Tested the mission once. Here are my findings.
Looked through the old thread and noticed you missed Manzilla in the testing credits. Not sure if this was intentional or not. You also didn't include any of that detail in the mission download Readme. Perhaps a link to this thread would be enough? Whatever you decide, there are no standards anymore.
INTRO
I didn't get the intro til the end. I was confused why you had a heli insertion during the intro when you used boats at mission start. It wasn't until contemplating the mission whole after the play test that it became apparent that the whole thing was a recalling of memories. My favorite scene in the intro was the slow motion angle above the little bird as the rain was falling.
MISSION
Being unfamiliar with the armory, i just skipped without changing anything. I was afraid of altering the balance or leaving something essential behind. Perhaps a hint or two to help the player know that all is ready unless he would like to change something? Not sure really.
I was eager to see how different the game play would be from Arma1, since Arma3 is superior in every way. I was not disappointed. I was utterly immersed throughout the infiltration. The only thing i dislike about Arma3 is that you as a player try to pick the shaded paths to navigate through so sunlight doesn't reflect anything into the distance but as you turn the shadows change. I have to remind myself that the AI don't see shadows. They are programmed to acknowledge objects by using variables such as class name, stance, speed and line of sight. That's how immersed I was though. I found myself repeatedly reminding myself of protocol when faced with patrols or guards. Avoid them and stick to the game plan. I made it to the over watch without being spotted, spilled through the whole cinematic process and did end up having to reload several times because I would jump the gun and kill the officer before given the order. Alas, I finally waited orders and took out the target. I had been able to fire a burst then roll behind a rock before spotted. I then stayed put for about 5 or 10 minutes while the bees buzzed. I thought ex-filtrating away from the scene would be more difficult but again, reminding myself to only engage when engaged saved me from unneeded pressure. In fact I was spotted by a lone officer along a ridge and shot at but he missed and I was able to flank and kill him to grab some more supplies.
At one point during my trek to Pacamac, I was prone beneath a conifer and a patrol(without NVGs) literally crossed within a stride of me on either side but never spotted me. I'm not sure if it was because I didn't move or what. But it was certainly a raised blood pressure moment.
Once over the mountains, I adhered to the high slopes as best as I could until I heard the lone civy shouting for help. This was immersive also until he shouted on the radio too. Once you join him to the player, the radio commands were loud and disruptive to the immersion. Especially when he began to call out targets.
At Pacamac, the whole cinematic went by after dropping my weapons, I push back to the mountains, glad to be rid of the civy, to meet up with the others. Mataredo went well, as did the spetz camp. Grenades were still very effective against them but this time, those behind cover actually remained alive(imagine that).
Maybe spawn a rabbit with that sound in the bush? Makes no real difference to be honest, the player should be focused on whats ahead anyhow.
Afterward, the convoy was disabled(I missed a tank due to the spread) and I encountered some trouble with the AI not wanting to traverse too steep of slopes. So, I was forced to move along the ridge until I was close to Hanupu.
I was engaged with a patrol when the radio for resistance delivery was issued and missed the coordinates. Instead I went onto Hanupu, where a cinematic of the spetz group approached the town. I think the resistance fighters began firing on them because the car stopped, the officer got out and went prone in the grass for a while. I also noticed some dead soldiers in the car. After a while, the officer gets up and stands there. Moments later it switches to him walking to the civy, the car has been moved? And the cinema plays out. I approach the town, the officer is standing still, the uaz is nowhere in sight, and there are 2 other soldiers in the town(survivors from the resistance shooting at the car I guessed) I take em all out, climb the hill and totally overlook the radio command at first. Nothing happens so I begin to run toward Pacamac. That's when I trigger the resistance to part ways with us along the road. Rid of them, I finally see the radio command and rush to the hill and call for evac.
The entire mission there were no tasks displayed in the task area(Which is why I was confused what to do at times). Out of all of those tasks(according to the mission log) only 3 completed..."Attack convoy", "Little Bother" and "Evac". If I had not played this one before, I may have not been able to finish.
Also, none of the map markers disappeared after completion. Removing those and only displaying the current marker would also help to guide the player.
The mission end cutscene had some dark scenes that were pointless.
OUTRO
I think I could see your vision of how you wanted this to unfold but it seemed a little cut up and the flow was disrupted by poor angles and swift camera sweeps as well as uncontrolled AI movement.
OVERALL
The only potential bug was at the end as I explained with that cinema. What if the resistance would have killed the officer? Would the scene had continued or become stuck?
If you're not going to use tasks, use markers and waypoints as guides for the player. And force the resistance to hold fire at the start of that cutscene just in the case the player brings them with him to Hanupu.
Perfect length, I feel. The mission was not too taxing but as the same time, challenging in that it provides a sense of how unexpected events can effect a mission at any moment, forcing a unit to adjust and dig deep to find that extra strength to keep going to see it through.
The horrors of war have become so visible in our internet society that people have become numb to its effect. So trying to portray not only the grisly nature of ending someones precious life early but the effects of it upon someones mentality can be a daunting task in these days.
I think much of the depth of what you tried to convey was lost in your attempt to bring it to Arma. If the faces had animation to show emotion, you would have been much more successful.
I realize that this is only a port. I don't think you have the heart to mess with it much more(I wouldn't). Just fix the markers, the tasks or guidance system and prevent the AI from interfering with cut scenes and I think it would all be good.
Topic: Evil's Last Will (Arma 3) Under Review (Read 10685 times)