Of course ;D
I warn you: I'm thinking up what might be the longest single mission in OFP history. I thought about it a little and figured it would work easier this way.
The basics: The time and place of this scenario doesn't really matter as it is one of those "timeless" scenarios. I had envisioned it as taking place in the Philippines at the present time - the US has SF advisors already there helping the government fight the Abu Sayyaf. It's reasonable to extrapolate advisors into commitment of conventional units - I picked the 1st Cav because it seems the best suited to this mission.
US involvement is light - the 1st Cavalry and some Marine units offshore would be it for American forces. Philippine government troops could, but don't have to, play a part in this story.
Essentially the situation is similar to Vietnam - search and destroy concentrations of rebels. One particular day, your company is tasked with a sweep of a remote section of one of the numerous small islands of the Phillipine group.
You play a corporal, Average Joe as it were. You aren't in command of anything (yet). You are inserted via chopper to your LZ - it's quiet - and you saddle up.
*Start gameplay*
Your squad moves with the platoon up the side of a hill. You get to the top and find nothing - suddenly, an ambush. All hell breaks loose. The rebels who have been waiting for the platoon far outnumber you and have LMGs - your group isn't the primary target and the rebels attack the sides of the platoon. Air strikes are called in and you're just trying to stay alive at this point.
The rebels should win this round - your team is cut off and you hear reports that the rest of the unit is being decimated. You decide to make a run for it.
A cutscene would show your team heading for higher ground to try and establish contact with choppers to get you out of there - they're tied up trying to evac the rest of the company and none can get to you. For the moment, you're forgotten. The sergeant (an experienced leader) says not to worry, he'll get you out of there.
Gameplay:
Your sergeant leads you to a nearby village - about halfway there a sniper kills him - this would be scripted. The sniper flees (or tries to) and you inherit command.
What happens next is up to you.
As your team of eight decides what to do next, the rest of your company is dead or has pulled out entirely. Your team should start with a medic but whether or not he makes it this far is random. The island is crawling with bad guys - poorly trained compared to your team but armed to the teeth and nearly suicidal (set them to no retreating!)
Many of them should be hanging around near where your company's PZ - there should be camps nearby for them to linger. Small groups (4 or 5) should be wandering around the area looking for stragglers. They should be using Bremmer's AI script and should have mortar support (CoC or scripted, and not much of it). If they run into something, they should call their buddies who will swarm the area.
Small camps holding a small team of rebels should be scattered around - they should be stationary unless one of the patrols sees something. I don't know if Bremmer's script does this, but when called, they should look around randomly in the area, and if they find nothing within a minute or two they should give up and go back to their camp.
So the enemy forces are pretty numerous but not that smart or skilled. They're wandering and don't know initially that you're out there.
You are free to roam the island at your own discretion, but you should be given hints as to possible courses of action. A PRC radio is a must-have addon here - a secondary weapon that can be taken or dropped but does nothing. Possession of this radio will help - one of your troops might remind you that high ground is good for radio signals and you might then decide to find a high place.
Or, one of your men might suggest going into a town and seeing if they can help you - a few towns should be randomly garrisonned, others not. Those that aren't can be friendly or unfriendly - they might offer ammo, medical treatment, or a radio, or they might (literally) run and find the closest rebels.
The end of the mission is contingent on your having a radio or finding one. You would make contact with the Marines at a
totally random time (they're busy fighting elsewhere) and they would tell you to get to a random PZ for extraction. You could make it totally random or you could have randomized
predefined spots. Depending on where the PZ falls, they could come by PBR or chopper to get you out.
Ideally, some kind of variable should be established for CONTACT TIME. This would be totally random (with a minimum and a maximum of course). If you start the main part with a radio, the timer works towards this variable.
If you lose the radio, the timer is stopped and a new variable is computed. When you get one, the timer starts towards this new variable.
What's the point, you might ask? Well, you need to stay out of trouble long enough to make contact. With all the bad guys and the various needs of your squad, that may not be easy. They might need ammo or medical care.
THE SQUADYour men's ammo is fairly easy to deal with, and some people might not care if their loons get hurt. There should be a damage script in effect - soldiers hurt past .5 damage would slowly continue to take damage. This would only effect your men for simplicity's sake. So, if a guy gets hit, eventually you will need to get him to a medic or a village with a doctor willing to cooperate.
Some people might take the "I'll just hide" approach. Well, how about adding other variables? Stamina would be good - each man would have a length of time he could walk around before he got tired and needed a breather (it's hot, the terrain is rough, etc). Tough guys might have 45 minutes to an hour, weaker guys might have half an hour to 45 minutes.
When they approach their limit, they'll start to bitch at you and might even take a temporary skill deduction. At that point you need to find a nice quiet place to take a timeout. Five minutes should "recharge" everyone. There should actually be an item in your menu called "rest," which sets them to safe and sits them down. "Move out" should get them on their feet again, feeling better or not, so if you run into trouble and need to move, you can.
So, you have to consider your team's need and all the guys walking around who will chase you with backup if they see you. You need to consider that villages could be occupied, hostile, or friendly and may or may not have what you need.
Now for my reasoning: The handicaps on your team will give you something to do so you won't just be walking around aimlessly. The patroling enemies present a threat that will keep you on your toes. The radio and variables that go with it will keep the replay value high.
OTHER STUFF:
- If you meet an American straggler, you should be able to have him join you.
- You should be able to stand and fight if you want - in some cases it might work since the bad guys aren't very bright.
- There are no vehicles besides a handful of beat-up trucks and tractors.
- You have no friendly units helping you - the rest of your company flees or dies (script if necessary).
- If you go back to where the company made its stand, you will find weapons, gear, and maybe some stragglers, but also plenty of enemies.
Pros: Hasn't been attempted AFAIK, good replay value, tense and engrossing.
Cons: Needs some slick scripting, won't interest the people who want nonstop action, could last for hours.
POSSIBLE ENDINGS:
1. You meet the Marines and evac - hurray!
2. Your entire team is killed.
3. You're a real bad mutha and manage to kill the hundreds of bad guys on the island - at that point the mission should just end with you still stuck there, no better off than you were before.
I'm done ;D
(this is the part where you tell me it's not possible
)
*EDIT: OTHER OTHER STUFF:*
- unlimited saves in the action menu
- you're not told what to do, you just have to figure it out for yourself (with some hints).
Topic: Ideas for Rent (Read 17473 times)
