asch

I've talked with Apophis and a few others about a possible ArmA mod to create and host here at TG. The following are just my recent brainstorming thoughts and are open for discussion. They are by no means set in stone. Some of these things may or may not even be feasible in ArmA, so we'll have to figure some of it out as we go.

The vision would be to create a persistent world (map?) where the objectives (missions) are both static and dynamic in nature.

Ok, so that can mean a lot and a little with so many variations in between.

One option would be to create a series of missions that form a campaign. By completing missions gain control of a section of the map, which then allows you to take on more missions. The outcomes are tracked and stored (i.e. persistent) on a server. To get a better idea, take a look at BF2 Combat. Select a continent and view the map. You'll see points that are controlled by one team or another.

Personally I'd like to take this a step (or two) further.

Picture ...

• a server that is active 24/7.
• a server that can handle a large population (100 players??).
• a commander (for lack of a better term) for each team directing multiple squads to complete different objectives across the map.
• elements of RTS (e.g. MFCTI ??) at the disposal of the commander.
• dynamically adding new missions to the server to keep the content fresh.
• multiple game servers connecting to the same central server with each game server working through different sections of the map, slowly working their way to a conflict.
• a mixture of co-op and PvP play.

These are just a few things that could be a part of this world. Do I know how to get there or have all of the answers? Of course not.

What I would like to see us provide is an experience like none-other that goes beyond just our style of play. I'd like to create something that draws players back to our server(s).

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Jeevz

Very ambitious, all except maybe the 6th one are possible as I have seen similar things for OFP. The 6th may even be but it seems like that would have to be part of the game engine.

fldash

asch, I'm glad to see we share the same vision. I wasn't as ambitious with my description mainly because I'm not sure of the limitations of the engine.

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asch

I agree it would be ambitious. We should be able to layout a product plan that allows us to iterate through releases. (Product management is what I do in RL.) It's just been 5+ years since I've developed so my skills are defunct.

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Fear the Frog! | Kill the Frog! | An Inconvenient Truth

"Support game play in a near-simulation environment. Where the focus of play would not be solely on doing what it takes to win, but doing so utilizing real-world combat strategy and tactics rather than leveraging exploits provided to players by the design of the game engine, regardless of the level of advantage, if any, it gives over the opposing team." -- Tactical Gamer Primer

asch

Is there any other feedback, ideas, suggestions?

I know we have several mission creators. I'd like your opinion and ideas also. Ideally we'd be putting your missions in this mod.

We also should think about what the overall objective for a team is? What is the end-game? For example, do we have "control-points" throughout the world that a team is conquering? Are they trying to reach the enemy HQ? etc.

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Fear the Frog! | Kill the Frog! | An Inconvenient Truth

"Support game play in a near-simulation environment. Where the focus of play would not be solely on doing what it takes to win, but doing so utilizing real-world combat strategy and tactics rather than leveraging exploits provided to players by the design of the game engine, regardless of the level of advantage, if any, it gives over the opposing team." -- Tactical Gamer Primer

fldash

asch, I've been pretty busy, but I'll writeup more as soon as I get a chance. Today, however, it's Christmas shopping.

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Strag

My suggestion, to start out, is for us to write a general "plot" to guide what will happen in our mod. It sounds like we're going to create a coop mod, and the best ones that I've played involve a good storyline. This is what gives the team the reasons for doing various things, and it helps drive the game from a standpoint of immersion. Something like (and this is just a quick example):

Our intelligence sources indicate that a known terrorist network has started recruiting in the region. We know that several of the local militias have been contacted by this terrorist network, and it appears that these militias are starting to work together as part of a cohesive force rather than as individual groups. We've tracked a lot of Cold War era equipment -- including armored vehicles -- that has been flooding into the region, as well as some newer equipment from sources we haven't been able to pinpoint yet.

The current local government has asked for our support in keeping the region clear of terrorist activity. As such, we've been asked by the local goverment to work with their forces in a series of Sweep and Clear missions. We have agreed to carry out joint operations, but it seems that our presence in the region has sparked internal conflict within the local government. Several of their generals have threatened a coup, so we're not sure how loyal these forces are to the local government.


