(Review Completed) [SP] Tour de Force

[Kronzky]

I'll give the MP version a good going over this weekend for you. Let you know how the MP version plays. Should be 7 players this weekend so we'll give it a good thrashing for you.

Thanks!
Be aware though that there's a severe penalty in the game if you die. Well, not as bad as some missions, where you are actually out of the game once you die, but you do get trown back to some previously covered waypoint, so it may take you a few minutes running (or driving) to catch up with your team. I wanted to find a way of really discouraging some run-and-gun style of play, without OTOH being overly severe and killing you outright. After all, it's a long mission, and you'd be dead for a long time...
Some site who reviewed it absolutely hated that feature, and totally ripped the mission to pieces because of that....

[Kronzky]

I think overall it's medium-hard difficulty

Well, that I can live with...
I don't want to make it sadistically hard, so that only 1% of the players can finish it.
So medium-hard is ok.


I'd be interested in hearing some game reports from you guys.

• How did you approach the objectives?
• What tactics did you use?
• Did you take out the convoy en route or at the destination?
• Which parts did you find especially hard (or easy) (or fun)?
• How long did the whole mission take?

BTW - the latest version has the bug-fixes implemented, the start position has changed (not Loukov anymore), and, on customer demand, you now have a wider arsenal of weapons to choose from.

[LCD]

i didnt have taam 2 play it all but i started 2 try it (just captured da medic thingy nddidnt meetny soldierafter bout 200Ms from dere)

1) if deres option 2 attack @ night da HQ wil giveus NVGs from da start u never send ppl somwerenot equiped right
2) da russian shud send som men (4-5 ppl) 2 investigate da choper crash location
3) after i attacked da medical thingy da medic run away but he didnt call reinforcments 2 help him
4) dere were 2 crew membrs runin around 2 da east of da medic thingy (killed em after i captured it)

ill continue playing laterz

all da comments above r 4 ur own judge - if its not ur style 2 follow em - dont

LCD OUT

[Kronzky]

if deres option 2 attack @ night da HQ wil giveus NVGs from da start u never send ppl somwerenot equiped right

HQ doesn't really send you into a night mission (after all, you start at 9am). But when you take over the field hospital, you will discover NV equipment there. That means you could now play the mission at night, but, of course you have to inform HQ about this change of plans...

da russian shud send som men (4-5 ppl) 2 investigate da choper crash location

Come on, you just want some easy cannon fodder.
If you saw a chopper going down, and another dropping a bunch of men (who are obviously up to something), would you send out your men to just look at the wreck? I didn't think so...
You would probably make sure that your main interest (the POWs) are secured, rather than sending out guys that you have much better use for elsewhere.

after i attacked da medical thingy da medic run away but he didnt call reinforcments 2 help him

These are medics - give them a break. They see a horde of enemies dropping in on them, and all they can think of is - RUN...
And again - your opponent is not too concerned about you stealing medical equipment at the field hospital. They will keep the men where they need'em the most.

dere were 2 crew membrs runin around 2 da east of da medic thingy (killed em after i captured it)

That was probably the crew of the Shilka that attacked you. Two, sometimes three, will survive, and then play along in the battle.


Also, for those who found the mission too easy, I've added a few tougher and smarter opponents in veteran mode, in both the first and third objective. You will also have to hurry up a bit now when you take over the convoy. If the convoy stops for whatever reason (attack, breakdown, whatever), some reinforcements will come in from Mokropsy. Not very fast, but they will come...

[LCD]

HQ doesn't really send you into a night mission (after all, you start at 9am). But when you take over the field hospital, you will discover NV equipment there. That means you could now play the mission at night, but, of course you have to inform HQ about this change of plans...

not exactly - dey tell u dat u can make it night mision from da start so dey shud also give ya option 2 have nightmision - but u can do somin else remove damention in da breifing nd den have conversition between u nd 1 of da BOs after we find da stash nd den daplayer can radio HQ

If you saw a chopper going down, and another dropping a bunch of men (who are obviously up to something), would you send out your men to just look at the wreck? I didn't think so...

as much as i know its alwayz wise 2 send som1 2 look around if not da enemy can just dig up in da place nd start 2 get reinforcments nd things like dat - after all da enemyz do want us dead right ?

your opponent is not too concerned about you stealing medical equipment at the field hospital. They will keep the men where they need'em the most.

st0pid enemies  

:cheers:

LCD OUT

[zsa_zsa_rasputin]

Trust ol' LCD for some good ideas

'Fraid I have to agree with the crash idea - at least a small force (3 man patrol?) to investigate :/

Dan ;D

[LCD]

k 2 more comments

1) da AI reaction on 1st base isnt good  :-X  :-\ (POWs) dey stay in da place waitin 4 me - instead of tryin 2 kil me  

2) dere were POWs outside deir cage nd soldiers near em - nd dey didint try 2 do nythin 2 em  

den i got cought in som nasty thing

i didint finish da 1st obj nd went 2 clear da way (da church) 2 save taam 4 da last obj but i rescued da man in da church (nd didint have da objective 4 it yet  ) nd den i got da ast obj b4 i did da last 1  

so im putin it on da end of ma list end movin on

LCD OUT

[Kronzky]

Ok, LCD, you now got free NVGs from the start already.
The gimmick of making them breakable, so that you can't just throw a grenade into the farm, or otherwise they'd be unusable, would've only been funny the first time around anyway; so it didn't really add much to the mission's challenge.

