Combat missions?

[sergeant rock 3]

Just wanted to throw a suggestion out there for a new type of match play to compliment the existing types (CTF, TDM, A&D), and get some feedback from the community...

I was fascinated these last couple months with the show Combat Missions which aired on USA Network here in the states.  A brief synopsis is that several different disciplines (SEALs, SWAT, Marine Recon, Green Beret's), were mixed together into 4 - 6 man squads (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, & Delta) which competed against each other to complete the same predefined mission (Pilot Rescue, Fuel Depot Demolition, Armor Takeout, Hostage Rescue, etc.) with the most success.  Teams started with 1000 points plus 50 or so bonus points if they beat the opposing squad in some physical challenge (obstacle course, marksmanship, pugel sticks) prior to their head-to-head matchup.  Points were lost during the mission for each squad member killed, time taken to complete mission, and not meeting all mission goals.  Each team completed the same mission separately, and their scores were compared against each other to determine the winner.

Would something similar to this work in OFP?  I think a good mission designer could make it happen (KaRRiLLioN comes to mind).  I doubt the bonus point round could be worked in, but the head-to-head mssion play could.  I think it could add a new, interesting twist to tournament play.  The opposing force could be AI, or maybe some neutral faction (CM used "Shadow Squad")

Any opinions out there?  

[joltan 0]

Well, if they go to solve the objectives seperately anyway, why not just compare the highscores?

(Semi-)Permanent highscores, now that would be nice. Usually after finishing a mission, people skip the stats so fast that you have no time to really apreciate your kills...

And during a match there really isn't much time for that.

Maybe the client computer could log the highscores of all matches a player participates in? That way the servers wouldn't have to keep the highscores themselves.

[Burl 0]

I watched every episode of Combat Missions. After some thought, I figured I could make some type of similiar mission in OFP. I ended up making a map where I was the down pilot and my buddies have to come resuce me. They were given the choice of using a BlackHawk, PBR or Hummvee. No matter what they used, they had to deal with Russian Patrols. Ended up being lots of fun!

Burl

[Angry Radish 0]

Yeah, that show was fun to watch, though they were really pushing it with the whole "nurse Betty" bit, lol

It brings back fond memories of running around in full chem gear in 90degree weather with miles gear on during excercises, lol

[ralphwiggum 6]

shooting competition maybe done easily...as long as both teams agree to not shoot each other, someone can make a shooting range and see how many targets are down and so on... this could be possible in OFP

[KaRRiLLioN 0]

I already have a few missions done that are based on this idea, although they are separate, but combining them wouldn't be too hard.  Here's the tough part:  Adding AI to missions will result in lag and lousy AI.

I've got some Assassination missions that rely heavily on AI.  The premise is that Angelina defected to NATO and Guba is sending some snipers/spetz after her.  Angelina meanwhile has given NATO Guba's last known coordinates and they are sending a team of their own.  Each team has to make it past the enemy AI and armor mainly by sneaking and be the first team to cap the primary target.

The problems I'm having is that the AI armor is pretty lousy.  I can't have that many vehicles following waypoints or they jump all over the place so I basically have most of them sentry.  Even so, they still don't seem to notice you unless you drive right up to them in a truck.  This is with skill level cranked all the way up.  The AI soldiers seem to be a bit better at least, but lag really keep AI from being effective.

I also have missions where one team is in distress and the other team has to rescue them from the other team which has a full array of vehicles at their disposal and is played by humans rather than AI.

I've also got a decent script that detects whenever someone on a team or an AI dies and can add or deduct points based on that. It basically counts all players on each team and then sees if that number goes down at all.

Anyway, I love the ideas, and if you're talking about only 4-6 players at one time playing then it's doable to have more AI, but to have several teams trying for it at the same time it might be a tad harder.

I'll prod around and see what I come up with.

BTW if you want to see the missions I'm talking about and see if they're anywhere close to what you're talking about, they're at this link:

http://www.aggression.org/karr/karr.zip