View Full Version : Freedom fighters......ends too soon.
There I was, relocated the base, built myself a barracks, was slowly conducting hit and run ops to build my resources up, I had 2 units of 1 soldier each running around and seeing some success......when suddenly, 32 minutes in, the mission ends with "we have been slaughtered like sheep".
What?!
duno how you go so far, last few missions are unplayable by most...
LT. Razgriz
Jun 30 2009, 03:14
Did you ever find a way around this, or anything? I had barely done anything (blew up the offices, had just cleared one of the two checkpoints) and all of a sudden it gives me this. I hadn't even been leading. This seems like a really cool mission, other than this huuge problem.
Col. Doomfarer
Jul 2 2009, 01:07
Interesting, Ive been playing this mission for about 4 hrs now.
I'm curious, how can I play as the over all Commander when I started the mission it said AI has choosen a Commander.
Manzilla
Jul 7 2009, 16:53
Interesting, Ive been playing this mission for about 4 hrs now.
I'm curious, how can I play as the over all Commander when I started the mission it said AI has choosen a Commander.
You better hurry up and defeat the mission, it ends after 3 hrs. That was a serious buzz kill for me. I was finally making headway and actually taking some towns and all of sudden I got a "Time's up" message and the game ended.
I started the mission over and tweaked the time limit to be 2 days, not 3hrs.
If you want to do this open up the mission folder then data/scripts/winConditions.sqf.
Then change:
//Check for the time deadine of 3 hours
if ((time > (3 * 3600)) && !BIS_timeUp) then {BIS_timeUp = true};
to:
//Check for the time deadine of 3 hours
if ((time > (48 * 3600)) && !BIS_timeUp) then {BIS_timeUp = true};
with what programm i can open that *.sqf file ?
Steve Rickers
Jul 8 2009, 08:05
notepad
kylebisme
Jul 8 2009, 11:57
How do you get rid of the Russian checkpoints? I satchel charged both turrents and the tent on one but it still showed as there. And is Razor squad just there to look cool or can I get their help somehow? Also, any tips for the mission in general? I went off solo with an RPG at first and made enough to buy pretty much whatever I want, but I've tried a few different squad setups and they all get slaughtered quick.
I have thousands of gold but can't seem to buy any units or anything but that goddamn default V3C (whatever it is) and default weapons.
As a result it's around dawn, I've taken every village (though no objectives have updated yet), I am swimming in equipment-laden Ruskie corpses and am trying to use a grenade launcher jeep singlehandedly to go against swarms of of APCs. And on top of this typically lopsided insurgency I have a time limit? Bollocks.
I have thousands of gold but can't seem to buy any units or anything but that goddamn default V3C (whatever it is) and default weapons.
You can only buy the V3(?) at the capture points. If you're loaded use the fast travel on the map screen to go back to the main base and buy your units there then fast travel back.
The V3S(?) you get at main base is useful as it allows you to build defences anywhere, not just inside bases and strong points.
Haven't played many warfare missions but I'm attracted to this one because it's so nails. Dying to complete it.
Has anyone got anything useful out of Razor or the smugglers?
Manzilla
Jul 8 2009, 22:48
Has anyone got anything useful out of Razor or the smugglers?
Never gotten a thing from either. Matter of fact, they don't do nothing, say nothing, nothing nothing. I'm dying to figure out what they are there for.
Damn right, this mission is serious nails. Warfare and SP rocks.
Punjistick
Jul 9 2009, 00:14
:yay:
Played this one a looong time before beating it.
First thing I tried was capping Tulga and then heading south towards Kamishovo. RPGing the wheels on a BDRM headed north and getting in and using cannons on anything else coming up the road. That didn't work cause the other cities were getting captured while i was racking up kills.
Then I tried capping Msta and building some defenses at the strong point on the road out of town to Staroye, but again staying put meant I could rack up kills but the other towns would get turned and I'd lose fast.
The time I finally had some success, I capped Msta, then Tulga super fast (100 kph on a motorcycle, dirt trails in a forest, using night vision = wheee). As i was leaving Tulga, Msta was getting capped by the enemy. I laid some mines on the road between Kamishovo, and Msta. That seemed to slow down the enemy progress. After mining the road, I high-tailed it back to Msta, recapped, grabbed a couple extra troops from HQ and a couple gun trucks, then took the northern road around towards Staroye (avoiding the direct road between them which is thick with APCs and troops.
Even after I capped Staroye, there were still enemies spawning in the town right on top of me. I had a couple RPG troops with me to help with the apc's materializing out of thin air.
In my other tries I found Razor to be a waste of time, as was hopping in a boat and going for some equip on the island.
Elektrozavodsk was hairy. By that time I'd been back to HQ to buy a BDRM-2 and some satchel charges to blow up their base structures. Not worth defending the strong point where their HQ is, soldiers spawn constantly there even after its capped.
As far as troops go, the time I won I started with 2 scouts. They seemed to have a little more survivability, I was hoping that sorta ghillie suit and NV gogs they have would help. Once I got a little more $ from capping a town I bought some RPG infantry.
Never was able to get back to HQ often enough so I sent money to the other AI's, not sure if that helped.
Very fun mission, the campaign seems boring as heck after that.
Good luck guys.
P.S. GET SOME!
I'm not finding the mission so enjoyable. AI instantly sends a bunch of BTR's along with other stuff. Fightning them off only means I don't get anything done and soon after they'll bring T72's, T90's and Shilkas! I could fight off them BTR's, but the tanks are way too much. Good money, but what to do with the money, when all I can get is BRDM-2 with a whopping 14.5mm machinegun. Can't either get to try for the island in time before the enemy caps a town and the mission ends right there.
kylebisme
Jul 9 2009, 05:22
What are the smugglers supposed to do for you anyway? I took the time to find a boat and go out there only to have them tell me about the weather.
Punjistick
Jul 9 2009, 06:07
kylebisme:
Seems the smugglers on the island are only good for some weapon upgrades. It takes so long to get there and you can usually loot some bodies for decent guns/rpgs if you want.
Kalha:
The times I really tried to halt their advance by building defenses at a strongpoint, things would fall apart somewhere else (lol, everywhere else really).
Try to take out a few lead APCs in a column, either the ones advancing on Msta or Tulga, then retreating and taking a different town. Do it with a mine or two and you can be long gone to a new objective. They get paranoid and slow down once their convoy lead explodes. Drop the mine at a narrow point on the road and they'll have to go off-road, slowing them down even more.
Capping towns did more to slow down their reinforcements. Defense is fun but you do more damage with a few troops in a gun truck (or two) hitting the soft spots. You can cap strongpoints faster than the enemy can take them back.
I never thought to try the quick travel someone mentioned, that might be a great way to get back home to buy more RPG units after you earn some cash.
maturin
Jul 25 2009, 02:25
Something that works for me so far is this: buy a medic and two other cheap units and put them in a truck. Drive that thing like a bat out of hell east from your start point to the coast, where there is an inflatable boat. Take the boat to Starolsky and go to the Smugglers weapon cache. Give everyone RPGs and Snipers. Then go back to the mainland and snipe the Russian checkpoint. There is an ammo crate by the fixed machine gun. Then go take Kamishovo.
Now there should only be several dozen APCs inbetween you and Elektrazavodsk. Eventually you will capture a jeep with an grenade launcher, which can even disable T-90s in a pinch.
It's going pretty well on my game, except for the goddamn Tunguska bearing down on me. No fucking fair!
templar514
Jul 27 2009, 08:10
You better hurry up and defeat the mission, it ends after 3 hrs. That was a serious buzz kill for me. I was finally making headway and actually taking some towns and all of sudden I got a "Time's up" message and the game ended.
I started the mission over and tweaked the time limit to be 2 days, not 3hrs.
If you want to do this open up the mission folder then data/scripts/winConditions.sqf.
Then change:
//Check for the time deadine of 3 hours
if ((time > (3 * 3600)) && !BIS_timeUp) then {BIS_timeUp = true};
to:
//Check for the time deadine of 3 hours
if ((time > (48 * 3600)) && !BIS_timeUp) then {BIS_timeUp = true};
ive tried going into the arma 2 main file and going to missions, but mine is devoid of anything other than a readme that says "single missions", am i missing something??? (any very detailed instructions on how to find this file would be greatly appreciated :) )
swestm3
Jul 27 2009, 14:03
As I remember, after all the ememy soldiers were killed, a communication came that the Leader had left.
I have tried going back to the Camp with all the dead ememy soldiers to find the Leader. I have selected one of my team and pressed "6" but the "Search Body" command is not available. Even though I like this game the more I play it and get familiar with it, I am not about to go back to different saves and hope to finish the level. Since this game offers the player endless paths to accomplish the tasks why does it seem from other players that if you don't follow a particular path you can't finish the level.
Also, I have not found any evidence in all the places I have searched and I don't have the time to do grid searches in hope of discovering evidence.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Stuart
ive tried going into the arma 2 main file and going to missions, but mine is devoid of anything other than a readme that says "single missions", am i missing something??? (any very detailed instructions on how to find this file would be greatly appreciated :) )
Go to the game root directory (it's C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 if you are playing the downloaded version, I don't know where the game root is if you bought and installed the DVD)
Go to Addons. Unpbo missons.pbo Once that is unpacked inside the newly created missions folder you will find a Scenarios folder. The single missions are there. Note that Village Sweep is called something else.
This mission is just ridicilous. Dont understand how anyone could finish it with the time limit etc.
templar514
Jul 28 2009, 07:58
thanks for the help, and it is the bought version not the steam one, and i agree it is far too short, but mayb it is restricted cause the scenario is supposed to be night raids??
---------- Post added at 07:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:52 AM ----------
also, how do i unpack it? so far i can just rid the .pbo and view some of it in microsoft word, do i need any specific program to do
(argh i hate being tech-illiterate :S)
*UPDATE*
ohk, opned it with my ancient version of word and edited it, but the file can no longer be recognised as a valid pbo file. tried using notepad but it for some reason crashes notepad and doesnt work? :S gah! curse vista and all of its satanic offspring! XS
maturin
Jul 28 2009, 14:51
By unbelievable good-luck I stumbled across an unoccupied, undamaged Russian Tenguska. But now the Russians have platoons upon platoons of tanks.
I find this type of missions really interesting, but unfortunatly too buggy...again:mad::mad::mad:(f*** team razor, can't help?).
Hope this will be fixed with the patch 1.3 (and the campaign too :D)
currychicken
Feb 20 2010, 03:09
Thank you Punjistick, I can finally beat this mission.
I mainly use Punjistick tactics. Buy some landmine at the beginning. Put landmine in the road choke point. That really stop the enemy APC group. Capture Town. Fast travel to base to buy AT soldiers. Capture another town. SAVE & LOAD a lot. Fast travel to defend town if needed. Buy more soldiers. Capture more town. Buy BRDM. SAVE & LOAD A LOT.
The main problem is the enemy base. I use BRDM and lots of Stinger Soldier to attack it. I don't attack from the coast. I attack from the forest path north of enemy base. SAVE & LOAD A LOT. I go into the enemy base. Somehow I get into an empty T-90 tank and blow up all the enemy base!
Without the enemy base, I go back to my base to buy more units. There is some enemy tanks remaining. But it is not a big problem now. Finally I capture all towns and the mission finished.
Before that, I tried to blow the office but nothing happened. I haven't contact Razor team and smugglers. I haven't save the village. But the game end when I captured all towns.
My advice is: Don't play this mission. It is too punishing.
Airborne_hk
Feb 20 2010, 04:57
I was also having a hard time to play this mission through, until I found the trick. In fact it isn't THAT hard of you know how to do it... Digest the mission task notes might give you some hints...
The key of success is "speed". Since the Russians are building up their force as you do but they are in the upper hand because they have heavy factory while you don't, the sooner finish off the enemy base, the better. You don't want to see a column of T-90s crushing your poor small BRDM, right?
Take a look on the task note of destroying the office building in Elektrozavodsk. It suggested that you should bomb it before dawn. However this mission started at about 5am, which means the sunlight comes up very soon. Although in fact it doesn't matter even you bomb after 7am, but it is a IMPORTANT hint!
This is what I did:
I bought 6 satchel charges, putting them in the motorcycle nearby and drove as crazy towards Elektrozavodsk. In the progress I discovered the Russian base on the plain south of the city. Then I placed all satchel charges inside the building. Bombed it and returned to capture the north strong point which overlooked the Russian base. Bought a ZU-23 and pointed it to the base. Since it was still early stage, the Russians didn't have anything better than a BTR and the ZU-23 should be enough for wreak hovac. I cleaned up every buildings, vehicles and troops. Although the Russian soldiers seemed to be constantly spawning, but in fact they would eventually stopped after a while. I think those were "queued productions" which were still in effect even the barrack was destroyed. After I made sure everything were cleared. I continued with the mission.
With the enemy base destroyed, the rest of the mission was just a piece of cake!
currychicken
Feb 23 2010, 03:30
Thanks for the hint, Airborne_hk. That is really good idea.
Airborne_hk
Mar 5 2010, 15:49
Well, I played it again after updated to 1.05 and find out the Russian defenses are tuned up a bit... Remember to bring something heavier with you...
I finished the mission by capturing the first town, putting it full of defences and walls, then I grabbed a boat to the russian base, destroyed the hq with a lot of rpg's, I also attacked their vehicle factory, dont know if that is needed because no hq=no money right?
Then the russians stopped attacking and the mission became a whole lot easier, this was in version 1.02 I believe.
andromedagalaxe
Mar 5 2010, 20:59
I just started this last night and got capped pretty quickly. So, hit their base first while they're unprepared? I haven't even found their base yet.
Airborne_hk
Mar 6 2010, 03:55
I just started this last night and got capped pretty quickly. So, hit their base first while they're unprepared? I haven't even found their base yet.
