Dead Men Walking

Forum Archive 2023 => ARMA => dMw Gaming => Gaming Archive => Mission Review => Topic started by: Nuka on February 10, 2015, 09:31:17 AM

Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: Nuka on February 10, 2015, 09:31:17 AM
Just a quick one.

A while ago, I started making a mission that made players assault a base and steal a truck which was okay, but a few beginner mistakes made the mission a bit simple and linear.

I just wanted to ask: What is people's favorite type of mission? Is a linear 'Go here kill these guys, get to here' better, or is the large map of optional objectives favored. Any input of any kind is greatly appreciated!

Thanking you!
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: BrotherTobious on February 10, 2015, 09:36:57 AM
It all depends on the person I know that OB loves a good town fight and close combat stuff.  I like missions with twists and turns but you will learn that when we play a mission we will do it differnet from how you have planned it.   I am really also enjoy the reduced load out ones.  A Night one could be a good laugh always pretty when something goes boom.  

Lib, Sparko, Smilo and Twobad always like to watch with interest how we  approach the mission and makes changes to keep us on our toes.

Hope that helps
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: Nuka on February 10, 2015, 09:43:46 AM
Is a linear objective one better to you or do you prefer a Camp Pegasus style mission Toby? Oh and by the way, is it BTC revive that is used in the missions?
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: BrotherTobious on February 10, 2015, 09:55:51 AM
I really dont mind, mate surprise us, what would you enjoy us trying to do :)
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: Nuka on February 10, 2015, 09:58:53 AM
Quote from: BrotherTobious;394967mate surprise us

Oh, I've got a few surprises planned ;)

Hopefully there will be a test version for a Wednesday/Mid-week mission soon
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: smilodon on February 10, 2015, 12:01:20 PM
I think it's fun to use both types of mission.

The on rails type is good if you want to guide your team along a predefined route. It's good for missions that require you to get from one point to another. I've used it for a mission where you have to deliver a truck to a certain point. The idea is to follow a predetermined route and I've added encounters, ambushes and suchlike along the way. The downside is that you need to keep the team on your course. If you let the hike cross country to the destination then they will miss all your content. I use a combination of minefields and mission orders to keep everyone on track. They play out like mini stories or multiplayer versions of single player missions you might find in Call of Duty or Battlefield, or that's the plan. You need to have a variety of different challenges along the way, a few false alarms and a bit of music is nice as well. They can be tricky if you have several tasks to complete in order. I never quite seem able to get them to start and complete as expected. Somewhere the scripting fall over and a new mission won't trigger when it is supposed to.

However the above always seems a bit to strict and doesn't allow for much planning or tactics. Sparko has a map where you have several missions that you can take in any order and Twobad has one where you have to defend a camp from waves of enemies. I have a map that is just one huge city battle that plays a bit like Blackhawk Down. These are easier to do and seem more natural. However they work best if you keep them more localised. So they are good for 'attack this town', 'defend this base' and 'kill this target.

I think the easiest to write would be the type where you setup your enemy and send the team in to complete the objective.
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: Nuka on February 10, 2015, 03:54:47 PM
Alright, Thank you Smilo. I've decided on what the mission should be, though pulling it off and making it work my be a different story ;D
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: Nuka on February 10, 2015, 04:47:27 PM
Annnnd...Wheeeheyyyy! I have encountered my first problem - 10 minutes into development! What is it you may ask? VAS. Yeah, I am so much of a beginner at missions that my VAS doesn't work. Upon trying to open the ammo-box, the following message is displayed: "VAS never initialized. This probably means that cfgFunctions.hpp was called by Desicription.ext". I dragged the folder named VAS into my mission folder, as well as description.ext with the lines:

#include "VAS\menu.hpp"
class CfgFunctions
{
   #include "VAS\cfgfunctions.hpp"
};

and I have also put stringtable into the folder. The ammo-box in the game has:

this addAction["Virtual Ammobox", "VAS\open.sqf"];

and yet it still comes up with this message.

Well, I've fallen at the first hurdle.
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: TwoBad on February 10, 2015, 05:02:49 PM
Are you using the latest version because those links are wrong.

