What is it you kids say these days?

[Dubieman]

Hello again....


I'm starting another project mission. And I'm wondering what people would like to see/want. I've got some vague story ideas, but I'm more interested in what side the player should be on. For me, I'm very tired of the storyline "The mad soviets have taken another island! This is the 150th time! Go kill them as americans!". And I've lost touch with making "West" sided missions as I feel there are too many. What is it that people like to play? East vs. West?

I'm so undecided because I'm also going to use the MARPAT marines and they have russian naval infantry as well. So I'm torn cause I like the marine weapons, but yet I do not want to make another beat up the poor sovs again.

cheers & happy easter
May the bunny strike your house.

GRK

[DSGizzmo]

I agree there are far too many missions about those evil soviet shenanigans , you would think they would have given up by now. The missions im currently working on are more sort of Soviet/russians against rebel factions or US marines against terrorist factions  to make it more realistic, because nowadays its not really pro. army versus pro. army, its more small skirmishes against pro. armys by like militia groups.

Or atleast not involving soviets because that storyline is just boring, maybe rogue US generals or a rogue SAS troop, to make it original.

[PrejudiceSucks]

I personally like to make missions with Resistance troops being hostile to everyone and, for example attacking a supply column only to find out that the Russians had the same idea. Unfortunately for the Resistance, they brought along there good friend the Hind.

Btw, these missions aren't 'You are a super-commando! You have like a jillion guns! And you need like 30 mods to make this work!' they're more 'The US are delivering medicine to their field hospital. Clearly, the more US dead the better. Get to it. With your friends. But no AA launchers.'

So eventually, it boils down to either ignoring the supply column and letting the Hind take it out, whilst you shoot it down with an RPG later, or shoot the Hind with an RPG then finish the column off. Or even better, use the fact that the sides hate each other and let the Americans AA launcher it to dust, then blow the US up! Woo'

I am so tired of those 'assassinate the Russian General' missions, or even worse 'blow up 3 Shilkas, like that BIS mission in the campaign, we even used the same triggers!'.

[greg147]

I really go for original, new idea missions. See my 'Crushed under our tracks' mission in the beta testing area and see what I mean.  

Something the player rarely plays as. A door gunner in a blackhawk, or how about instead of 'be a blackop, and kill 3 shilkas', how about 'be a regular infantry soldier, and defend a shilka from a highly trained Blackop force'.  :gunman:

I also like Urban battles. It takes a really good mission maker to make a urban battle.  

[Roni]

Here's an idea - how about civvies vs Resistance ?

You could set up a small village and play one of a group of civvies.  All of the other civvie groups will wander around doing civvie stuff, you can either tell your men to do that too (the default at start option) or tell them to gather arms and try and track down those pesky jerks that keep shaking the village down for cash.

Each guy in your group could have a custom addacton that sets them work digging in the fields, cutting down trees or heading in to the hanger (factory) to turn out widgets.  This all yields cash, which means victory points at the end of the game, but if the local thugs show up and take it off you then what's the point ?    :'(

You COULD buy some pistols and shotguns from the next town or maybe even head to the armoury and barter for something heavier.  This all burns up your bucks too, so you may still end up losing.

Maybe your score could be posted every 60 seconds or so.  You start with 4 guys in your group - if your score goes up then so does your group size, if it goes down then again, so does the group.  If it falls to less than 1 then you're all through, if it reaches 12 you win.

Combine that with a group respawn and you'd REALLY want to keep your charges alive !

The options would be many and varied - work like a dog, pay your protection money and keep your head down, lie in wait and fend off the gooons any time they show up, track them down to their base by yourself, or take the whole gang with you.  Each option should have pros and cons depending upon your group size, skill state, and weapons on hand.

Maybe you can spend time and money to add to your skill and experience ratings.  It might be worthwhile training one of your gang to be the teams security guard while the rest work to bring in the dosh.  Or instead, you might cycle every guy through some sort of militia training so that they all have basic arms skills when the goons attack.

THis shouldn't be too hard to script and would make a nice change of pace to the usual shoot and kill style mission.


roni

[Dubieman]

Roni, that sounds like an excellent idea for a mission. Though not one I want to attempt right now.

I dunno, I think I've decided on a sort of compromise. Using Jam east guys, I can represent some other nation. Then Russia can "help/advise" with the elite naval infantry. Meanwhile, you the Marines in the MARPAT pack are the spearhead NATO force. Eventually the real NATO force (Jam west guys, representing the many countries, like BHD with Pakistanis and Malaysians) comes in and supports the Marines.

Any countries that fit the bill? Mercenaries? (for the Jam east guys)
Or should it be political sides?

Then the resistance will be a wildcard.

BTW: I've got a question, M16A4, when was it introduced?

[Roni]

Hi GRK

Re mission - fair enough.  If you're looking for a "conventional" mission with unconventional forces how about a Soviet intervention in a Soviet Bloc state style mission.  You could do Czechoslovakia 68, Poland 1982, Azerbaijan 1988 or any made up style mission (East Germany 1989 ?).

The player could play Soviet, Soviet Bloc or Resistance.  Or how about Soviet or Soviet Bloc vs US backed militias and mercenaries - Nicaragua, El Salvador etc !

Re M16A4 - it looks like the A4 version first came out in 1994 and first went in to operation with the troops in Iraqi Freedom in 2003.  Check out this site

http://world.guns.ru/assault/as18-e.htm

Remember, Google is your friend !



roni

[Dubieman]

Google is my friend. He just let me down as I went through a dozen gun sites and found loads of info on the M16 series. But no actual dates on the M16A4.
Thanks

I haven't seen many Czech islands or polish islands. Also the czech troops or polish troops...
I'll search ofp.info

[Roni]

Unless I'm doing a coastal assault or port raid I always pretend that I am fighting over continental terrain.  Once you're out of sight of the coast you might as well be fighting over Fulda Gap or the northern German plains . . .