Check the mission details in the map view and it stated where the base suppose to be.
Ogryzek
Mar 15 2010, 19:56
What's the point in exploiting game mechanics? Isn't the idea to use guerilla tactics? Not even Che Guevera captured Cuba in 3hrs... and he wrote the book on guerilla warfare.
maturin
Mar 15 2010, 20:03
What's the point in exploiting game mechanics? Isn't the idea to use guerilla tactics? Not even Che Guevera captured Cuba in 3hrs... and he wrote the book on guerilla warfare.
Guerillas don't usually play to capture and hold territory in conventional warfare, which is what you have to do in this scenario, where there is a time limit, a vulnerable, static base, and you lose if you don't hold any towns. So you are left shooting RPGs at platoons of tanks in open landscapes.
And rushing the enemy base is no walk in the park. Once you get there, it's swarming with BTRs and infantry. Since the dipshit High Command AI takes forever to build a vehicle factory, there's nothing you can do except start a one-sided firefight. Meanwhile, your village up north is getting buried.
Airborne_hk
Mar 16 2010, 15:49
And rushing the enemy base is no walk in the park. Once you get there, it's swarming with BTRs and infantry. Since the dipshit High Command AI takes forever to build a vehicle factory, there's nothing you can do except start a one-sided firefight. Meanwhile, your village up north is getting buried.
I've replayed this mission a few times and noted some behaviors of the Russians that help you to rush their base easier. I know that they have a LOT of soldiers and BTRs defending the base. However, when one of their towns was fallen into our side. The Russians will start to send their troops to other towns near by using the same manner of "fast travel" (the units "disappeared" suddenly), and left only about 1/3 of the original garrisons. At this point their new units are yet to be built. Seize this opportunity to clean up the base using the tactics I suggested. Of cause it still possible to be killed and reload previous save a few times during this key period, but IMO it is a easier way to complete this mission.
And talking about the "infinity re-spawning" enemy soldiers even after their base destroyed, I found that they are the "commandable" units of the enemy. Seems like that the warfare engine tries to retain all such units so they keep re-spawning once they are wiped out even no capable building is exist. I thing BI should do something on this!
Also note that you can take command anytime if you wish. If you afraid of a captured town being retaken by the Russian, you can vote the command to yourself and keep the only two friendly units to defend it until you got the upper hand.
maturin
Mar 16 2010, 20:05
When I was trying to destroy the base, the Russians were swarming Msta and still defending Elektrazavodsk. Maybe I should have waited.
But even if I did get near their base, how am I to find two RPGs for every building, especially when they rebuild them in seconds until they run out of money?
I wasn't even aware that you could be the NAPA commander. :/
Edit: And omfg, I just answered my own question. You gets incredibly lucky and hit a BTR with an RPG so that the crew is incinerated but the vehicle is unharmed. Then their BTRs all glitched out and fired nothing but ATGMs, and I was able to cannon their buildings out. Then three of the objectives failed or canceled for no reason and after two hours and some village musical chairs I won.
Airborne_hk
Mar 17 2010, 14:52
When I was trying to destroy the base, the Russians were swarming Msta and still defending Elektrazavodsk. Maybe I should have waited.
But even if I did get near their base, how am I to find two RPGs for every building, especially when they rebuild them in seconds until they run out of money?
I wasn't even aware that you could be the NAPA commander. :/
Edit: And omfg, I just answered my own question. You gets incredibly lucky and hit a BTR with an RPG so that the crew is incinerated but the vehicle is unharmed. Then their BTRs all glitched out and fired nothing but ATGMs, and I was able to cannon their buildings out. Then three of the objectives failed or canceled for no reason and after two hours and some village musical chairs I won.
You don't even need to get near them... Have you read my previous reply @<hidden> #25?
http://forums.bistudio.com/showpost.php?p=1574157&postcount=25
With this tactic, I wiped out the Russian base way before sunrise! But I have new finding after recent replays:
I found 6 satchel charges not enough to destroy the office building in most case, so I took a Pickup instead and bring another 6 with me... Also the Russian might have a few T-72s with them at the very beginning occasionally(I only encounter once, in fact), but the ZU-23 is powerful enough to destroy them in a few burst so don't worry too much. And the position of the ZU-23 is also crucial! If you placed "too south", part of the base will be blocked by a civilian house. "Too north" you might not able to see the base until the sunlight lighten up a bit, meaning wasting some valuable time. "Too west" or "too east" might put you in a LOS of the enemy's static defense. IMO the best position is "just south" of the strong point.
In addition, if you have LOS of the remaining BTR, I suggest to kill it first because they have a good shot.
Also my tip on preventing the AI rebuilding the destroyed structures:
Always destroy the HQ first!
My personal preference order of destruction:
1. HQ
2. Heavy Factory
3. Barrack
4. Light Factory
5. Service Point
maturin
Mar 17 2010, 15:06
Ah, I didn't know you could even arm captured strongpoints in enemy towns.
But does bombing the office get you anything? I chucked a few Konkurs at it, but ended up winning with it still standing.
Airborne_hk
Mar 18 2010, 14:28
Ah, I didn't know you could even arm captured strongpoints in enemy towns.
But does bombing the office get you anything? I chucked a few Konkurs at it, but ended up winning with it still standing.
Well, nothing other than just one more task completed...
Arma 2 1.08 within CO with beta patch 1.58.78967
Initial thrash with Freedom Fighters was described here:
http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=115802
I finally "finished" this scenario, but it will not officially end with the screen describing your points and victory/defeat information. Can anyone suggest how I can get it to really end, or is it just bugged?
After many, many hours of desperate asymmetrical warfare against far superior forces, this is my situation:
1) offices blown before sunrise using 2 satchel charges (objective completed - green)
2) all towns and Elektro captured (objective not completed before sunrise- red "x")
3) base destroyed - no buildings remaining (objective not completed before sunrise- red "x")
4) both checkpoints destroyed (one before sunrise, one not - red "x" still appears on map at one checkpoint)
5) more than 10 "Recon" objectives completed (green)
Enemy troops are continuously respawning from the strongpoint at the enemy base - at the rate of about 1 per second.
I have over $110,000 in cash. I can't buy any more BTRs, as I get the "Can't reinforce - Gro" message. It is about 1pm local time, about 7.5 hours after the insurgency began.
I played under AI commander, Veteran single player, with unlimited saves enabled. I'd love to hear from someone who completed this with only one user save (default Veteran). They deserve a case of beer. Or two.
After finally capturing Elektro, I got the green "completed" marker for the scenario on the main scenario screen.
My guess is that after all the complaints about the 3 hour time limit, BI removed the time limit in later versions, but somehow the scenario is still bugged in terms of completion.
Completing all objectives before sunrise is so unbelievably hard, I don't see how anyone can do it. The trick must involve taking some men to the Island, loading up with RPGs, and going to the base to destroy it. Good luck with that. Have fun with those BTRs and sniper troops. As far as I am concerned, there is no way to destroy the base without capturing an enemy vehicle with some firepower (must be done quickly before the vehicle vanishes from under your feet), or with a ZU-23 from the hill above Elektro. The latter option is very difficult to master, as BTRs and troops will obtain "super targeting mode" in which they can snipe you from 400+ meters away, even in darkness and through vegetation. And then there's the respawning grenade launcher jeeps and dual-machine gun vehicles. Most importantly, even if the base is destroyed before sunrise, it will respawn, eventually producing even tanks. That is a major buzzkill. :(
Another guess is that very, very few people have played through this scenario in the last year under the more recent Arma 2 patches. Needless to say, this scenario has EXTREMELY limited appeal as currently configured.
I finally "finished" this scenario, but it will not officially end with the screen describing your points and victory/defeat information. Can anyone suggest how I can get it to really end, or is it just bugged?
Without any knowledge about that mission, I say with 60% probability it is bugged in the end. If that mission is really that hard and unbalanced, I suspect not so many have played it and provided enough feedback straight to the developers leaving the end part unfinished. Just like in these COOP missions:
http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=114818
Try playing from your last save and recording video about it with Fraps or similar program. Then put video on pause mode and try to locate the part where mission fades away to after mission screen. If you find a slide with Debfriefing showing and then disappearing in the next slide, then yes it is same problem.
Thank you, Hanzu. I can't find the "debriefing" item, either. Here is the description.ext for the scenario:
respawn = 3;
respawnDelay = 15;
respawnDialog = false;
onLoadMission = $STRMISSION.SQMMISSION_INTEL0_9;
doneKeys[]={"BIS_SP04"};
class Header
{
gameType = CTI;
minPlayers = 1;
maxPlayers = 16;
};
class Params
{
//Victory Conditions.
class VictoryTime
{
title = $STRWFMISSIONENDTIME;
values[] = {-1,30,45,60,90,120,180,300};
texts[] = {$STRWFNA,"30","45","60","90","120","180","300"};
default = -1;
};
class VictoryScore
{
title = $STRWFSCORENEEDED;
values[] = {-1,10,25,50,100,150,250,500,1000};
texts[] = {$STRWFNA,"10","25","50","100","150","250","500","1000"};
default = -1;
};
class VictoryTowns
{
title = $STRWFTOWNSNEEDED;
values[] = {-1,1000,1,2,3,5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40};
texts[] = {$STRWFNA,$STRWFALL,"1","2","3","5","10","15","20","25","30","35","40"};
default = -1;
};
//Mission variables.
class CapturableTowns
{
title = $STRWFTOWNSPRESENT;
values[] = {-1,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,15,20,25,30,35,40};
texts[] = {$STRWFALL,"1","2","3","4","5","6","7","8","9","10","15","20","25","30","35","40"};
default = 15;
};
class FasterTime
{
title = $STRWFPARAM1C;
values[] = {0,0.25,0.5,1,2,4};
texts[] = {$STRWFOFF,$STRWFFASTTIME15,$STRWFFASTTIME30,$STRWFFASTTIME60,$STRWFFASTTIME120,$STRWFFASTTIME240};
default = 0;
};
class MinStartingDistance
{
title = $STRWFMINSTARTDISTANCE;
values[] = {0,-500,-250,250,500,2500};
texts[] = {$STRWFMISSIONDEFAULT,$STRWFVERYLOW,$STRWFLOW,$STRWFMEDIUM,$STRWFHIGH,$STRWFVERYHIGH};
default = 0;
};
class MiscSettings
{
title = $STRWFMISCSETTINGS;
values[] = {0,1,2,3};
texts[] = {$STRWFALLON,$STRWFALLOFF,$STRWFNOCIVS,$STRWFNOGRASS};
default = 0;
};
class NeutralOpposition
{
title = $STRWFNEUTRALOPPOSITION;
values[] = {-2,-1,0,1,2,3};
texts[] = {$STRWFVERYLOW,$STRWFLOW,$STRWFNORMAL,$STRWFMEDIUM,$STRWFHIGH,$STRWFVERYHIGH};
default = 0;
};
class SideColorScheme
{
title = $STRWFSIDECOLORSCHEME;
values[] = {0,1};
texts[] = {$STRWFABSOLUTECOLORS,$STRWFRELATIVECOLORS};
default = 0;
};
class StartTime
{
title = $STRWFSTARTTIME;
values[] = {-1,100,5,7,11,12,14,18,22,2};
texts[] = {$STRWFMISSIONDEFAULT,$STRWFRANDOM,$STRWFEARLYMORNING,$STRWFMORNING,$STRWFEARLYAFTERNOON,$STRWFAFTERNOON,$STRWFLATEAFTERNOON,$STRWFEVENING,$STRWFNIGHT,$STRWFLATENIGHT};
default = -1;
};
class Support
{
title = $STRWFSUPPORT;
values[] = {-1,0,1,2,3,4};
texts[] = {$STRWFMISSIONDEFAULT,$STRWFNONE,$STRWFFREE,$STRWFCHEAP,$STRWFNORMAL,$STRWFEXPENSIVE};
default = -1;
};
class TownSpawnRange
{
title = $STRWFTOWNRANGE;
values[] = {-4,-2,0,2,4,8};
texts[] = {$STRWFVERYLOW,$STRWFLOW,$STRWFNORMAL,$STRWFMEDIUM,$STRWFHIGH,$STRWFVERYHIGH};
default = 0;
};
class TownSpawnTime
{
title = $STRWFTOWNTIME;
values[] = {-90,-30,0,90,150,450};
texts[] = {$STRWFVERYLOW,$STRWFLOW,$STRWFNORMAL,$STRWFMEDIUM,$STRWFHIGH,$STRWFVERYHIGH};
default = 0;
};
};
*********************************
The behavior I'm getting is that the mission never ends - it never returns to the main SP scenario list screen. For you, the problematic MP scenarios DID return to the main screen, right?
Here is the winConditions.sqf:
/*
File: winConditions.sqf
Author: Joris-Jan van 't Land
Description:
Set-up and check the win conditions for Freedom Fighters.
Returns:
Boolean success flag
*/
//Wait for WF to initialize the cities.