The only cfgFunctions you need isclass cfgFunctions {
    //// Respawn Script - Start ////
    #include "INS_revive\cfgfunctions.hpp"
    //// Respawn Script - End   ////
};

And in game you would usethis addAction["Virtual Ammobox", "INS_revive\VAS\open.sqf"];
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: Tutonic on February 10, 2015, 05:03:00 PM
The instructions on Armaholic (http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=19134) look a bit different from your code:

It is best to attach the action to a pre-existing ammo box so place a ammo box on the map via editor and in the initialization field put:this addAction[&quot;<t color=#ff1111&quot;>Virtual Ammobox</t>&quot;, &quot;VAS\open.sqf];
And your done! Just look at the ammo box, scroll and click Virtual Ammobox. The interface is easy to use so have fun!

Does that help?

EDIT: Forum code is messing the formatting up a bit - check the link for the original text.
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: TwoBad on February 10, 2015, 05:08:00 PM
This is the one on Armaholic (http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=20196) we use.
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: Nuka on February 10, 2015, 05:23:56 PM
Quote from: TwoBad;394983This is the one on Armaholic (http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=20196) we use.

That's probably why, I'll change it over in a minute
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: Nuka on February 10, 2015, 06:18:14 PM
Okay, so now the INS_revive half works. I've combined two scripts' descriptions together (one INS, the other is a secret) which is fine, but now the box says \INS_revive\VAS\open.sqf could not be found. The description.ext must be okay as the game knows what it should be doing when I try and open the box,, but it apparently can't  find the open.sqf, even it's there and I can find it. I'm going to try and have the descriptions separate
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: TwoBad on February 10, 2015, 06:25:48 PM
And you have this in the init.sqf file in your mission root folder (where the description.ext is) ?
// INS_revive initialize
[] execVM &quot;INS_revive\revive_init.sqf&quot;;
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: Nuka on February 10, 2015, 06:42:39 PM
Phew..Sorted, It's alright now TwoBad, thank you! I've got the secret script and INS working, now I just have to build the mission...
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: Nuka on February 11, 2015, 10:10:42 AM
Right, the core scripts and base of the mission are up and running. Took a break from it last night, my head was beginning to hurt and the frustration was starting to take a toll so later on, I'll start building the gameplay!
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: A_Cheese_Puff on February 11, 2015, 10:10:45 AM
Try and get it sent to TwoBad so it can be put on the server for testing!
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: Tutonic on February 11, 2015, 10:15:54 AM
Good stuff Nuka - more mission builders are always welcome :)
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: TwoBad on February 11, 2015, 10:18:46 AM
Quote from: Nuka;395014my head was being to hurt and the frustration was being to take a toll so later on
Welcome to the wonderful world of Arma mission building
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: Nuka on February 12, 2015, 09:28:56 PM
Ladies and Gentlefaces - The first version of my mission is complete. For know, it shall be called...."Destroy the Weapon Caches". Wow! Don't expect it to be super amazing, this is my first real mission that (hopefully works) and I have a feeling that it may be a little too easy for a Sunday play, so for now, I've left it at a Mid-week appropriate difficulty. The ending is a little abrupt, but I just wanted a working mission to start and then more objectives and units will be added to beef it out. I've sent it off to TwoBad to do some wizard stuff and get it to the appropriate people on my behalf. Phew.
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: Chaosphere on February 12, 2015, 10:29:48 PM
Sounds good. It's always good to test a map before Sunday use anyway, so let's give this a tentative time of next Wednesday for a play through with those of us able to make it?
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: A_Cheese_Puff on February 13, 2015, 07:22:26 AM
Well done Nuka! Maybe if the server is restarted with your mission on we could give it a run through today or something with anyone else who wants to join.
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: Nuka on February 13, 2015, 08:11:19 AM
Yeah, can do!
Title: Misson Development - Nuka
Post by: Nuka on February 27, 2015, 02:47:13 PM
The mission has now actually been sent to TwoBad (the working version this time!). Just note for anyone playing it, It is a bare minimum build - There needs to be a lot more units and objectives for a Sunday play and the ending is uhhh...very abrupt! It will be fleshed out majorly after it's first test play!