I have also added a patrolling chopper on the East side, which will check out the crash site soon after the helicopter goes down. So you now have to find some cover quickly, otherwise you'll get into trouble with him...

Which guards at Varta did you have a problem with? The ones in the POW cage? They're supposed to stay where they are. Or did you mean they didn't shoot back?

The problem with the 'escaping' POWs I solved a few minor versions ago. It should be ok now.

As far as the sequence of the objectives are concerned - I don't want to make it too strict, in that you can only solve them in one particular order. The storyline of course has a sequence, and will only present them one at a time. Solving one objective will trigger the next one therefore, so that means that you might end up with two open objectives. But other than a bit of time pressure, this doesn't affect the the mission at all. As long as you solve them all at one point, the mission will be completed. (I would suggest though, to take out the convoy while it's on the road. It is a lot easier than waiting until it reaches its destination.)

[LCD]

Which guards at Varta did you have a problem with? The ones in the POW cage? They're supposed to stay where they are. Or did you mean they didn't shoot back?

they stand in place - da prob is dat den its mofoin easy 2 handle em

LCD OUT

[The Avon Lady]

Latest version's PBO file size is about 1350K, around half of what it was previously. What did you remove to reduce the file size so drastically?

[Kronzky]

Latest version's PBO file size is about 1350K, around half of what it was previously. What did you remove to reduce the file size so drastically?

Oh, well - since OFP's compiler was so inefficient I ended up writing my own, and that normally took off about 50% off the final file sizes.

Unfortunately, even though I would like to very much, for legal reasons, I am not allowed to publish this compiler.

But - if you ever need to drastically reduce your PBO sizes, try this little trick: Remove all unneccessary files from your sounds folder (.wav files, unused .ogg files, etc.). That may cause your file size to shrink to half its original size.
 

[Kronzky]

I've added a hint section to the latest version.
It may give you some ideas of what to do (and what not to do...)
Here it is - read it at your own risk.
.
.
.
==================================
Insertion:
• Try exiting the chopper before it starts, to see if you can utilize anything in the camp. Stay away from the church though! (Generally sound advice...)
• The crew of the shilka that attacks you (and gets blows up in the confrontation) often survives, and will persue you after a while.
• Shortly after your landing an enemy chopper will come in to survey the situation. Better find cover before he comes in.
• There *is* a way of gaining control of this fully armed chopper. But that's all I can say...
Varta:
• If you get detected while attacking the Varta camp, watch your surroundings - several units will try to sneak up on you.
• If you order the crew of the shilka to disembark, it's easiest to kill them as soon as they exit the vehicle.
• An AA-weapon is stored at the control center.
Ferry:
• When trying to get hold of the ferry, don't attack it before the crew has exited. If you get spotted, the ferry may never dock.
Convoy:
• If you get detected when setting up your convoy ambush, the convoy will take a detour (this might also happen randomly).
• Occasionally the convoy will travel much faster than normally (you will be informed of this), which means you will probably have to attack them in Mokropsy. They will also increase their speed the moment the convoy sees you.
• The prisoners are assigned randomly to one of the trucks.
• Try blocking the road to make the ambush easier.
Mokropsy:
• If you fail to stop the convoy, bring some anti-tank weapons along (LAWs or Satchel Packs).
• When the convoy reaches Mokropsy, the escort BMPs will be abandonded, and can be taken over.
• There are two patrol units positioned randomly at a distance to the camp. Watch you back when you attack.
Escape:
• To get to the escape island you can utilize one of the boats in the junkyard at Fc40. Use a car to push it into the water.
==================================

Also, I needed to add another add-on (so that I would not have western MASH tents in eastern camps). It's very small, and included in the zip file.

[The Avon Lady]

Oh, well - since OFP's compiler was so inefficient I ended up writing my own, and that normally took off about 50% off the final file sizes.

This BIS forum thread,  on the subject of PBO compression, might be of interest to you.

[Kronzky]

Oh, sorry, if my smilies weren't clear enough -
but I was just kidding about the compiler.
I wrote nothing of that kind...

All I did to reduce the size was to get rid of some unneccessary crap in the sounds folder.


But now to the really important question - any recommendations regarding the mission? Your original review sounded like you found it rather hard already; but now, with the feedback from here, I made it even harder (at least in Veteran mode). You think it's too much now?
I've also tried to incorporate some of the recommendations you made when you last tested it (unlimited saves, more consistent storyline in intro). Anthing else you can think of?
I am getting to release it now, and I want to make sure I haven't overlooked anything.

Thanks in advance.

[The Avon Lady]

There is a certain truth to it being overly difficult. My biggest problem is with the enemy snipers. The problem is two-fold:

1. They are accurate.

2. They are diffuclt to find but they find me easily. This is in part due to Resistance's foliage not blocking the AI's line of site. So they're finding me even when Ive taken cover.