//waitUntil {!(isNil "PustaSideID")};
waitUntil {!(isNil "BIS_WF_CoreCommonInitialized")};
waitUntil {BIS_WF_CoreCommonInitialized};
Sleep 20; //wait a bit (there were errors with undefined BIS_officesTask)
BIS_captureCount = 0;
BIS_captureCountEast = 0;
//using BIS_WF_EastBaseDestroyed & BIS_WF_ResistanceBaseDestroyed set by WF
//BIS_resistanceBaseDestroyed = false;
//BIS_opforBaseDestroyed = false;
BIS_timeUp = false;
//Check the status of captured cities every 10 seconds.
while {true} do
{
//Check for the time deadine of 3 hours
if ((time > (3 * 3600)) && !BIS_timeUp) then {BIS_timeUp = true};
//Check the capture progress
BIS_captureCount =
{
//call (compile format ["%1SideID == 256", _x]);
(_x getVariable "side") == sideJoined;
} count towns;
BIS_captureCountEast =
{
//call (compile format ["%1SideID == 128", _x]);
(_x getVariable "side") == east;
} count towns;
//Update tasks' status.
if ((taskState BIS_officesTask) in ["Assigned", "Created"]) then
{
if (isnil "BIS_offices") then
{
BIS_offices = (BIS_officesTaskPos nearObjects ["Land_A_Office01", 15]) select 0;
};
if ((damage BIS_offices) == 1) then
{
BIS_officesTask setTaskState "Succeeded";
};
};
if ((taskState BIS_cpTask) in ["Assigned", "Created"]) then
{
//Set to correct destination(s) for CP.
if ((player distance (markerPos "BIS_checkpoint1")) <= (player distance (markerPos "BIS_checkpoint2"))) then
{
BIS_cpTask setSimpleTaskDestination (markerPos "BIS_checkpoint1");
}
else
{
BIS_cpTask setSimpleTaskDestination (markerPos "BIS_checkpoint2");
};
//Succeed the task when finished.
if (BIS_cp1Seized && BIS_cp2Seized) then
{
BIS_cpTask setTaskState "Succeeded";
};
};
if ((taskState BIS_hqTask) in ["Assigned", "Created"]) then
{
if (!(isnil "BIS_WF_EastBaseDestroyed")) then
{
if (BIS_WF_EastBaseDestroyed) then
{
BIS_hqTask setTaskState "Succeeded";
};
};
};
if ((taskState BIS_villagesTask) in ["Assigned", "Created"]) then
{
if ((count towns) > 0) then
{
if (BIS_captureCount == (count towns)) then
{
BIS_villagesTask setTaskState "Succeeded";
};
};
};
sleep 10;
};
true
****************************************
Here is the processEndTasks.sqf:
/*
File: processEndTasks.sqf
Author: Joris-Jan van 't Land
Description:
Process the final state of all tasks when the mission ends.
Returns:
Success flag (Boolean)
*/
//Fail tasks that were not succeeded at the end of the mission.
if ((taskState BIS_officesTask) in ["Assigned", "Created"]) then
{
if ((damage BIS_offices) < 1) then
{
BIS_officesTask setTaskState "Failed";
};
};
if ((taskState BIS_cpTask) in ["Assigned", "Created"]) then
{
if (!BIS_cp1Seized || !BIS_cp2Seized) then
{
BIS_cpTask setTaskState "Failed";
};
};
if ((taskState BIS_hqTask) in ["Assigned", "Created"]) then
{
if (!BIS_WF_EastBaseDestroyed) then
{
BIS_hqTask setTaskState "Failed";
};
};
if ((taskState BIS_villagesTask) in ["Assigned", "Created"]) then
{
if (BIS_captureCount < ((count towns) / 2)) then
{
BIS_villagesTask setTaskState "Failed";
};
};
true
**********************************************
The only point where I think the scenario could have ended is after I captured Elektro, when I got the green "completed" marker on the main SP scenario list screen. My save game for that period has been overwritten. Without having played the scenario, I doubt that any of the above will give you any clue as to what I have to do to have it end normally.
It looks from the above that the 3 hr time limit has not been removed, as I guessed. Something else is wrong. Does the order of town capture and objective completion matter? I pretty much ignored what the AI commander told me to do and accomplished the nearest objective at hand.
I think "Debriefing = 1" is not there either when mission fully works, because I have not seen it in missions I know that are working. So I assume missions are defaulted to "Debriefing = 1" by engine or something.
So basically that command has meaning only when mission wants to make a silly mission without debriefing "Debriefing = 0"
My undestanding for scripting is poor. So I really can't debug any of those. I tried to use Squint (https://sites.google.com/site/macsarmatools/squint) to find bugs in those COOP missions, but I soon saw it will give all kinds of false alarms and gave up, putting all my hopes on BI developers to find what is causing the bug.
But believe me I above all know how irritating it is when mission will not end correctly. To me they are the worst bugs of all - even worse than any crash or performance issues.
In your case it can also be a bad trigger. Meaning there was a situation where mission should have ended but scripting and triggers just didn't work and it is past that point now. I have seen such things for example in COOP 08 Payback. If you kill all enemies, but have not triggered one task/objective before it, it will not trigger anymore when there is no enemies around that the task required.
If you still play it, copy your savegames somewhere every now and then to have more to choose if you need to go back few steps.
I have copied saved games to separate folders to preserve them. But I still over-wrote an important one. I think you are right that a bad trigger screwed my game, wasting days of time.
Hi,
nice to see the mission is still played. I just destroyed the base at Elektro. I used the hint of capturing the northern strongpoint, built some Zu23 and had an evil time to destroy the buildings again and again...never again ! Only some troopers and one UAZ left, no respawning anymore. Now i'm happy to continue the mission the "normal way", i hope it ends after all. :)
Another bad thing i had, sometimes my fps went from full 60 (vsync on) on "very high" to 1 fps (!) making it unplayable. :mad: Had to set it on "very low" to go on at all. Right now it works again on "very high". Until now i couldn't find the reason for this. :confused:
Another bad thing i had, sometimes my fps went from full 60 (vsync on) on "very high" to 1 fps (!) making it unplayable. :mad: Had to set it on "very low" to go on at all. Right now it works again on "very high". Until now i couldn't find the reason for this. :confused:
I have experienced something similar in area north and northwest of Electro. There could be something wrong with the map/world combined to heavy script looping and/or memory leaking. Will drain down FPS down just because of extreme CPU load.
Even if above assumptions are just imagination fact is Electro is biggest town in that map and looking from north down to town and sea is bit of a FPS killer if all video settings are maxed.
Remember also that destroyed enemy vehicles and enemy corpses may also consume considerable amount hardware power with high video settings. So after heavy enemy respawn game will slow down. Back in my old hardware setup I have seen game to speed up when I chose Hide Body for enemy corpses. That was because I kept on very high detail which made those corpses to load CPU heavily, atleast with my old rig.
Your hardware setup has some similarity to my new rig. Atleast with that Phantom and SSD. With all that power we could assume there has to be something wrong when game can squeeze FPS down to 1 or 2.
I had been playing with vsync on (+ triple buffering from NVIDIA control panel), but just found that turning vsync off increases FPS a little with no noticeable loss of quality, no "tearing". I use 1680x1050, very high quality settings.
I do get frame rate drops when I use scopes, especially that of the ZU-23. Frame rates also drop a little when I'm killing hundreds of spawning men at a time as they pop out of the ground. Quite realistic, that is, BIS. NOT!
___________________________
Alienware Area 51 X58
ASUS X58 P6T Deluxe motherboard with integrated sound (SoundMAX)
Core i7 940 2.93 GHz
6 GB DDR3 RAM 1333MHZ (3 x ELPIDA 2GB DDR3 1333MHZ JEDEC STANDARD PC3-1066)
NVIDIA GTX 295 (2 PCB), no overclock, Video BIOS: 62.00.4E.00.02
Win 7 Home Premium x64
Dell 2408WFP monitor, 1920x1200, 59 (60) Hz
WESTERN DIGITAL 300GB 10,000rpm SATA HDD REV2 main hard drive
1000 watt power supply
---------- Post added at 03:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:36 PM ----------
Hi,
nice to see the mission is still played. I just destroyed the base at Elektro. I used the hint of capturing the northern strongpoint, built some Zu23 and had an evil time to destroy the buildings again and again...never again ! Only some troopers and one UAZ left, no respawning anymore. Now i'm happy to continue the mission the "normal way", i hope it ends after all. :)
Another bad thing i had, sometimes my fps went from full 60 (vsync on) on "very high" to 1 fps (!) making it unplayable. :mad: Had to set it on "very low" to go on at all. Right now it works again on "very high". Until now i couldn't find the reason for this. :confused:
Gambla, please report back to this thread if you get Freedom Fighters to end normally with the debriefing screen.
Thanks.
I just played through FF again, for the last time, and got the same result, namely it will not end. Two times in a row. All towns taken (not before sunup), base and offices both destroyed before sunup, both checkpoints destroyed (not before sunup). The site of the enemy HQ in Elektro still spawns troops continuously. Other than those spawn, no other enemies remaining.
THIS IS A TERRIBLE BUG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For such a hard scenario, it is inexcusable to have a bugged ending caused by a failed trigger or something. :mad:
I will now install 1.09, but will not try FF again. It was fun while it lasted, tho. :D
I was wrong, enemy soldiers are still respawning at the base. :(
@<hidden>: I too think there's something wrong with the map, but had that problem at different locations. Yes, maybe there is a script or something running wrong. It's definetely not the usual frame drop.
It's now the next evening, already dark, but the tasks still have the red cross. I'm curious if the tasks get "open" again any time later in the night. I don't believe so.
I report back. :)
@<hidden>: I too think there's something wrong with the map, but had that problem at different locations. Yes, maybe there is a script or something running wrong. It's definetely not the usual frame drop.
@<hidden> and OMAC both of you may want to add -showScriptErrors to the shortcut what you use to launch the game:
For example:
Target:
"C:\Program Files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\arma2oa.exe" -noSplash -skipIntro -showScriptErrors
It will give small black-green text box to left center part of the screen when script error happens. I have those show up most commonly when you have just loaded savegame and I assume it is because script is often confused in that situation.
I was wrong, enemy soldiers are still respawning at the base. :(
@<hidden>: I too think there's something wrong with the map, but had that problem at different locations. Yes, maybe there is a script or something running wrong. It's definetely not the usual frame drop.
It's now the next evening, already dark, but the tasks still have the red cross. I'm curious if the tasks get "open" again any time later in the night. I don't believe so.
I report back. :)
I finished everything by about 8:30am this time, three hours after the insurgency began. Had about $41,000 in cash at the end. No one seems to know for sure what the red x's in the objective list mean. I highly doubt that they will ever go away no matter how long you play. In the thread I started about FF, pretty much everyone was clueless about details of the scenario. I wish BI would help us find out what the scenario requires to finish normally. Does the order in which the objectives are completed matter? No one knows. :confused:
No one seems to know for sure what the red x's in the objective list mean. I highly doubt that they will ever go away no matter how long you play.:
My quess is:
red X in objective means it failed, but not badly enough to end mission
grey \ in objective means it was cancelled by HQ
grey circle in objective means it was not completed
green circle in objective means it is completed
Does the order in which the objectives are completed matter? No one knows. :confused:
It shouldn't matter, but I've seen some badly designed missions where completing objectives will result no Debriefing which in this case means failed mission. Some examples:
COOP 18 Mountain Dew
COOP 05 Tank Hunters
Yes there seems to be only a few information about this scenario. I only found these outside these forums:
http://www.tacticalgamer.com/armed-assault/142561-sp-freedom-fighters-scenario.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtwb6j674Y0
nothing really useful in those either.
I have thought that the red x's mean that you did not complete the objectives before sunup, as the notes suggest. What I don't know at all is whether the mission can be completed in some fashion with debriefing if one or more red x's are present.
One of the objectives is "liberate villages" which is nearly impossible to complete before sunup, especially if one attempts to destroy the base before sunup. The notes mention that all enemies should be destroyed, but that is not one of the objectives.
The objectives of the mission obviously involve time. The 3 hour time limit is apparently still present, but I have never reached that limit (although I am SURE I have played it for more than 3 hours). I wish I knew what the level designer had in mind. Perhaps if red x's are present, the mission failed, but one is allowed to play forever if one wants?
It's probably a bug, so I think we are wasting our time with this, unless the mission designers can give us a clue as to what is expected, and what went wrong.
In COOP 08 Armory failed Meta-Challenges give similar red X's and it will still complete successfully with Debriefing if point limit is reached before time limit. But then again it is totally different mission design and thus not very good for comparison.
What triggers sunup in that mission? In Dogs Of War it is possible to delay day and night change by not going to Skalisky island where day will be switched to night.
Have you tried to leave mission running and staying in some safe place? This would show what happens when 3 hours time limit is reached.
I also have wanted to have original mission designers comments on lots of things, but never got one with somedody taking credit of beeing the designer for some mission. I guess they are just too busy, too ashamed or just fear it would result a flood of questions from everyone. Also if some mission is 2 years old and they have done lots of other work after that, we can expect that they have forgotten lots of stuff already. Could also be something like companys rules that they are not allowed to reveal themselves, just a guess.
One thing I have now allowed myself when finding showstopper bugs in some missions, is to lower difficulty settings to minimum and make enemy AI as stupid as possible. This way doing some tests is a lot easier and faster.
.kju [PvPscene]
Mar 25 2011, 07:16
You guys are sure beyond crazy trying to complete these badly designed and
truly unfair scenario.
http://www15.picfront.org/picture/gRR8q97ckK2/thb/0001.jpg (http://www.picfront.org/d/87ST)
I gave it a go with cheats (beaming, kill all enemies in 500 radius, god mode).
So the conditions seems fine, if you make it in time.
My honest advice - let it go and move to far better missions and gameplay.
You guys are sure beyond crazy trying to complete these badly designed and
truly unfair scenario.
I gave it a go with cheats (beaming, kill all enemies in 500 radius, god mode).
So the conditions seems fine, if you make it in time.
My honest advice - let it go and move to far better missions and gameplay.
I have never even launched this mission. But call me crazy if I ever buy another game like Arma2 where after playing anything for 1 hour will result a need to spend 2 hours of bug reporting, repro stepping and arranging screenshots (when I'm one of those who wants to report bug when encountering one).
But anyway thanks for testing this mission PvPScene. So now we know Debfriefing works. I have one question however. Why is it showing "Duration: 2h, 54 min"? I can't believe it took than long with those cheats...
