air battle. It is up to you whether to grab a Stinger or Igla and try to help out with that. Also - be aware that the CDF is your ally, and has assets in the area. That BMP might be on your side.

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Update with Ver. 01j-

Forgot what MAY BE the most important part! The target city and blue reinforcement and red reinforcement cities are all chosen somewhat randomly! :) The target city is selected from a pool of cities that contain at least 2 neighbors. One neighbor is blue reinforcement, the other is red. It means that, with each mission start, you have a different tactical situation.

A downside is that, sometimes the player's starting position doesn't make much sense. But then... that's kinda like reality, too. - smile -

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Reinforcements - a significant Russian force will move towards the city at a random time. There is a hint for purposes of testing to tell you when it is. Upon actual release, the player will have to choose whether to press the Blue ground attack early, or wait. Wait too long, and the enemy forces could make the assault harder.

Goal:

This is really an exercise in force multiplication. You really need to use assets like the arty and on-Call CAS to give the Blue side the best chance to win the city.

It is also a problem-solving exercise. The player has to make certain choices about balancing stealthy observation and strength in attack. There are multiple ways to approach the task, much of it depending on things beyond the players control.

Known Bugs:

I don't know of any consisten "bugs" per se. There are likely going to be gameplay issues with red troops spawning too close to the player, or the player spawning far from the target, stuff like that.

The briefing.sqf is still rather weak. There may also be issues with the pictures. The ones I used were placeholders anyway.

I'm VERY open to suggestions on how to improve the mission experience. For instance, I think that I should probably delay the start of the air battle at the beginning of the mission. I'm open to input on things like that.

Credits:

JTD

DMarkwick

ReconPathFinder

Trexian

OFPEC

- SaOK

- Manzilla

- mathias_eichinger

BIS

Deanosbeano

Binesi for the taskPatrol and defend modifications

ChangeLog:

Beta release 0.1j

briefing works

removed hints (almost all)

gameplay improvements

Beta Release 0.1h

- initial release, things seem to work for internal testing

Exampe of gameplay:

The target city was Berezhino. It is a larger city. I started about 600m away, to the south. I grabbed a laser marker/battery, and the SMAW with 3 shells. I made my way northwest until I was just a bit southwest of the city. From there, I could see some technicals and UAZs. I called in an artillery strike of laser munitions, and lazed the targets. (The current beta has some issues with SOM module, so it was a bit tricky.) I was able to take out those targets. I had trouble seeing any other opfor, so moved further North. I kept ~400m away from any enemy (had my FR group holding fire) and started marking on the map where opfor concentrations were. Intentionally avoided any direct conflict, although I could see patrols. Called the UAV to assist in getting an idea where the enemy was... but I think it got shot down.

Soon, I got word that the Russian forces were moving towards the city. At that point, I knew it would be better to wait for the Russian troops to arrive. I found a safe position with which to view the movements, and by the time they arrived, it was becoming light outside. Spent some time directing arty barrages (mostly SADAM and laser), but there were a couple anti-air pieces that just wouldn't get hit. I decided to move around into position to take them out with the SMAW. So, I moved East to the North side of the city, and carefully picked my way to a position to take the shot. We had to take out a couple small opfor patrols while doing this. When in position, I called for the air and ground attacks to start, then took out the ZSUs.

Since I knew we'd given up our position, I backed off in the direction that I expected bluefor to come from. The air attack took out some T-72s and BMPs, and generally provided some cover. As I saw bluefor arrive, we made our way into the city to assist in the mopups. This was probably a tactical error on my part. I lost 2 and 4 in the process. I was injured, but my corpsman healed me. We took out several Russian and Insurgent targets.

In the end, I had helped prepare the battlefield for the friendly forces and assisted in taking back the city. Fortune favors the patient in this one.

In this mission, there is really some interesting gameplay situations from the ambient traffic. For one thing, as I was getting ready to cross a road near the target city, there was a vehicle coming. A moment of panic - was it a mounted patrol or civilian? Did it see me or not? Also, vehicles moving around in the target city are not necessarily hostile.

Also - I've tried this with the recent beta patch builds (ok, not ALL of them, they are coming quite fast) and the SOM stuff is... tricky. I suppose there is a realistic element of doubt as to what the result will be. But, for my purposes, it runs without crashing!

Edited November 23, 2009 by TRexian

[neokika 62]

Hi there,

I've just tested and WOW, amazing.

The teleport and set InitCam are available, but maybe is for testing. Also in the beggining of the mission, in my pc it takes a bit to iniciate all the scripts, like 3min, and Ive also notice a bit of performance issues.

The briefing is also very well done, just some pics need some adjustment.

Thanks a lot for sharing and keep up the good work.

_neo_

[TRexian 0]

Oops - yeah, I left in the testing scripts! :doh:

And yeah, there is a startup time. I'd like to make it all part of the "receiving" thing, but can't get that sorted. I need some sleep commands to have the BIS functions have time to do some stuff.

[TRexian 0]

Ok, spent some time working on this. Or really, these. :)

I've decided to work this up as a double-mission, basically. "Blue" and "Red" versions. The one from the original post will be the Blue version, and there'll be a new Red one, where you play as a Russian special forces unit, tasked to defend the city from the Blue force.

Some interesting tweaks that are done:

- added a MASH tent to the town - in testing, I would be injured, but my corpsman was killed! :doh: So, I figured the insurgents would at least set up a rudimentary field hospital (and I couldn't sort out how best to script one). :)

- AI blue artillery - sorta. :) Using SOM and the virtual artillery battery, if the Blue Force Recon team is alive, and near the town, random positions will be selected, either for a SADARM or HE (depending on proximity to buildings). It hasn't killed me (yet) but a nearby strike took out some of my group, and had my ears ringing (and led me to the idea of placing a MASH unit).

Some things I still need to do:

- sort out which of the Red arty options to take out

- intros/outros

Pretty cool stuff, though. :)

[Joseph Troska 0]

Great mission! Very intense firefights...