But if its a bona fide island you want, check out Finland or any one of the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia).  They have heaps of islands off the coast, any of which would make a valid Soviet vs rebel bloc battle ground.

Once again, if you stay away from the coast you could use Desert Everon to simulate a Soviet intervention in the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict in 88.  Rolling hills, deep valleys and even the occasional lake (coast) to make things interesting.

Technically everyone is still Soviet (just barely !), but as the "real" Soviets your Russian squad might be called upon to keep both warring parties from each others throats long enough to get everyone back to the negotiating table.

Soviet East vs Soviet West and Soviet Resistance (friendly to nobody !), with maybe some Soviet civilians thrown in for fun.

It's amazing that empire lasted as long as it did . . .



roni

[greg147]

Thats a good point, the battle doesn't have to be on an island. Take my Dunkirk mission for example, that was on the coast, but I used Malden as northern France.  

@GRK
Are you talking about a single mission here, or a whole campaign  ;D

[dmakatra]

The problem is that making a player-russian mission is that the player has to be, well, russian. For me being a realism freak, writing everything and having every voice sample in english sorta takes the point away. That's one of the reasons I hate the Red Hammer campaign.

I don't mind playing as westies, just if you incorporate it the right way. See, war is bad, m-kay? Why not make sure that the player feels that way, m-kay? Especially if you are making a story-based mission. Make bloody well sure the player can't say "Oh, I hate russians" but he can't really say "Oh, I love russians either". Of course he wouldn't be able to say "I love/hate Americans" too. Get my point?

So instead of "Take this town, the russians are murdering civillians" use "Take this town, the russians are murdering civillians but on our way to the objective we kill a whole family to get information about who knows what (ala Vietnam)". Actually, Vietnam is one bloody good setting for these missions.

:beat: *Gets Shot* :beat:

[Roni]

This reminds me of a role playing mission idea I had many years ago.

You were to be the leader of a Wehrmacht garrison unit posted to the Ukraine in 1942.  Your mission was simple - you had a team of seven men (all officers) to maintain security in an area of around 200 km square.  There were two rail lines - one to the north taking supplies and reinforcements east and one to the south taking wounded and "war reparations" back home.  These lines had to be kept running at all costs !

The area also contained a number of industrialised areas and agricultural regions, you also had to make sure that these areas paid their appropriate "taxes" and that these were also shipped back home.

At first glance the task was impossible - how were you supposed to oversee 40,000 square kilometres of area containing maybe half a million people with just seven men ?  The answer was simple - you weren't !

You were supposed to recruit local anti-communist and fifth columnists to work along side you under your control.  Once you got the infrastrusture in place it would have run smoothly all by itself, with your new "friends" doing all the grunt work of keeping the local populace in line.

Or would have if not for two complications - Partisans and the SS.

The SS were going to show up and ask you to provide them with a list of all ex-communist officials, former military officers, intellectuals, Jews and Gypsies.  You were then supposed to help round them up, tag them and prepare them for processing.

Oh, and they also needed to use the local sports field for the next 4-6 weeks and would require four bulldozers, two backhoes and 2,000 pounds of quicklime.  And no questions please . . .

The partisans meanwhile were going to start by blowing up the rail ines, then get to work turning the outlying villages and towns against you.  They were then going to work their way up your heierarchy, bumping off local police and government officals, then senior bureaucrats, then the heads of your departments and finally they would start mounting assassination attempts on your team of offices and yourself.

The SS would be more than willing to help, all you had to do is say ask   :hmm:  :noo:  .  But would that help or hinder your cause ?  And did you even want to support "your" cause anyway ?

The whole mision was going to be an exercise in futility and moral and ethical dilemmas.  Even "going bush" or trying to work with the resistance had its downside - the Partisans didn't really take too kindly to the Fritz's, even ones that they worked with, and if the SS ever found out about your little indiscretion then you could end up eating soup through a straw and wishing you had your fingernails back in your last few miserable weeks of existence . . .

I don't know how this would translate to OFP, it may in fact be too dark for it.  It's all doable of course - torture addactions, tactical massacres for notoriety gain, random round ups and executions to root out resistance members - I just don't know how good you'd feel after playing it.  ("Yay ! I quelled the revolt in western Everon !  I had to level Le Moule to do it and ship off the entire poplation of Mortaine to Auschwitz, but the area is now peaceful !").

Nuf rambling, time to post.



roni

[Morglor9]

I'm all for a soviet mission. one thing that would be good to see would be a mission/campaign that is less about the glory of an army/country, and more about a personal victory (avenging friend's death, taking back hometown, etc...)

Anyway, i'm planning on making a mission/campaign with SEB Nam Pack 2 where you play as a VC, and possibly get recruited by the NVA...

I know this post doesn't really solve your problem. sorry.

[Dubieman]

Greg147, I'm going for a campaign. I was making a big fully fuctioning mission/world, but its too much work right now. So I'm going to make a campaign.(more work, but simpler mission design and easier to storytell)  ;D

Morglor9, As long as the topic is thought provoking. That's what matters.

Roni, make either one of those missions you suggested. They're really good ideas.

 

@Morglor9, yea, personal over national goals. Those are always more fun. And it feels realistic in a way.

[HUSTLA23]

Roni, your idea is brilliant. It might not be PC, but who cares? If you make it, and it works you are a brilliant person. Just dont let the Russian OFP players know. they wont take to kindly to this.