.kju [PvPscene]
Mar 25 2011, 08:25
I guess the time is not correct.
However I have used time acceleration to play at daytime.
MissionCreep
Mar 25 2011, 14:02
You guys are sure beyond crazy trying to complete these badly designed and
truly unfair scenario ......My honest advice - let it go and move to far better missions and gameplay.
I agree ... I have over 500 missions on my machine and play different ones at random. Some are great, some are lousy, most are somewhat entertaining but you can just move on if stuff is messed up. After a while, bugs and glitches become commonplace, you just play around them, or revert or quit and immerse youself in another mission, campaign or gameplay mode. Also you really don't feel so bad, because you know that every user-made mission, good or bad, is a labour of love. There are also many great campaigns out there if you like good storylines.
You guys are sure beyond crazy trying to complete these badly designed and
truly unfair scenario.
http://www15.picfront.org/picture/gRR8q97ckK2/thb/0001.jpg (http://www.picfront.org/d/87ST)
I gave it a go with cheats (beaming, kill all enemies in 500 radius, god mode).
So the conditions seems fine, if you make it in time.
My honest advice - let it go and move to far better missions and gameplay.
WOW! Thank you, PvP! Are you playing A2 1.08 or 1.09? You had captured the Elektro strongpoint, right? Very, very interesting. What was the local time when the mission ended? Looks like about 8:30am, right?
So, it looks like all villages must be taken, office blown, and possibly the checkpoints, before sunup. The base does NOT have to be destroyed. KEY INFORMATION!
You are, of course, absolutely correct about abandoning this crappy scenario and moving on. It's just in my DNA to finish and ace these damn things perfectly, despite bugs, bad objective design, and anything else.
It is also interesting that the debriefing mentions the base at Vyobor. Is anything going on up there near the airport in this scenario? Did you go up there?
Hanzu:
I was LAUGHING UP A STORM reading your last post concerning developer shame, etc. THAT WAS A GREAT POST! HA!!! :D
---------- Post added at 09:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:09 AM ----------
I agree ... I have over 500 missions on my machine and play different ones at random. Some are great, some are lousy, most are somewhat entertaining but you can just move on if stuff is messed up. After a while, bugs and glitches become commonplace, you just play around them, or revert or quit and immerse youself in another mission, campaign or gameplay mode. Also you really don't feel so bad, because you know that every user-made mission, good or bad, is a labour of love. There are also many great campaigns out there if you like good storylines.
MissionCreep,
Yes, but for official BIS missions and scenarios, I expect FLAWLESS, bug-free gameplay and excellent level design. Apparently that is too much to expect. Moving on from a user-designed mission is easy. Moving on from a BIS mission is not, at least for me.
I did find the A2 and OA campaigns very well done for the most part. OA was too short, though.
In COOP 08 Armory failed Meta-Challenges give similar red X's and it will still complete successfully with Debriefing if point limit is reached before time limit. But then again it is totally different mission design and thus not very good for comparison.
What triggers sunup in that mission? In Dogs Of War it is possible to delay day and night change by not going to Skalisky island where day will be switched to night.
Have you tried to leave mission running and staying in some safe place? This would show what happens when 3 hours time limit is reached.
I also have wanted to have original mission designers comments on lots of things, but never got one with somedody taking credit of beeing the designer for some mission. I guess they are just too busy, too ashamed or just fear it would result a flood of questions from everyone. Also if some mission is 2 years old and they have done lots of other work after that, we can expect that they have forgotten lots of stuff already. Could also be something like companys rules that they are not allowed to reveal themselves, just a guess.
One thing I have now allowed myself when finding showstopper bugs in some missions, is to lower difficulty settings to minimum and make enemy AI as stupid as possible. This way doing some tests is a lot easier and faster.
It looks like gambia has played for so long it is the next evening (12 hrs +), and he apparently also did not reach the 3hr time limit. :confused:
It looks like gambia has played for so long it is the next evening (12 hrs +), and he apparently also did not reach the 3hr time limit. :confused:
First thing i did was changing the timelimit to three days. There's nothing more in missions i hate than timelimits. And a timelimit of three hours in this scenario is more than ridiculous. Imho TLs kills the fun always.
.kju [PvPscene]
Mar 25 2011, 18:01
@<hidden> OMAC
The mission ended when the east HQ was destroyed.
The reason its not marked as completed as it ended instantly and for task status the
mission is using a cycle with a "sleep 10;" - in other words they are check every 10
seconds for an update / change.
Now if you only need to destroy the east HQ or more I don't know, yet it would be easy
to find out by reading the scripts (if one is into scripting).
I posted the scripts earlier in this thread. By "east base," which the scripts mention as key, do you mean the enemy base at Elektro with factories and HQ?
I guess that all 4 objectives (liberate villages, find/destroy base, destroy checkpoints, and blow office) MUST be completed before sunup. If one or more of those are not completed before sunup, it looks like the scenario will never end. Do you agree?
Thanks again for your input!!!!! :bounce3:
.kju [PvPscene]
Mar 25 2011, 18:45
I guess the scripts are somewhat readable to everyone:
//winConditions.sqf
//Check for the time deadine of 3 hours
if ((time > (3 * 3600)) && !BIS_timeUp) then {BIS_timeUp = true};
//mission.sqm
type="END1";
text="Eat this, Ivan!";
expCond="(BIS_captureCount == (count towns)) && BIS_WF_EastBaseDestroyed && !BIS_timeUp";
expActiv="activatekey ""BIS_SP04""; BIS_handle = execVM ""data\scripts\processEndTasks.sqf""; endMission ""END1""";
type="END2";
text="Marginal victory";
expCond="(BIS_captureCount >= ((count towns) / 2)) && BIS_timeUp";
expActiv="activatekey ""BIS_SP04""; BIS_handle = execVM ""data\scripts\processEndTasks.sqf""";
type="END3";
text="Maybe another day";
expCond="BIS_timeUp && (BIS_captureCount < ((count towns) / 2)) && !BIS_WF_EastBaseDestroyed";
expActiv="BIS_handle = execVM ""data\scripts\processEndTasks.sqf""";
type="END4";
text="Bloodshed";
expCond="BIS_WF_ResistanceBaseDestroyed || ((time > 2000) && (BIS_captureCountEast == (count towns)))";
expActiv="BIS_handle = execVM ""data\scripts\processEndTasks.sqf""";
processEndTasks.sqf
http://pastebin.jonasscholz.de/1356
Thanks! The issue appears to be with sunup (6-6:30am?) and the red x's. Did you see anything in the scripts that are related to them?
.kju [PvPscene]
Mar 25 2011, 19:33
What problem?
If the mission starts at 5:20 am, it always ends at 8:20 am.
All objectives not done by then, become failed => red X.
Unless you have than half of the towns captures but already the base destroyed - in that case
you can continue to play until you have more then half of them.
When you have east still has all towns after 2000 seconds (~ 30 minutes), you have lost early.
Edit: Mission starts at 5:20 am.
What problem?
If the mission starts at 3:30 am, it always ends at 6:30 am.
All objectives not done by then, become failed => red X.
The mission starts at 5:20 am for me, not 3:30. So I only get about an hour to complete everything before the red x's appear. As I wrote before, that seems quite ridiculous, and almost impossible.
.kju [PvPscene]
Mar 25 2011, 19:55
Ok the actual issue is quite obvious. Only the first end condition actually ends the mission.. :)
endMission "END1"
---------- Post added at 09:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:52 PM ----------
Can someone make a CIT ticket?
Oh, man. You found it! Please shoot me now.
My first bug report:
http://dev-heaven.net/issues/18491
---------- Post added at 04:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:30 PM ----------
Also, the red x's appear at sunrise, around 6:30 or so, not 8:30! And the mission has NEVER ended for me because of the 3 hr time limit, or for any other condition. It goes on and on and on........ I even completed everything by about 8:30am, and it still didn't end.
MissionCreep
Mar 26 2011, 05:55
MissionCreep,
Yes, but for official BIS missions and scenarios, I expect FLAWLESS, bug-free gameplay and excellent level design. Apparently that is too much to expect. Moving on from a user-designed mission is easy. Moving on from a BIS mission is not, at least for me.
I did find the A2 and OA campaigns very well done for the most part. OA was too short, though.
I think BIS tried to be too ambitious with the missions and campaigns and ended up dropping the ball due to resource shortages and deadlines. The collective of game/mission/mod makers have eclipsed what BIS can offer with vanilla Arma2. BIS should be happy that their platform is being extended and expanded to the degree that it is now only limited by the creativity and imagination of their customers. Things like Zeus AI, ACE, SLX and hundreds of other mods is testimony to this.
The BIS missions/campaigns to me are like the factory paintjob on a car. The manufacturer has done a credible job producing the engine and internals. The factory paintjob is OK, but if you want anything really cool, you need to customize and accessorize the exterior (which is the only thing people see).
What problem?
If the mission starts at 5:20 am, it always ends at 8:20 am.
All objectives not done by then, become failed => red X.
That is what i don't understand. I changed the timelimit to 3 days but i got the red X after 3 hours anyway ? I checked all the scripts but couldn't find the reason. Is there any other "condition" like daylight / sun up ?
.kju [PvPscene]
Mar 26 2011, 07:52
gambla what did you change specifically?
...see this post:
You better hurry up and defeat the mission, it ends after 3 hrs. That was a serious buzz kill for me. I was finally making headway and actually taking some towns and all of sudden I got a "Time's up" message and the game ended.
I started the mission over and tweaked the time limit to be 2 days, not 3hrs.
If you want to do this open up the mission folder then data/scripts/winConditions.sqf.
Then change:
//Check for the time deadine of 3 hours
if ((time > (3 * 3600)) && !BIS_timeUp) then {BIS_timeUp = true};
to:
//Check for the time deadine of 3 hours
if ((time > (48 * 3600)) && !BIS_timeUp) then {BIS_timeUp = true};
.kju [PvPscene]
Mar 26 2011, 10:25
How did you make sure you played your modification and not the BI version?
Loaded from editor or renamed it?
I took out the original missions.pbo, unpbo'ed it, changed the script, repbo'ed it and put it back in the folder. That's no problem. You could doublecheck by unpboing it again and see if changes were saved.
Guys,
As my bug report mentions, we have discovered two key issues.
The first, found by PvPscene, is the cause of the mission never ending (only END1 total success condition can end the scenario due to apparent omissions from the script of " endMission ""END1"" " for the other end conditions). Apparently BIS agrees that this is a bug.
The second, as gambla and I have experienced, is the mystery involving the appearance of the red x's for objectives about an hour after start, at sunrise around 6:30 am. The red x's mean FAIL and probably prevent END1 condition from being met. We should try and find out exactly when the red x's occur. Gambla said they occur after three hours. That is not my experience, but I will look into it. I do know that sunrise occurs WAY before 8:30 am. I think the red x's appear too soon after the start of the mission to be able to complete all of the objectives unless cheats are used.
There were many complaints (this thread) about the 3 hr time limit, so BIS may have eliminated mission termination from the end conditions other than END1.
Guys,
Gambla said they occur after three hours. .
No problem, but i only believe it was around 3 hours...
edit:
1) I just had a look in the editor, all End-Triggers have the "BIS timeup" as one of the conditions ? So it looks to me as the mission can only end when the 3 hours have passed. :confused: How could the player know that ? Are the 3 hours mentioned anywhere ?
2) Don't know if it was answered yet. Team Razor and Smugglers don't seem to have any value. The map shows nothing else than the units. Maybe it's in any script or something else ? Don't believe it.
Yes, that is another mission flaw. Razor Team says and does nothing, and thus their inclusion is a useless distraction. One time though, I visited them and Sykes was dead for some reason, so I took his awesome DMR.
The smugglers have a weapons cache that you can use, so they DO have value. Not much, though, as the weapons are not that great. It takes quite a long time to get there, get the weapons, and get back to shore. That normally wouldn't be a problem, but with the ~1 hr sunrise time limit, the whole exercise is a waste of time, especially as destroying the base with RPGs is NOT the way to go.
Maybe we have been confusing game time (as seen on player's watch) and real time? Is the three hour time limit real time, as in the amount of time you have sat at the computer playing the scenario, or the amount of game time that has elapsed for your player in Chernarus?
.kju [PvPscene]
Mar 27 2011, 06:08
Normally the "script time" is the same as the day time.
However warfare adds a lot of strain to the computer.
It might be that the daytime no longer is sync with the actual time played.
If you really want to find out, download and load along the gaia console:
http://www.file-upload.net/download-3315785/stra_debug1.pbo.html
You can start by pressing ESC while playing and next the left alt key.
In the top you have the variable checking fields.
Add "time" and "daytime". Now you can check them while playing.
I captured alle cities and mission ended with debriefing..
http://www11.file-upload.net/thumb/27.03.11/72c1zv4rs7.jpg (http://www.file-upload.net/view-3315998/arma2_2011_03_27_12_05_58_163.jpg.html)
.kju [PvPscene]
Mar 27 2011, 10:57
type="END1";
text="Eat this, Ivan!";
expCond="(BIS_captureCount == (count towns)) && BIS_WF_EastBaseDestroyed && !BIS_timeUp";
expActiv="activatekey ""BIS_SP04""; BIS_handle = execVM ""data\scripts\processEndTasks.sqf""; endMission ""END1""";
You got the first ending and this is why you got a debriefing.
As you upped the time limit to 48 hours you impressive 23 hours play time works out. :)
Did you destroy the east base? You should have to complete to fulfill the condition.
You got a red X for villages as the check only happens every 10 seconds, but the mission ends immediately
when any end condition is met. The scripted end handling is not well done.
