For Mission Authors: Allow Team Leader to Declare Mission Complete

Hi Folks,

After playing through all the OA missions, and having spent too much time playing Domination, I've recognised an important element missing from most missions: the option of allowing the "ranking officer" of the mission the option to declare the mission complete.

Most missions seem to follow the typical "game" scenario of having an objective, and automatically ending when the objective has been completed, or if it is no longer possible to complete the objective.

Apart from being somewhat contrived, this leads to endless amounts of time wasted looking for that one last soldier hiding in a corner aiming his gun at a brick wall, when clearly you have actually succeeded in taking the objective and that last soldier would IRL surrender or go start E&E as soon as he realises his position is untenable.

I believe it would be more realistic and less frustrating if the player(s) had the option of radioing HQ to declare the objective secure. Game logic could then determine whether any remaining OPFOR are of sufficient strength to result in mission failure, or if they simply surrender or flee. It would make sense for HQ to respond with an order to RTB, and then if further resistance is detected to simply re-activate the original objective with some sort of reprimand for not getting the job done properly the first time!

There's my $0.02 worth anyway....

Well designed missions should either ensure that the end condition makes sense (and isn't drawn out/tedious to achieve) or that the player can directly induce it. If appropriate for the mission, then sure, it might be a good idea. For some missions, probably not. But don't forget, good mission design is a bit of an art and a science... and very difficult to achieve.

Your best bet for mission design is watching some videos from LiveLeak or read AAR's. It can give you a good idea of how you want your guys to be extracted, i.e: Insert into hostile zone by boat, 3 klicks from main Obj, infilitrate enemy camp or obtain sniping/overwatch position, assassinate Warlord Habada (<--creative right? :D), report warlord is killed, HQ grants radio access to Extraction

Or if you are detected and the mission must be aborted: Escape/evade enemy, call in immediate EVAC