From a general backstory such as this, we could move forward with all sorts of different ideas not only to drive missions, but also to tie them together.

asch

I agree we need a good storyline for both the whole "world" and individual missions.

I was also actually thinking of a mod that is a mix of coop and PvP. There would be coop missions or PvP missions to complete, depending on where a team is in the map and how many players are available.

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Gaming Videos by Tactical Gamers

Fear the Frog! | Kill the Frog! | An Inconvenient Truth

"Support game play in a near-simulation environment. Where the focus of play would not be solely on doing what it takes to win, but doing so utilizing real-world combat strategy and tactics rather than leveraging exploits provided to players by the design of the game engine, regardless of the level of advantage, if any, it gives over the opposing team." -- Tactical Gamer Primer

John CANavar

I love the discussion going in this thread... Great start by Asch and excellent follow-up ideas

I think a coop campaign is a terrific idea. Maybe one mission for every weekend. Outcome of the mission will be the start for making the other. I started doing something like this weeks ago but it is going slow. With a mission making team, we can make it much faster. There are some terrific scripts such as Urban Patrol Script which can help us a lot.

Realistic logistics can be applied. You lose your armor/vehicle/chopper and it is not available for the rest of the campaign unless you request another from the main HQ.

A subgroup can publish "role-playing" news from the island of Sahrani. A newspaper maybe. Before and after the missions...Stories which are related to on-going campaign to create some immersion. With images and sounds. I can definetely help on this, I love simulation videography and photography.

Scenario
----------
- Within the concept of realistic logistics, ammo (all kind) is limited. One of the missions in campaign may be to infiltrate an enemy base and steal weapons and ammunition to support a local resistance group.

John CANavar

Motivation
------------
- Creation of a dynamic campaign with a good story and exciting missions would attract thousands of OFP/Arm fans to TacticalGamer. Some of these newcomers will be scripters and modders. Expect a typical positive feedback mechanism. They come, they join the mission making team and more is attracted to TG as a result.

- We have the advantage of being a very close, experienced, mature and productive community. We have the manpower, brainpower and enthusiasm... Bring these together, give a direction and expect to be surprised with what can be accomplished.

John CANavar

See the following thread.

TacMod Campaign - RISK Brainstorming

This was discussed for BF2 Tac Mod. Now we have a game -Armed Assault- which can make these kind of ideas a reality.

asch

Is the general interest to make this a coop mod?

Initially I was thinking of two (or more) teams spread out across the world. They each have different storylines / objectives / missions that progress them along. Eventually (if not right away) they come in contact with each other. This creates some PvP missions. One team may have to guard a transport vehicle while another has to take it out.

This could allow for both PvP and coop missions.

Is that something we want to shoot for? I would expect that creating the persistent coop world be one of the first steps.

__________________
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Gaming Videos by Tactical Gamers

Fear the Frog! | Kill the Frog! | An Inconvenient Truth

"Support game play in a near-simulation environment. Where the focus of play would not be solely on doing what it takes to win, but doing so utilizing real-world combat strategy and tactics rather than leveraging exploits provided to players by the design of the game engine, regardless of the level of advantage, if any, it gives over the opposing team." -- Tactical Gamer Primer

fldash

asch, that's a brilliant idea. Two story lines that appear to be seperate but that intersect.

Like others have said, the story line is going to be the most important part of the mod. The coding is just a formality, without a good story, it doesn't matter how great of coders we have. Of course, this is all my opinion.

Again, I like the idea of dynamic followup missions based on the outcome of the mission. For instance say in the Rescue the Prince mission that we've all played (or most of us) there could be three results:

a) Prince is rescued.
b) Prince gets killed by Opfor or by the rescuing team.
c) Prince is evacuated by the Opfor team.

Each one of those results could lead to another mission.

Maybe that's too complex and there should just be linear missions, but what do we do about failed missions? It's going to have to be a 'choose your adventure type' and somewhat punish the team that fails a mission.

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Strag

Put the team on KP for an hour?

Jeevz

I like this idea, I'd definitely be willing to help out with mission creation for something like this.