Yes, Dwarden the BIS developer wrote that there are several things messed up about the end conditions, as we have suspected. For example, what happened to me several times is that I had destroyed the base, but 3 towns were not captured, so the mission never ended.
But I still don't understand why, after the base was destroyed, the mission didn't end when I later did take 3 towns (and then all of them). How did Gambla get the END1 condition? Perhaps destroying the base before the red x's appear permanently prevents the END1 condition?
It will be very interesting how BIS fixes the conditions, as it may significantly alter the scenario gameplay.
Edit:
The red x's appear for uncompleted objectives around 6:30am every time for me. The red x's did not apparently prevent gambla from achieving the END1 condition with the time limit upped to 2 days. I am completely confused about what makes the red x's appear.
.kju [PvPscene]
Mar 27 2011, 14:32
a) Gambla modified the mission end time (from 3 to 48 hours) as he wrote earlier.
b) If you take more than three ours, the first condition can no longer become true.
expCond="(BIS_captureCount == (count towns)) && BIS_WF_EastBaseDestroyed && !BIS_timeUp";
Focus on the last condition: not BIS_timeUp.
BIS_timeUp is false at the start and becomes true after three hours.
Therefore after that time it is impossible to get all three conditions true.
a) Gambla modified the mission end time (from 3 to 48 hours) as he wrote earlier.
b) If you take more than three ours, the first condition can no longer become true.
expCond="(BIS_captureCount == (count towns)) && BIS_WF_EastBaseDestroyed && !BIS_timeUp";
Focus on the last condition: not BIS_timeUp.
BIS_timeUp is false at the start and becomes true after three hours.
Therefore after that time it is impossible to get all three conditions true.
Yes, I am aware of all that, as I wrote in my previous post. However, no one knows if the appearance of the red x's means that the 3 hr time limit has expired or not. I think it does, but I get the red x's at 6:30am, BEFORE three hours has expired, at least in game time (???). If red x's appear, does that mean that END1 cannot ever occur? Until BIS fixes the conditions (which could take many months), this info is key, as a player will know if the 3 hr limit has expired when the x's appear and thus not waste their time with the scenario any longer, as END1 can never occur.
WHAT DO THE RED X's MEAN? WHAT TRIGGERS THEM? ARE THEY IMPORTANT? CAN A RED X EVER CHANGE TO A GREEN "COMPLETED" MARKER (I highly doubt it)?
If END2-4 conditions ended the scenario as they should, would we ever see the red x's? I think that they only appear due to the flawed end conditions.
.kju [PvPscene]
Mar 27 2011, 16:06
You are talking about tasks. These are different states:
http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/setTaskState
Red X = "Failed"
As posted before, the tasks are set by
1) processEndTasks.sqf from the mission end conditions 1-4 (trigger in the mission.sqm)
http://pastebin.jonasscholz.de/1361
2) the constant loop in winConditions.sqf
http://pastebin.jonasscholz.de/1362
Now focus on end 4 trigger again:
type="END4";
text="Bloodshed";
expCond="BIS_WF_ResistanceBaseDestroyed || ((time > 2000) && (BIS_captureCountEast == (count towns)))";
expActiv="BIS_handle = execVM ""data\scripts\processEndTasks.sqf""";
and from the loop
BIS_captureCountEast =
{
//call (compile format ["%1SideID == 128", _x]);
(_x getVariable "side") == east;
} count towns;
Now the problems appears to be that the "side" is never set.
Thanks, but what makes the tasks fail at 6:30am? Could anything but the 3 hr time limit make them fail (or perhaps an error in the scripting, of course)?
.kju [PvPscene]
Mar 27 2011, 20:57
Are you sure or better do you have proof (= screenshot) that it is exactly at 6:30?
What, you don't believe me? :butbut:
I used FRAPS for the first time. I wish f12 still worked in A2/OA for screenshots.
http://home.comcast.net/~brmlist/arma2oa_freedomfighters.jpg
This shot was taken at 7:05am game time (see watch), but the two objectives had failed around 6:30. Again, I don't know EXACTLY what time the tasks fail, but 6:30 is pretty close. 6:30 is the earliest I have seen the tasks fail with the red x's. I had thought that they failed around sunrise, as the scenario notes suggest that tasks be completed either before sunrise (offices) or as fast as possible. I had captured Kamyshovo also, but the Russians had just recaptured it. What made the two tasks fail so early in the scenario?
See those two damn T-90s coming up the hill from Kamyshovo? Damn they suck. Love that Metis, tho.
.kju [PvPscene]
Mar 28 2011, 14:12
You must understand that time a scripting variable and has no direct relation to day time.
Especially both can get async if you get into very low fps (like warfare can cause).
To recap:
1. You have 2000s = 33min to capture at least one town or you will get red X.
2. You have 3 * 3600s = 3 hours to fulfill the tasks to get no red X.
3. The mission starts at 5:20 am.
You must understand that time a scripting variable and has no direct relation to day time.
Especially both can get async if you get into very low fps (like warfare can cause).
To recap:
1. You have 2000s = 33min to capture at least one town or you will get red X.
2. You have 3 * 3600s = 3 hours to fulfill the tasks to get no red X.
3. The mission starts at 5:20 am.
"Recapping" info which is obvious and has already been discussed is unhelpful and a waste of your time.
If the game clock gets so out of sync that the 3 hr time limit is reached and objectives fail after about 1-1.5 hours, something is REALLY MESSED UP! I have trouble believing that this is the problem, but what do I know?
I'm getting about 35 fps in this scenario at very high quality settings. Is that really low enough to get the clocks that out of sync? I highly doubt it.
.kju [PvPscene]
Mar 28 2011, 18:04
Well i am out of here. I tried to help, provide insights in the coding, yet it seems not wanted. Laters.
Thanks for uncovering the fact that END2-4 weren't ending the mission! Other than that, you were mainly repeating yourself over and over again, which wasn't providing the useful info which I most certainly DO WANT. Thanks to you, and to me for filing the bug, BIS is looking at the scripts and I hope will fix them in the future to make FF properly playable.
MissionCreep
Mar 28 2011, 18:46
^^^^^
Given the 2nd anniversary of Arma2's release is fast approaching, I wouldn't hold my breath.
You are probably right. I've already moved on to PMC which is FANTASTIC! But for some reason, I'm getting more soft crashes to desktop than usual.
I realise I'm a little late to the party on this one. I did complete this some time ago now but when I saw this decided perhaps I'd post my 2 cents worth in case anyone is still struggling with this one.
I was also having a hard time to play this mission through, until I found the trick. In fact it isn't THAT hard of you know how to do it... Digest the mission task notes might give you some hints...
The key of success is "speed". Since the Russians are building up their force as you do but they are in the upper hand because they have heavy factory while you don't, the sooner finish off the enemy base, the better. You don't want to see a column of T-90s crushing your poor small BRDM, right?
Take a look on the task note of destroying the office building in Elektrozavodsk. It suggested that you should bomb it before dawn. However this mission started at about 5am, which means the sunlight comes up very soon. Although in fact it doesn't matter even you bomb after 7am, but it is a IMPORTANT hint!
This is what I did:
I bought 6 satchel charges, putting them in the motorcycle nearby and drove as crazy towards Elektrozavodsk. In the progress I discovered the Russian base on the plain south of the city. Then I placed all satchel charges inside the building. Bombed it and returned to capture the north strong point which overlooked the Russian base. Bought a ZU-23 and pointed it to the base. Since it was still early stage, the Russians didn't have anything better than a BTR and the ZU-23 should be enough for wreak hovac. I cleaned up every buildings, vehicles and troops. Although the Russian soldiers seemed to be constantly spawning, but in fact they would eventually stopped after a while. I think those were "queued productions" which were still in effect even the barrack was destroyed. After I made sure everything were cleared. I continued with the mission.
With the enemy base destroyed, the rest of the mission was just a piece of cake!
I completed it pretty much the same as Airborne_hk and as he says the key to this one is speed and taking note of what the mission brief says.
So like Airborne_hk I headed to Elektrozavodsk pretty much as soon as the mission started, the major difference though is I let the AI build my HQ which only takes a few seconds, as soon as that was done I bought as many satchel charges as I could and also voted myself as commander. Once that was done I packed up the HQ and drove it to Elektrozavodsk, planted the satchel charges in the office building, for me 2 were enough, one on the second floor against the wall at the top of the stairs, and another one at hte bottom of those same stairs. Got back in the HQ and drove to the main capture point for Elektrozavodsk.
As soon as I arrived I triggered the satchel charges, task completed, then built my HQ directly behind the strong point and of course capturing the strong point. This meant I was able to make money fast with my HQ so close to the main strong point and also I could build plenty of defenses, mostly ZU-23, but a few other things mixed in. Over time I gradually built the ZU-23's closer and closer to the enemy HQ till I had it in full view (with plenty of supporting ZU-23 near by) then jumped onboard to start taking out their base. Of course all this happened pretty quickly and all money being earned was being spent on more ZU-23 and I almost literally had the road and hill lined with them with ZU-23's covering other ZU-23's. Most important buildings I targeted first was the HQ but also very important to take out the heavy vehicle plant to prevent the heavy tanks from ever being produced and kept things much more even between me and the enemy. Of course while all this was happening they were happily taking towns around the map but I didn't really pay much attention, just focused all my efforts on destroying their base asap and gradually building more defenses and plants of my own and expand my force.
I tried many other ways of beating this map but none worked for me, I did try hitting Elektrozavodsk early a number of times but not quit like my last attempt. Having my HQ so close was a risk I know and I did lose a lot of stuff, continually having to replace vehicle plants and defenses before I took out their base completely. I found with other methods although sometimes I make some progress in the end I'd always get overwhelmed and out gunned, it seems the AI also has the ability to use fast travel like us and so you can take a town only to have it taken back because they just fast travel some tanks up to the next closest town, its all too easy for them and makes it very hard for us to earn the money. In many ways too it really does seem like hitting them early and hitting hard surprises the AI because it takes them a while to really start responding, buying you valuable time to set up some defense. With my HQ so close I was able to direct fire right in to their base and even if not taking out buildings I was at least destroying vehicles and men. My only regret since beating it is I didn't have FRAPS running to record it because it looked pretty cool too with explosions going off in all directions, it was a pretty intense battle and exciting.
Like many at first I hated this one and thought it too hard but now I love it and will be playing it many more times now I know the secret to winning. So my advice to anyone who hasn't yet completed this one, give it another try and follow Airborne_hk advice but instead of taking the bike take the whole HQ and slap your base down right on their doorstep. Be prepared for a hard fight and make sure you save often, but if you hit them hard like this you should win and not get out gunned like with other methods.
Once you've taken out everything in their base you will still find soldiers spawning in their base area but have a few light tanks of your own stationed in that area and they'll take care of anything that appears while you run off and take care of the other objectives. Also I noted there is a time limit but once their base is destroyed you seem to have as much time as you like to complete all the other objectives, and they're all pretty easy to deal with since they have no base to send in more BTRs or troops to stop you. I did encounter some BTRs and in other towns that had gone out during the fighting at their base but as long as you bring along a few of your own its nothing too difficult to deal with.
^^^^^
Given the 2nd anniversary of Arma2's release is fast approaching, I wouldn't hold my breath.
Dwarden said that he fixed an Arma 2 tutorial glitch just last week. Make a ticket and it could happen.
Engioc,
Thanks for your story. I have never tried moving my HQ, and don't know how to do it, but I'm sure it isn't that hard to figure out. Moving your HQ immediately to the main strongpoint of Elektro doesn't sound very realistic.
My past posts in this thread, and those by PVPscene, have indicated that there are horrible bugs in the mission design that are in the process of getting fixed by Dwarden:
http://dev-heaven.net/issues/18491
I strongly advise against playing the scenario until it is fixed.
Engioc,
Thanks for your story. I have never tried moving my HQ, and don't know how to do it, but I'm sure it isn't that hard to figure out. Moving your HQ immediately to the main strongpoint of Elektro doesn't sound very realistic.
My past posts in this thread, and those by PVPscene, have indicated that there are horrible bugs in the mission design that are in the process of getting fixed by Dwarden:
http://dev-heaven.net/issues/18491
I strongly advise against playing the scenario until it is fixed.
I see your point about it being unrealistic but in other ways I dont mind because you can take command and as such have the ability to move your base to anywhere on the map which is not unrealistic at all.
Often the problem on this scenario is not the time limit but the overwhelming number of light and heavy tanks thrown at you (and the speed with which it can do it) and once the T72s etc start rolling and the fact you cant build a heavy vehicle plant yourself makes it impossible.
The fact I choose to build my HQ in the same town as his doesn't necessarily make it unrealistic, just a very aggressive move on the enemy and as it says in the brief you should hit them hard and early while they're not expecting it, and if you follow that it works.
AS for waiting for a fix, well thanks for your comments and I do understand what you're saying but I'm happy enough with the way it is now. If there is an official patch which changes how this scenario works well then I'll play it with those changes, but I think I'll keep playing it before that happens too because so far I've not experienced the bugs.
Really, someone needs to hack open this scenario and overhaul it so it becomes an actual Guerilla war, not a ridiculously unbalanced Picket's Charge against teleporting T-90s.
The only way to win is through exploiting the abstraction that is the Warfare system. You don't employ a real battlefield tactic or think like an actual leader for one millisecond. It's less simulation-like than Age of Empires.
Really, someone needs to hack open this scenario and overhaul it so it becomes an actual Guerilla war, not a ridiculously unbalanced Picket's Charge against teleporting T-90s.
The only way to win is through exploiting the abstraction that is the Warfare system. You don't employ a real battlefield tactic or think like an actual leader for one millisecond. It's less simulation-like than Age of Empires.
I agree completely. Enignoc, you got the game to end normally with all objectives completed? Have you seen the red x's in for failed objectives? As Dwarden noted, the game will never end if you destroy the base and you haven't yet captured 3 towns.
