[SP] Shooting Date - version 1

[Cobra5000]

Mission Updated
Link: http://www.gamefront.com/files/22103...ootingDate.zip

Information:

SP mission - Shooting Date
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Version: Final
Author(s): Cobra5000

Release date: 09.08.2012

Contacts:
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Web: http://
Email:


Required game: ACR
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Required addons:
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None - official only

Installation:
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Move the mission *.pbo file(s) into the directory for the single player missions.
Typically - C:\Program Files\Bohemia Interactive\Arma 2\Missions.
Then you will find this mission(s) in the SP missions list in the game menu.
In case of any problems try to contact author(s).
You may also try to find a solution on official forums - http://forums.bistudio.com/index.php

Description:
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Kill the CDF General who went with his girlfriend to the forest.

Features:
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Version 1:
* Ambient Animals
* Ambient Civilians
* Radio Music on both Bike and Bonus car
* Intro, Outro (loose and win) cutscenes
* Dialogues
* Bonus Car and Ammo on Vybor after you kill the general or girl
* CDF chasing you after the kill
* Some Sound Effects

Final:
* Voice Acting
* Car replaced bike
* Radio Removed
* Some Offical Music
* Contractors
* Ammo in briefing
* Ammo after you park your car
* The car will be stolen after you kill the girl/general
* Ambient Vehicles

Changelog/known bugs:
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1. First Release Beta.

2. Final Verison

Notes:
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Now required version 1.62 with ACR DLC or MP Patch with ACR Lite

Credits:
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OksmanToh - Tutorials

AZCoder - for voice acting of Sidov, CDF Soldier and the pilot.

Armaholic

OFPEC

and all BIS fans.

Disclaimer:
=================
Any unauthorized modification of the released files is not allowed without any written permission by the author(s).
You are using those files at your own risk.
Author(s) of those files are not liable for any damage or loss of data caused by using of those files.
Usage of those files is also prohibited for any commercial purposes.

[Doombug]

sounds cool, I'll check it out tonight if I can. Do you have a team or is it a lone soldier type mission

[Behemeth]

Hello, a few remarks:

- in the scenario screen i get an error because you referenced overview.paa in your own windows users folder
- in the cut scenes lip movement would be nice during talking (I think this could be done with the conversation system: New Conversation System
- you could check the grammar of the dialogues again.
- the the map in the briefing should be zoomed out since you do not see the target at the current level of zoom (if that is possible)
- you could add some details in the briefing screen (like adding some references to focus on several points of interest when clicked upon)

regarding the mission itself I can't help much since I'm not really good at sneaking. I made it to the forest after a million of reloads and killed the general. But getting out of the forest when the units were searching me there was impossible for me so I gave up at that point.
The mission itself is a nice idea if you like sneaking.

[Cobra5000]

- in the scenario screen i get an error because you referenced overview.paa in your own windows users folder
- the the map in the briefing should be zoomed out since you do not see the target at the current level of zoom (if that is possible)
- you could add some details in the briefing screen (like adding some references to focus on several points of interest when clicked upon)

can you send me a private message and tell me how i do those things one by one?

and if i need voice actors in this forum, need i pay for them or not?

[Brainbug]

I drove to a point north of myshkino in the woods and parked there, leaving also the teammate behind (they usually are nuisance, but good to have one in order to have the "enemy spotted" messages). When I crossed the border into the blue area (on foot!), the triggered dialog "oh fuel is empty" seemed quite weird and out of place. Getting to the shooting position and killing the general was no problem, as well as getting back the same way, no enemy contact. Only the Hind kept following me, though didn't fire. When I came back to the motorbike, I found the tank empty (doesn't make sense actually, but after the dialog about it I assumed it to be scripted as empty), well then we ran back to the base. I took a slight detour through the forests south of Myshkino to have the Hind loose track of me, which it did not (why?). When I came back to the base, the end did not trigger, instead two CDF militia men showed up. I had to check the mission in the editor to find out where the mission end trigger was.

I think you should not expect the player to do certain things that are not necessary. In this case, killing the general is mission objective, but going into vybor and then driving back down the main road is not to be expected, actually it would be a quite idiotic action for a sniper who's job is to fire one well-placed shot and then vanish into thin air.

So, please put the mission end trigger at the point where it is expected, i.e. the home base. And forget the "fuel is empty" trigger, doesn't make sense anyway (would anyone send a team on such an improtant mission and not even check the fuel?). Instead you could just give the hint that there are usable vehicles in Vybor. You could also think about leaving away the radio tunes (who would turn on the radio on a motorbike and call this a silent and sneaky operation?^^), they only bloat the file size. And you could ask some native English speaker to take a look at the dialogues, I think they could use some improvement. Maybe some options in terms of equipment would be nice, like a weapons crate that allows the player to use either a dragunov or maybe a CZ-550, and also a silenced weapon for the spotter, like a AKS-74UN with PBS-4 or a silenced Bizon.

Enough criticism, the rest of the mission is quite good. E.g. the search light in Vybor is well placed, lighting most of the road to Lopatino, thus making it feel quite uneasy to cross it. The shooting spot is nice, good view and a nice 300 m distance. The Hind flying in circles so that you have to take cover under a tree everytime it comes by is also great, improves immersion and atmosphere. Leaving away all the high tech and heavy equipment (like NV goggles, AT weapons etc.) is a very good idea, otherwise you quickly turn into a one man army that leaves nothing behind.

[Cobra5000]

Brainbug:

1. i made the radio tune for have a fun riding like in GTA to the objective and i add the fuel empty dialogue because the bike was supposed to get near the sniper position but it's was out of fuel on the way near Vybor, so i caused them to go on foot and meet the dangers.

2. i fixed the end triggers near home.

3. The cars and the crate are appeared after the general/girl was killed.

[Brainbug]

Well, I know your intentions, but still I think it is unnecessary. Any player who is so daring (or dumb) to ride right into a hornet's nest full of tanks will go the way of the dodo pretty quickly, regardless of the fuel in his tank. But if the player parks the bike in a safe position and then leaves it, the script that suddenly tells him that the fuel is empty does not make any sense. Even if you assume that the bike was destroyed by zombies or whatever, he wouldn't know about it until he is back. Maybe that is a better idea, just empty the tank by script but delete the dialog about it, so when they come back in a hurry and want to drive away from the tank quickly, they notice in horror that the tank was leaking and is now empty, things are suddenly going from bad to worse.

Always think about what the player might do differently than you intended, and if that breaks the mission, try to do it in a different way. Some mission makers restrict the player so that he can only do certain things, but Arma is so great because it's so open and free, you can do a mission in all kinds of ways and approach from totally different directions.

And when using scripts, think about whether it is logical inside the game universe or whether is seems totally out of place like a deus ex machina. For example, if you create a car with weapons at the time of the assassination, that is easy to do with a script, but does it make sense, does it fit in the game world? In reality, someone would have to drive it there. But would the town garrison let an enemy drive in there? And shouldn't the player, who is quite close at that time, hear the engine noise? You should not just "beam it down" like a star trek thing. Always make up a small story that might explain it. E.g. an already existing crate hidden somewhere under a bush might have been placed there a few days before by other rebels.