No matter how much ones loves A2, this scenario ain't worth the time, and I know, as I have spent days and days on it. When they patch it, maybe I'll try again. I hope very much that BIS overhauls the thing completely, as the intense spawning and time limit are completely unrealistic.
I agree completely. Enignoc, you got the game to end normally with all objectives completed? Have you seen the red x's in for failed objectives? As Dwarden noted, the game will never end if you destroy the base and you haven't yet captured 3 towns.
No matter how much ones loves A2, this scenario ain't worth the time, and I know, as I have spent days and days on it. When they patch it, maybe I'll try again. I hope very much that BIS overhauls the thing completely, as the intense spawning and time limit are completely unrealistic.
To be honest I haven't experienced the problems mentioned here. I destroy the office building, then their HQ, and completed all the other objectives and no red crosses and my game ended perfectly.
I'm not going to deny there may be bugs, I didn't experience any on this one but I surely did on other campaign missions, and scenarios, the amount of bugs in ArmA 2 is its downfall. It's a great game and I love it but all to often it comes out looking crap because of the bugs. 90% of the time things run well but when things go wrong in ArmA 2 they go really wrong and look really lame.
I've shown ArmA 2 to many of my friends and people are amazed and the size and scope of what ArmA 2 gives us but then you listen to the robotic sounding AI speech (like when trying to give driving instructions to your AI tank driver), tanks getting completely stuck with pathfinding issues, ulb flying in circles even though you've set a waypoint for it miles from its current position, just too many things that work and then for some stupid reason decide to stop working and act crazy. With all that people get put off this game and for BI and ArmA long term I hope they get addressed because as I said I love this game and great concept.
I agree completely on all counts.
Did you play quite a while ago? I think the bugs were introduced in one of the last few patches before 1.09. People had been complaining about the time limit, so BIS may have removed the END GAME code from some of the end states.
As soon as the scenario is patched, I'll try your method of moving the HQ and establishing a million ZU-23s to kill that damn base. Sounds cool.
Then again, I hope BIS overhauls it so completely that it is nearly unrecognizable. The concept of an asymmetric insurgency is awesome, but beyond that things fall apart rapidly. I offer my services to test the patched scenario and offer suggestions if BIS is interested.
only about 4 months ago and was playing on the current patch. This was after PMC and all the patches:
ArmA 2 108
EW 105
OA 157
BAF 102
PMC 101
Looking at the ArmA2 game updates section it seems there is a 109 patch for ArmA2, and 159 for OA so maybe these are the ones that introduced the bugs?
No, the bug that I filed was in 1.08 and 1.09. It looks like you found a way to get things done without running into the issues with the non-perfect end states never ending. Congratulations! If you want, look at my posts in this thread from a few months back, and you can feel the frustration.
One reason why may be a small detail I forgot to mention.
Just prior to packing up the HQ one thing I did was go to High Command and ordered the other two squads to head for the nearest town. Then switched back and drove to Elektro.
A few other times when time permitted I again switched back to HC mode and ordered those two squads to another town. In all including Elektro I probably did take 3 towns before destroying the enemy HQ.......BUT.....
Never at any point before destroying their HQ did I actually take and HOLD 3 towns. I took those towns but almost immediately lost them again apart from Elektro where I had established my base.
Interesting. The current bugs in FF are very complex, and I do not fully understand them. They involve not only flawed end states for all but the "perfect" state (HQ destroyed and 3 towns taken before 3-hr time limit), but also that objective status is checked only every 10 seconds, whereas the scenario will end immediately.
I never switched OUT of HC mode - I was always the commander, and never moved my HQ. I also ordered a few of my men (not "squads" as you mention, as at the start you have very litlle $$ to buy men) to head for towns, where they took them (didn't hold for long). So, most of the time you were using the AI as commander, not yourself?
It looks like you must have succeeded in capturing 3 towns and destroying the base and offices before the 3hr limit. For me, around sunrise (~6:30am game time - presumably before the 3hr time limit), objectives that I had not yet won all get a red "x" - meaning failed. I even posted a screenshot showing that. I still do not understand why this happens, I am not sure if anyone else does, either (I hope at least Dwarden does!) The mission has NEVER ended for me, no matter what I do - I've never seen the debriefing screen.
Every 10 seconds, status is checked, but I don't know if one has to be currently holding a town for it to be counted, or is the "perfect" end state satisfied if you have EVER held three towns at once?
Whatever the deal is, you have somehow defeated the flawed code. Good job!!!
Interesting. The current bugs in FF are very complex, and I do not fully understand them. They involve not only flawed end states for all but the "perfect" state (HQ destroyed and 3 towns taken before 3-hr time limit), but also that objective status is checked only every 10 seconds, whereas the scenario will end immediately.
I never switched OUT of HC mode - I was always the commander, and never moved my HQ. I also ordered a few of my men (not "squads" as you mention, as at the start you have very litlle $$ to buy men) to head for towns, where they took them (didn't hold for long). So, most of the time you were using the AI as commander, not yourself?
I was the commander the entire time apart from a few brief seconds at the start when the AI established the HQ in the spot we started at, from that moment on though I voted myself and commander and stayed that way. I did occasionally HC as I said to move those other two squads around but those were only very brief, I was 99% concentrating on the battle near their base with my HQ setup right behind the strong point in Elektro.
One good reason never to switch back to AI as commander is because as soon as it has command it immediately mobilizes the HQ again attempts to move it back to where we started despite the fact there are already many defenses and vehicle plants where I moved it too at Elektro. So matter how much you build your base up never hand back control because the AI just doesn't understand and insists on the base being at your starting point. I think you'll find that is the case no matter where you try moving your HQ to as I did read some forums on moving the base previously but to other locations and they reported the same thing, AI always wanting to return/stay on your starting point.
Also I have to admit in a way I did take advantage of a small but valid cheat in that I restarted the game a few times till it started me at the town/start point closest to Elektro so I wouldn't have to travel too far, as I said at the start speed is very important, the longer you wait the harder they are to crack so I didn't want too much travel time.
Actually on some of my earlier attempts I did do some other pretty crazy stuff too. For example, a few times I actually immediately mobilized the HQ and actually drove it right in to their base :), what can I say I'm an aggressive commander. As funny as that may sound I did have some success with that too because again it really did seem like I'd surprised the AI. When I arrived in their base they already had around 6 light tanks ready to go but they were all empty, when I arrived of course men when rushing everywhere trying to get in their tanks and I was hoping if I was quick enough I'd be able to shoot most of them before they managed to get in, sadly though they always managed to get 1 or two tanks mobile, and they also have a number of machine gun nests and other defenses so it was hard work. A few times I even attempted to establish my HQ right in the exactly same area as theirs, one time even built it on the closest spot to their HQ (did I mention during these attempts I did have an extra couple of men with me to man the cannons in the tank and then help while I established the base but after a number of these methods I decided I was being a little too aggressive which is why I pulled back to the Strong point. Before I finally work out how to play it I also tried another aggressive but slightly quieter method which was trying to sneak in to their base and plant satchel charges. Believe it or not they aren't very good at spotting you much like some of the other scenarios and I did manage to blow a couple of buildings during these attempts too but I could never carry enough charges to do the entire base in one hit and I'd get shot to pieces trying to get back out.
I'll say again though, as crazy as some of my attempts were it kept reinforcing to me that getting in quick and right on their doorstep was a good idea because they just were not ready for me to come in to town so quickly. Unmanned tanks, being unable to spot me crawling in to base and the fact I wasn't sitting in some far away town with them coming to slaughter me. So I stuck at it and managed to find a way through their defense. Build your base right behind the strong point in Elektro and build your defenses all over that hill, keep yourself low or even stay inside the strong point and just build like mad, the second you have the cash spend it on more defense and build closer and closer to their base, find the gaps in the fences etc so you can get close and shoot through those gaps. One reason I gave up on trying to do it from a distance like the guy I originally quoted and expanded on was because of it being night and even with nvg I couldn't see enough of their base to aim at anything, so rather than building the defenses further back on the hill I moved as close as I could get. It also had the benefit of stopping them from getting too close to my HQ but they will come at you from all directions so you need your defenses facing all directions, I got to the point I was building ZU-23s in fours with their backs to each other so they'd cover all directions within each group. Also of course with anything in ArmA2 keep saving often because it doesn't take much for it to all fall apart, take a couple of bullets while you're moving to take control of some of those ZU-23s and you'll be glad you saved just a few minutes before hand.
It looks like you must have succeeded in capturing 3 towns and destroying the base and offices before the 3hr limit. For me, around sunrise (~6:30am game time - presumably before the 3hr time limit), objectives that I had not yet won all get a red "x" - meaning failed. I even posted a screenshot showing that. I still do not understand why this happens, I am not sure if anyone else does, either (I hope at least Dwarden does!) The mission has NEVER ended for me, not matter what I do - I've never seen the debriefing screen.
I've now seen it and I've now completed it twice. My internet is a little slow at the moment because I've used up my limit but in the next week I plan on trying to video as I play it through and I'll post it on youtube and provide the link (now I've said that it'll all go horribly wrong :) ) but I'll need some time because obviously this is a fairly long scenario so it'll take me time to put all the video together, render it and then upload it, I wish I had done that on my first successful run through because it was a good feeling when I finally beat it, it was the last thing I had to complete in ArmA2 and that includes OA, BAF, EW, and PMC because I had done all the other campaigns and single missions, even all the training and unlocking the armory. It was a mission that had bugged me for ages because like many others I tried soooooo many times and couldn't figure it out and just got slaughtered by the AI. Sometimes I'd manage to get off to a good start but in the end the AI would always overwhelm me with sheer numbers and heavier tanks that I couldn't match. My approach may be unrealistic but it certainly works.
Every 10 seconds, status is checked, but I don't know if one has to be currently holding a town for it to be counted, or is the "perfect" end state satisfied if you have EVER held three towns at once?
Whatever the deal is, you have somehow defeated the flawed code. Good job!!!
I can 100% guarantee I never at any time held 3 towns before destroying their HQ, I was taking them one at a time, then less than a minute later they'd be lost again.
Oh and one other thing I noticed on my attempts at going right in to their base was its not always arranged the same way, eg buildings are randomly placed within that area so HQ is not always on the same spot, neither are any of the other buildings. Always within the same area but not the exact same spot. So once the HQ was fairly close to the edge of the area which is what prompted me to try satchel charges but then found when I'd restart the whole scenario the HQ had moved further in to the middle so it was hard to get at.
Apologies too, read this again after posting, my grammar and typing in general always seems to fall apart when I do anything online.
I played on Veteran with only one save available. Nasty.
Thanks for your story. I look forward to the bug fix.
frostwyrm333
Dec 22 2011, 03:24
I tried it with 1.60rc, they increased the limit to full 3 hours but thats it. Even if you destroy enemy base (thats an objective) after 20 loads with a stolen vehicle (heaviest thing napa has is brdm), enemies simple keep spawning squads and vehicles including a tank in the villages, so basically you have to fight for one but when you leave they will simply come and retake it. Other allies are useless because they do not have access to heavier equipment.
One thing I noticed is that both smugglers and razor are just standing there, no dialog, no text, nothing.
What I think is that these missions(bear rising) were never playtested, probably they worked before because I remember that AI was useless with warfare, but since they have improved it.
Its unfinished, impossible and broken, do not try to play it again, its a waste of time.
Uh-oh! Sorry to hear that. I have not yet had time to test it since the 1.11 patch.
Well, at least Jezuro fixed some key issues. I had doubts that much else was changed other than the start time of the mission and the endX states.
Yes, Razor has always stood there at the castle, mute and unmoving.
.kju [PvPscene]
Dec 22 2011, 06:41
Fixes:
http://dev-heaven.net/projects/cmb/repository/diff/scripts/A2/unformatted/ca/missions/Scenarios/SP_FreedomFighters.Chernarus?rev=4e0295f8cad859fe2af891d46058bbcebd8e3533&rev_to=2bfe1e1ccdeb2a27bed34e56ef62d6aca3e35e6a
So he did more than just the time change.
Cool. That code change view is awesome; is that new? I've never seen that before.
The changes indeed look significant and mainly involve the mission end states, time of day, and objective completion, which were the issues from the CIT ticket. And the markers were cleaned up. It's interesting that changes were made to the checkpoint capture objective (not in the ticket, but I had noticed some weirdness with that). And "Warfare 2" was removed from mission.sqm. I wonder what effect that will have.
The only thing I am worried about is how to destroy the Russian base. Are constructed ZU-23s the only way? :(
I'll play FF over the Xmas break. Hopefully that won't age me more than a year or two. ;)
maturin
Dec 22 2011, 16:37
Stealing a BTR-90 is the best way. The 30mm HE works wonders and the ATGM can deal with tanks in an emergency.
Yes, but I hardly ever could get my hands on one. When I did, it was damaged and would soon vanish due to "clutter auto-cleanup."
The key would be to partially damage one near a remote town, get in and quickly drive it to a captured strongpoint, and then repair it. Then you are 100% good to go. I will focus all my energies on that task.
But I am not 100% sure if strongpoints or even the factory at the rebel base can repair captured enemy vehicles. But I will find out! :cool:
maturin
Dec 22 2011, 17:16
Ah. If you get to their base fast enough, there may be empty ones.
Now you're talking. Dangerous, like walking onto the mouth of the dragon. But cool to consider. Whenever my AI team and I tried to sneak up on the base with weapons from the smugglers on the island, we were quickly spotted and hunted down by fleets of spawned Russians. But, as you say, the key may be how early you can get to the base!!!! I'll hustle down there and try to get a vehicle even before I blow the offices. Before, in 1.08-1.10, there was only about an hour in which to blow the offices before sunrise because of the bugs. Now things are different, and time is less of an issue, so the base can be focused on FIRST!!!! Heh heh. "Eat this, Ivan!" here I come.
frostwyrm333
Dec 23 2011, 02:37
Smugglers gave you weapons? How? When? My were only standing and looking dumb. I'm still not going to play if they game spawns entire mechanized platoons where it likes.
I know that it could be finished but I consider it as a bug. It's not only you have to steal everything if you want to have any chance at all you must defeat an absurd amount of enemies thrown at you every other minute.
Read the mission notes very carefully if you haven't already. A weapons cache is in crates next to the mute smugglers. As the notes state, timing is everything in this mission. As I have learned from much experience, if hoards of tanks and BTRs are coming after you, you have taken too long in performing key actions. Constructing static defenses at key points can help a lot with said armor. In a real insurgency, stealth, timing, subversion, and even pilfering of equipment are vital for success.
ataribaby
Dec 23 2011, 12:32
I remeber there is Razor team that is at near Castle. Razor is mentioned in briefing too, strange it do nothing when you reach em. I made small change to misson that Razor join you as soon you approach em. Very simple trigger with one line code as far i rember. Strange its not curred in patch. Oh well nothhing is perfect :)
Yep. As the notes and a map marker lead you to Razor in a somewhat subtle manner, it would have been a cool surprise if they join you, and one of them had an AT weapon.
I'll play FF over the Xmas break. Hopefully that won't age me more than a year or two. ;)
Hello OMAC
I've just registered here to ask you to record your walkthrough of 'Freedom Fighters' and upload it on YouTube. I'm tired to try that mission one more time, and do not like 'ever spawn' concept. Still I'm interested in "HOW THAT !#$%$% CAN BE FINISHED', you know :)
I think many people are interested in such video.
Cheers!
Kevy, between you and I (;)), I'm tired of FF also. But as I filed a CIT ticket, and things have been fixed in 1.11, I feel responsible for playing it again to see how things shape up now. I haven't got the energy up to dive in yet. That time is fast approaching.
You are right on about an interest in a full FF walkthrough video, or at least a a complete one in text! FF is the most difficult and enigmatic A2 mission EVER! Only a few (including maturin) have actually finished it clean. But since 1.08 at least, bugs prevented anyone from finishing it, AFAIK. But I only have the free version of FRAPS which records up to 30 sec of video max. Perhaps I should pony up and buy the full version, eh?
I only have the free version of FRAPS which records up to 30 sec of video max. Perhaps I should pony up and buy the full version, eh?
Try MSI Afterburner 2.2.0 Beta 9. It's for video card overclocking and monitoring its parameters, but version 2.2.0 (beta 9 for now) can record video and audio for free.
So I am waiting the FF walkthrough! :)
Ah ha! I'll check it out.
Ah ha! I'll check it out.
I wish I would also have the energy and time to try to complete this notorious mission.
Also Xfire (http://www.xfire.com) has free videorecording, but I think it will not feature moving recorded video to Youtube, but spreading the link for video would be possible anyway.
I have bought Fraps couple of years ago and it has been one of the best software buys ever since is was not expesive and they will send you email every time new version is available for free download for registered users.
I've been using EVGA Precision for fan control and screenshots. But I have just uninstalled it after checking out Afterburner 2.1.0. It is just what I want - all the features of Precision, but with unlimited video capture included! It works great. I made a vid of all of Laser Show, and the laser targeting part of Village Sweep. Thanks for the tip, Kevy!
Even the free FRAPS is very good, but it seems to be utterly eclipsed by Afterburner. Hanzu, let me know if you disagree.
The problem with making a FF walkthrough vid is that I've still got to figure out the perfect strategy since the bugs have been fixed. Only after mastering it will I make a vid, so that means I will have to play through at least twice. Ugh.
----------------------------------
Here's the Village Sweep vid. Watch the JDAM munition (or some other type of BIG BOMB) nail that BRDM BIG TIME. :D
uTPbVNlOL08
Thanks for the tip, Kevy!
Glad to be helpful.
I've been using Precision before too. But yep! Afterburner is en unique cool free software now.
I think you can record your first attempt, and then cut off failed parts. I guess, videos will be long, so you can record in 480p to lower the files' sizes. Or 720p. And don't forget to set optimal compression (think it would be 90...100%). And you don't have to hurry. Furthermore, if you are tired of it too, we can just leave here a demand for such walkthrough for others to make))
The Village Sweep video was recorded at 1/2 screen, 85% jpeg quality, and 30 FPS. If I go down to 1/3 screen, it may be doable.
---------------
I just installed 2.2.0 beta 9 as you mentioned, and it can record with game sound! :)
The Village Sweep video was recorded at 1/2 screen, 85% jpeg quality, and 30 FPS. If I go down to 1/3 screen, it may be doable.
---------------
I just installed 2.2.0 beta 9 as you mentioned, and it can record with game sound! :)
Now I see why you set music as a track.
Have to say, there are some weird things with your video:
1) the frame is less than flash-player frame size on YT
2) you've said that video was recorded at 1/2 from screen size, and YT shows 1080p. So you've resized afterburners' video to 1080p before uploading? there is no need. It is too blurred for 1080p. You can resize to 720p for video to be present in search results with HD filter ON.
Checked few variants for optimal recording:
1)ARMA res set to 1280x720. AB set to 85%, full frame, 24FPS. Result: 15 min video - 2.4GB (need to be 2GB MAX for YT, compressed more with VDub/XViD:1.2GB. Good, but too much troubles)
2)ARMA res set to 1280x960. AB set to 80%, 1/2 frame, 24 FPS. Result: 15 min video - 1 GB. Ready to be uploaded. No HD, but IMO it's OK considering the long gameplay.
Ah. If you get to their base fast enough, there may be empty ones.
The base is in full armor spawn mode (Tunguska, BTR-90s) by 3:30am, 1/2 hour after start. BTRs spawn fully manned and will spot and kill you instantly if you are waiting for them. Shooting out their tires doesn't make the crew disembark so you can get in and commandeer it (I've blown at least 6 of 8 tires to no avail). I did get into one of the AA pods after shooting the gunner, but eventually get shot after blowing up as much as possible, to no avail; but that still is my best bet so far to waste the base, other than the frustrating ZU-23 method from the outpost up on the hill.
I see no empty armor around, only swarms of roaming troops on full alert, and roving Tunguskas and BTRs hunting you down. I think now that sneaking into the base to get one is preposterous.
I think it is only through sheer luck that you can find an undamaged Russian armored vehicle to steal. That has been the case for me in the past.
Did anyone clear towns from invaders? What actually does it give?
The base is in full armor spawn mode (Tunguska, BTR-90s) by 3:30am, 1/2 hour after start. BTRs spawn fully manned and will spot and kill you instantly if you are waiting for them. Shooting out their tires doesn't make the crew disembark so you can get in and commandeer it (I've blown at least 6 of 8 tires to no avail). I did get into one of the AA pods after shooting the gunner, but eventually get shot after blowing up as much as possible, to no avail; but that still is my best bet so far to waste the base, other than the frustrating ZU-23 method from the outpost up on the hill.
I see no empty armor around, only swarms of roaming troops on full alert, and roving Tunguskas and BTRs hunting you down. I think now that sneaking into the base to get one is preposterous.
I think it is only through sheer luck that you can find an undamaged Russian armored vehicle to steal. That has been the case for me in the past.
When I played it, the base tended to be pretty empty. Differente ArmA builds and mods enabled, of course. If you use ACE, there is always the chance that an RPG will kill the crew of a vehicle and leave it intact.
When I played it, the base tended to be pretty empty. Differente ArmA builds and mods enabled, of course. If you use ACE, there is always the chance that an RPG will kill the crew of a vehicle and leave it intact.
I never use mods to play official missions; they can cause problems, and is basically cheating IMO. Other notes:
1) An AI-driven Russian truck was standing at an intersection in Elektro near the Offices. After planting charges in Office, I shot the driver through the side window (2 shots), and then ordered my AI squadmate to "repair" the truck (the repair option isn’t always available here). We then both got into it. About 5-6 seconds later, the truck exploded, killing us both. Just breaking the side window when killing the driver makes the truck so "damaged" that it will explode within about 20 sec. This is the dreaded clutter "auto-cleanup" which renders stealing damaged enemy vehicles nearly impossible. I have described this extensively in this thread and others. This will happen for any of the Russian supply trucks in FF. I think it only occurs in A2 Warfare mode. In the editor, one can shoot the driver and steal the truck with no problem.
2) Near that truck, lying dormant in wait for intruders, were a Vodnik (2xPK), BTR-90, and tracked BMP-3. Get near them and they wake up and hunt you down ruthlessly. More evidence that a stealth infiltration of the base, even early in the mission, is a fool’s errand. In A3, disguises will make it a piece of cake to infiltrate a base.
Yes, but I hardly ever could get my hands on one. When I did, it was damaged and would soon vanish due to "clutter auto-cleanup."
The key would be to partially damage one near a remote town, get in and quickly drive it to a captured strongpoint, and then repair it. Then you are 100% good to go. I will focus all my energies on that task.
But I am not 100% sure if strongpoints or even the factory at the rebel base can repair captured enemy vehicles. But I will find out! :cool:
I gave up on infiltrating the base and retreated to Mysta after blowing the offices. I just captured and repaired a BTR-90. Heh heh. We'll see if it sticks around, though. It may just blow up on me....
It probably won't. I've captured Tunguskas, Tanks and BTRs, and I don't think ACE messes with the cleaning script. Just don't leave it unattended.
Yep, I've wasted 3 T-90s, 2 Volniks, and 2 other BTRs with it. Now I've purchased 2 BRDMS, a Ural with a ZU-23, and a technical with a SPG-9, and am heading from Mysta (rebel base) towards Staroye. After I take that, I'll head downhill, blow the checkpoint, and then attack the main enemy base. Wish me luck. Most importantly, I'm having lots of fun, and the dreaded red x's have not shown up in the objectives thanks to Jezuro's awesome fix. I'm lovin' it so far!
Well, all of the above went very well. After wiping out the checkpoint, I proceeded toward Elektro along the road, with my convoy trailing behind me except for one BRDM which somehow flipped on its side after Staroye. Then three of the vehicles drove themselves into the reservoir and were destroyed. Nice route following, eh? At least three of the men escaped their watery tombs and swam to safety. I ordered them to board my BTR, and, my convoy toast, returned to my base near Mysta to rearm. However, at Mysta, four, yes four, T-90s ambushed me and destroyed the BTR immediately (2 sec) after an autosave, so I had to revert to my one user save game (playing on Veteran) to get my BTR back. :( Now, many hours later, I have finally destroyed the Russian base, and am cleaning out the villages. Looking good. There is light at the end of the tunnel, I think....
one BRDM which somehow flipped on its side after Staroye.
Maybe it was because of this:
http://dev-heaven.net/issues/3961
Just kidding heh. ;) But remember you can push tanks back on their belly if they fall on their side. Just ram several times on their top with another tank until they rock back on their wheels/tracks. Been there done that.
Then three of the vehicles drove themselves into the reservoir and were destroyed. Nice route following, eh?
Reservoir means Topolka Dam right? The one that has many design errors:
http://dev-heaven.net/issues/1919
http://dev-heaven.net/issues/2143
http://dev-heaven.net/issues/16344
There may be something seriously wrong in the road between Toplka Dam and Elektro. I wasted some hours trying to reproduce this,
http://dev-heaven.net/issues/8763
but all I found out that vehicles in convoy seem to wander quite far from the road (climbing to hills and all that), but I didn't manage to break anything. Well it has been proven that road network in Chernarus is messy
http://dev-heaven.net/issues/8068
Looking good. There is light at the end of the tunnel, I think....
Seems like not everyone yet know we are purists and do not like ACE and other mods in our official missions to stir up indesigned difficulty balance. :)
Nice thead to follow. Very entertaining. :)
Ha! No wonder my convoy got lost at Staroye! ;)
Yes, Topolka Dam. The bugs you mentioned explain why the vehicles drove in there - it is apparently not tagged as water. But the guys who escaped from the drowned vehicles did swim, not walk, through the water.
Those bugs reports are great. Excellent documentation. Topolka needs some work for sure. Those bugs are very interesting, and important, as they explain what I have found by trial and error, namely that building a big AI-driven convoy to attack the base is a waste of time due to the problematic road network which renders AI route finding iffy at best. Along the coast road it is generally ok, but inland? Uh oh. I am SO TIRED of seeing the dreaded "Away" marker on my lost AI units!
In the end I destroyed the enemy base with a single BTR-90. That is one awesome war machine: MG, rapid-fire grenade launcher, 300-600 RPM cannon (AP/HE), Reflex rockets.
I should have banged the flipped BRDM with my BTR to turn it over. The two crewman inside were desperately trying to drive on, but weren't doing to well, so I told them to disembark and had them get in my BTR. But they were soon to be killed in Mysta by the T-90s. The flipped vehicle definitely sounds like Bugs #8763 and #8068.
Anti-mod A2 purists rule. ;)
Look who I found hanging out right next to the Russian base:
http://thumbnails58.imagebam.com/16806/ce0257168050866.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/ce0257168050866)
http://thumbnails59.imagebam.com/16768/238dab167679861.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/238dab167679861)
http://thumbnails56.imagebam.com/16768/32fa37167679867.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/32fa37167679867)
Not good. Mission still won't end.
https://dev-heaven.net/issues/18491
http://thumbnails39.imagebam.com/16808/5b7edf168078052.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/5b7edf168078052)
Not good. Mission still won't end.
https://dev-heaven.net/issues/18491
Thank you for trying again. Seems like beating the enemy is not such an issue anymore and the timelimit is not what ends mission.
Ofcourse if you still have the save. You could try leave the game running overnight and let the last red troops finish themselfves to your defences to see if that matters (in the screenshots I see 2 red markers in Elektro).
Not sure where we can go from here since original mission designer is unreached and Jezuro is probably too busy to help again. The best I could do for now was to re-Assign the ticket to Dwarden and edit it a little.
How about you PvPscene. You seem to understand scripting way better than most of us, so could you check END conditions in the scripting once again if anything is changed with timelimit corrections?
Epic battle between Freedom Fighters and Mission Purists continues...
Epic indeed. Thanks for your attention, and for updating the ticket. I've got everything depbo'd. The end conditions look good in that they should cover all possible situations, but still there's a problem.
Will ForceEnd do the trick, or is endMission ""ENDx"" needed for each condition?
The issue noted in the description about the 10 second check vs. immediate end at TimeUp is something else to look at. Hopefully kju can check this out.
It is sad to note that after MANY hours of playing FF in several different A2 CO builds, I have NEVER seen the mission end with a debriefing screen. Is the custom game logic regarding the end states and time limit incompatible with recent A2 and/or CO builds? I've always played the mission in A2 CO (arma2oa.exe). Would playing it using the arma2.exe make any difference?
The mission has been fubared for about 1.5 years. It should be definitively fixed or removed from A2. The fact that it takes so long to complete (except for END 1 condition which can occur before 3 hr limit), makes it difficult to test the custom end conditions. Such testing by BIS has apparently not taken place for years.
OMAC, you did not answer this:
Ofcourse if you still have the save. You could try leave the game running overnight and let the last red troops finish themselfves to your defences to see if that matters (in the screenshots I see 2 red markers in Elektro).
It's clear that we can't claim scripting bugs until all enemies are neutralized.
Enemy riflemen can spawn infinitely without buildings in all of BI's 'fantastic' warfare missions. Bad idea.
There is nothing in the victory conditions that says 'destroy all enemies.' This isn't Age of Empires.
I have seen a victory screen in this mission, having hit the sweet spot of game versions and tactics. It's bugged all to hell.
Enemy riflemen can spawn infinitely without buildings in all of BI's 'fantastic' warfare missions. Bad idea.
There is nothing in the victory conditions that says 'destroy all enemies.' This isn't Age of Empires.
I have seen a victory screen in this mission, having hit the sweet spot of game versions and tactics. It's bugged all to hell.
Oh... roger that.
Yep. Opfor soldiers infinitely spawn out of the ground at the enemy base. Very bad idea indeed. I place a BRDM there to mow them down as they pop up. There is no kill all opfor requirement in the game logic that I can see, although "Eradicate all Russian forces, destroy their main base..." is in the mission briefing.
I'm doing testing in the editor, and the time limit-based special end conditions are bugged and do not trigger. The infini-spawning wouldn't be an issue if the game ended after 3hrs as it should.
Ok. Hours of digging has revealed massive amounts of unused dialog in the stringtable.xml in languagemissions.pbo. Samples:
That's it, we've liberated our first town. There's no going back now..
That's the second town we've freed now. Things are really going great!
Yes! I knew this would work! Ivan is in big trouble! D: Three for three. Three towns captured. Nothing can stop us now!
Man, this is a national uprising! The people from that third village want a piece of the action!
I make that four villages captured. I never thought we'd get this far!
Well they just keep coming. We've got more volunteers from that second town.
The fourth village is offering support too. I never dreamed we'd have so many so soon.
Hey listen up! I can see the Russian Checkpoint! Fucking hell this will be heavy!
Tonight we begin nothing less than an uprising. We will rally the true men of Chernarus and teach Ivan that we are not afraid, that we will fight and that we can win. Tonight in Elektrozavodsk and Vybor and Staroye and all the rest we will destroy enemy camps, we will crush that nest of liars and lackeys in the municipal office and we will free our people!
The municipal building in Elektrozavodsk is down, I repeat the municipal building is down! This is a great moment brothers! We've shown them what we're capable of, now it's their turn to be afraid!
And many more. None of these play in the game. It looks like the developer, Joris, stopped developing in the middle and never finished. The result is a mess. What a shame, as the potential is awesome. I'll bet the plan was for Razor Team to help you, etc. It could be that the scenario was originally meant to be another Harvest Red Campaign mission, but was cancelled.
I'll keep digging. I'm not sure, but I think that only END1, Eat this, Ivan!, will end the mission with a debriefing, as pointers to the other debriefings are incomplete or missing. I added another end condition, END6, that required nothing to be done, and got the mission to end. That proves that the time of day checks and ForceEnd are working.
---------- Post added at 02:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:31 PM ----------
Looks like it was meant to get a little nasty between Razor and the resistance!
ID="str_razor_team_c_1">
<English>Advance and be recognised.</English>
ID="str_razor_team_c_10">
<English>Hey fuck you asshole. You don't mean shit to me. Now clear out of here before I get angry...</English>
:D
It looks like the developer, Joris, stopped developing in the middle and never finished.
I can't believe they put unfinished mission as the top single scenario.. This studio is too famous to work that way. How could that be?!
Good question. I guess they just ran out of steam on this one, or changed priorities. Check out the updated ticket and let me know if you have any suggestions.
https://dev-heaven.net/issues/18491
maturin
Jan 19 2012, 17:12
I had a hankering to try this mission again, so I made some alterations to it. Namely, I tweaked the buildings costs and supply rates to give the Resistance a bit of a boost (no discernible result; they were still useless), and also made the Russian tank factory too expensive to ever afford.
Then I made Razor Team join your group if you enter the castle, and put a crate of RPG ammo near the barn in Msta, where the base is every time now. Also, I gave you an extra three hours. Just beat the mission by taking Msta, burning up the first wave of Russians and then rushing their base in a BRDM. I was able to steal a BTR-90 an destroy everything, and after that it was a game of whack-a-mole with villages.
The mission is pure bullshit, really. It is impossible to deal with the vehicles their base uses, but the endlessly respawning riflemen there force you to park BRDMs everywhere to kill waves and waves of enemies.
Anyways, the mission wouldn't end, after all that. Let me know if anyone wants the file.
Nerdwing
Jan 19 2012, 21:22
I really look forward to the day this mission is fully working. So much potential :(
Anyways, the mission wouldn't end, after all that. Let me know if anyone wants the file.
Did you destroy the East base and clear all 6 villages before 6 am?
maturin
Jan 20 2012, 19:13
Did you destroy the East base and clear all 6 villages before 6 am?
With my time changes, well before three AM. Checkpoint task had a red X, but I've never gotten that stupid thing to complete.
After Jezuro's fixes, I got that objective to complete with no problems before 6am. The mission should end at 6am no matter what, but it doesn't. Most objectives will fail with red x at 6am, but one only sees that since the mission will not end properly for ANY of the END states. Updated ticket with screenshot:
http://dev-heaven.net/issues/18491
Tonci87
Apr 20 2012, 16:30
This mission is a mess, right after capturing Msta I get swarmed by at least 20! Vodniks and BTR 90s
No chance in winning this.
maturin
Apr 20 2012, 16:49
If you build SPG-9s with ACE running you can withstand any APC assault.
This mission is a mess, right after capturing Msta I get swarmed by at least 20! Vodniks and BTR 90s
No chance in winning this.
As the only apparent way to win FF is to capture a BTR or some other armored vehicle, in a way the swarming is necessary to bring them to you. But it is desperate. That said, even if you are fortunate enough to capture one, various mission errors will prevent you from completing the mission successfully.
I wish DnA would revisit his mission once ToH has calmed down a bit after the first Hinds patch. As the ONE broken mission in all of A2CO-RFC, you'd think that fixing it would be a matter of some pride, but....
maturin
Apr 22 2012, 18:00
Bear Rising can be pretty broken too.
Yes, but at least it can be completed successfully with proper debriefing screen! But:
https://dev-heaven.net/issues/27298
maturin
Apr 22 2012, 18:34
I never finished that scenario. I ended up gunning down the endlessly-respawning riflemen at the demolished CDF base after conquering the whole map in time. The other attempt I made, and the Russian base spawned in the middle of the ocean.
Wow. That does not sound good at all. I was lucky enough to finish it properly twice with no real problems.
R4ymond
Apr 22 2012, 22:37
i have played this mission many tims but i have never encountered this problem.
Do you mean FF or Bear Rising?
I never finished that scenario. I ended up gunning down the endlessly-respawning riflemen at the demolished CDF base after conquering the whole map in time. The other attempt I made, and the Russian base spawned in the middle of the ocean.
Exactly what I encountered. I only made it one time so far to destroy the enemy base and capture all villages, but the mission would not end. On a side note, for some reason the Russian Checkpoint task was marked as failed. Don't know why and how. I could never finish that one off.
But for some other reason, the box on the mission selection screen ticked it green although I never made it to debriefing. Good enough for me :D
I went to Elektrozavodsk and killed the Russian base with RPGs so they stopped building BTRs and T90s. Then I blew up offices and cleared checkpoints. By then I had more then enough cash to build six BRDMs and sent each to a town. Russians kept respawning in Elektrozavodsk where the base was so I set up a BRDM with only a gunner there to spawn rape them. Anyway, in tasks it shows all objectives completed but mission wont end. I even went to that small island to pick up weapons but it didnt help. I am using beta 93160. Maybe thats the problem.
I am using beta 93160. Maybe thats the problem.
Problem is in the faulty mission design and not a result of any beta. OMAC has tested this with lots of different patches and with all of resulting neverending mission. The unknown mission designer (all I know it someone else than Jezuro) seems not to have guts to step foward and admit he has no time to repair this crap.
I know who one of the mission designers is (other than Jezuro), and have alerted him personally as to the FF issues. There is currently no pipeline for A2 patches, so I highly doubt that FF will ever get fixed. Until it does, do yourself a huge favor and avoid it like the plague. What a shame. :(
I know who one of the mission designers is (other than Jezuro), and have alerted him personally as to the FF issues. There is currently no pipeline for A2 patches, so I highly doubt that FF will ever get fixed. Until it does, do yourself a huge favor and avoid it like the plague. What a shame. :(
Sacraficing even total of 30 minutes of freetime every year to fix this mission this designer could have fixed the mission during all these years it has bugged us and then give it away for current patch release. It is just a matter of dedication to own work.
I agree, Hanzu!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
Aside from bugs, is anyone finding this mission ridiculously hard? It's a warfare type mission but the human player doesn't respawn, only has 2 AI members (who don't seem to grasp the concept of buying units), and has no access to any sort of armor besides BRDM-2's. I only managed to beat this mission by luckily disabling an enemy T90 and driving it back to a friendly town to repair. And even then its hard because the enemy is constantly pumping out heavy armor that can 1 shot kill the T90 anyway.
ColonelMolerat
Aug 30 2012, 20:14
Yup, I found this mission horribly difficult. To be honest, I had pretty much given up trying after the last few buggy levels, so when I couldn't get it right after the first few hours (even following various tips - ZU-23s at Elektrozavodsk, for example), I resorted to a form of cheating.
I'm telling you all because, even though it was cheating, it took a LOT of work.
I set up base at Elektro. No luck pushing the enemy back. A bit of a stalemate. I build ZU-23s, destroy their APCs, then their infantry kill my ZU-23 gunners. I build infantry to counter this. Their new APCs destroy my infantry. Repeat ad infinitum.
So I stocked up on satchel charges and ran to their base. I saved every few footsteps and just ran at their base buildings again and again AND AGAIN until I made it. Saved. Planted satchel, ran to next building. I can't emphasise enough how many times I loaded those saves... First run I blew up their heavy armour plant and HQ. 1 satchel did nothing to barracks. Retreated to Elektro and rebuilt defenses. Then repeated the tactic. Many, many, saves later, I discover their barracks is INSIDE the southern Elektro guardpost. The two buildings are merged, so you can't get inside either. Even TWELVE satchels (and hundreds of saves to lay them all around the building) couldn't destroy their barracks.
At this point, I gave up. Must be something like 20 hours on this level.
It's VERY frustrating, as it's the only one without the green 'completed' mark for original Arma 2. I've even tried looking at the playerprofile and DevCon to see if there's a way just to get that green mark to appear, but I can't work it out. I just see Freedom Fighters looking, unfinished by the programmers, unfinished by me, laughing.
maturin
Aug 30 2012, 21:13
devcon endmission?
ColonelMolerat
Aug 31 2012, 00:46
Is that the Shift, minus, 'endmission' code? It doesn't add the green 'completed' box. I've tried...
Thanks for the suggestion though.
Edit:
Or do you mean the DevCon addon thingy? I couldn't work out how to use that...
maturin
Aug 31 2012, 01:24
You could also open up the missions PBO for the base game and delete Freedom Fighters entirely, or replace it with a beatable mission. At your own risk.
ColonelMolerat
Aug 31 2012, 23:47
Argh, sounds too risky. I might have a look at the pbo though. thanks!
Edit... Couldn't find anything. But woah... Was too complicated to look very deep! I'm just going to put it out of my mind... Put... it... out of my mind....
I never finished that scenario. I ended up gunning down the endlessly-respawning riflemen at the demolished CDF base after conquering the whole map in time.
I just had the exact same experience with Bear Rising. After using the scenario to test a performance issue that arose in a current beta, I decided to play through the whole thing again. I ended up just like maturin did above. All tasks completed in time, but mission wouldn't end. Smells like Freedom Fighters.
However, with grit and determination, I loaded my one saved game from early in the mission and made it through to debriefing screen with flying colors on Expert! I suggest getting to objective Marina as soon as possible, as notes suggest. Yahoo! :)
http://thumbnails106.imagebam.com/21968/fd2f46219671009.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/fd2f46219671009)
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