Improving the campaign - Alpha 1

[Per]

We are starting on a port of the campaign from the old scripting system to the new, and as we port each level, we will also be fixing up old bugs and adding some new features as desired by users. We are therefore requesting your opinion on how each level should be improved as we port them, level by level. We will also be looking for play-testers later on - we will let you know when we are ready for that.

We are now starting with the very first level, Alpha 1, code name cam1a. Post your ideas on how to improve this level below. We will try very hard to keep the atmosphere, feel and style of the original game, so no big changes will be done. Also, do not post any general discussions about the campaign and its story in this thread, nor anything to do with general game balance in campaign. Typical changes we are looking for are bugs, removing ways to that players can get stuck or lost (not know what to do), changes that occur depending on difficulty level, and ways to remove 'cheating' without using cheat codes.

Changes already done to Alpha 1:

• A one hour time countdown starts running once power generator and derrick have been built to not encourage players to sit on this level until they reach max power before proceeding. Maybe we should reduce this time limit.
• All artifacts are placed on game start now, so you can get the research items in any order. Before, if you destroyed a later base before an earlier base, then returned to destroy the earlier base, an artifact would be placed where the later base used to be, which could be hard to find and leave the player stuck or confused.
• Artifacts at base 2 and 4 have been swapped. This should allow you to research repair turret before taking on base 3.
• You get bonus power on mission end, equal to what you would get if you had spent all that time drilling for oil on your existing derricks with a 25% bonus to power income.

Post your ideas and comments below!

[Lord Apocalypse]

Is there or will there be a way to increase mission difficulty outside of using the difficulty settings in the options menu? Some of the early missions (such as 1a) are way too easy even on hard.

If it can be checked via API add an additional trigger to twice as many units (infantry probably) in the same time frame or make the scav AI more difficult (or smarter) based on game difficulty. I know from testing the first set of scav infantry appear to be based on a trigger event (at least the mission video is). Not sure about bugs, will have to replay the first mission both retail and 3.1 (don't think there are any differences but who knows...).

[Per]

Don't know about increasing, but I'm planning to add a GUI option to replay a mission at lower difficulty, if you fail it the first time.

More units at higher difficulty is easy, and I will add that. However, I don't know how to make the scavs smarter. They already retreat and regroup, and without more firepower is there much more they can do other than be a suicidal nuisance at this point in the game?

[Lord Apocalypse]

Not unless the wrecks (cars, tanker truck, etc) provide a protection bonus against getting hit. If the script can handle it, it would be a nice feature to add in.. though its not completely related to just cam1a I guess. Anyway, I will probably have something later.

[atrain99]

Have the scavengers approach as soon as you build something, also make the timer 45:00

[aubergine]

I think the focus for now should be just getting the cams ported to the new scripting system. Once that's done, it should be possible with relatively little work to create Campaign variants of JS AIs such as NullBot and Ultimate Scavengers -- basically they just need to hibernate until some event triggers them, plus the ability to deal with limited techs available in cam.

[Shadow Wolf TJC]

@Per: Perhaps we could implement some scripting that would give the player some extra power at the end of every mission, depending on how many active derricks the player has, and how much time is left over when the mission ends? That way, players would no longer need to hold off on destroying every last enemy object on the map so that they could "milk the timer" for as much oil as they can get, since the scripting would fulfill the same purpose as "milking the timer".

[aubergine]

Knowing how much time is left on mission/reinforcement timers would be a useful thing to have.

As for power bonuses, could you not have some power gained each time an objective is completed or something like that? Or maybe add some random barrels to the map throughout the game just like in skirmish games?

Or maybe just change amount of starting oil (or give extra oil at start of missions) depending on selected difficulty level?

I remember the first time I played campaign, I found it very difficult, it was my intro to warzone. But if I go back and play it now, I find it much easier because I know how to play the game better.

So I think whatever we do, we need to ensure that first-timer warzoners don't find the campaign impossible - they should be able to complete it on easy difficulty without needing to resort to cheat mode. But, if you go in at max difficulty level, it should be much harder so that even seasoned players struggle to complete it. With some of the recent functions added to JS API, like power modifiers and such, that should be easier to achieve.

I was wondering if some side-objectives could be added in, for example if you manage to keep a high percentage of your units alive (due to repairs and good micro) you get an oil bonus or a time extension or something like that? I remember hearing that some players got so good at the campaign that they were able to get multiple hero units by the end of it without losing a single commander. It could be that on easy level you get bonuses for doing really well, but on insane difficulty you get penalties for doing really well (so the game gets harder if you pwn a level).

It would be interesting to know how data is persisted in the campaign from one level to the next. If there was some way to store stuff in a cross-level data object via the JS API, I think all sorts of interesting things could be done.

[aubergine]

Also, can we start spelling Artefact properly? :p

[stiv]

Also, can we start spelling Artefact properly? :p

No.
That is the British variant of the word.

[Shadow Wolf TJC]

Also, can we start spelling Artefact properly? :p

To my knowledge, depending on which dialect of English you speak, "artifact" in American English would instead be spelled as "artefact" in British English, much like how "color" is spelled as "colour" in British English.

As for power bonuses, could you not have some power gained each time an objective is completed or something like that? Or maybe add some random barrels to the map throughout the game just like in skirmish games?

I don't know. Maybe we should leave it for mods to use for now. I mean, several missions have pre-placed oil barrels as rewards for exploring the map's nooks and crannies.

Or maybe just change amount of starting oil (or give extra oil at start of missions) depending on selected difficulty level?

Perhaps we could do THAT instead.

I was wondering if some side-objectives could be added in, for example if you manage to keep a high percentage of your units alive (due to repairs and good micro) you get an oil bonus or a time extension or something like that? I remember hearing that some players got so good at the campaign that they were able to get multiple hero units by the end of it without losing a single commander. It could be that on easy level you get bonuses for doing really well, but on insane difficulty you get penalties for doing really well (so the game gets harder if you pwn a level).

Again, sounds like something that should probably be left for modding. I believe that Goth-Zagog Thou may be working on something like that for his Campaign 4 Mod.

[aubergine]

Well, I've been tinkering with an "Objectives" API that has the ability to define hidden objectives. For example, if you find all the oil barrels, you can get a bonus. Or if you do things in a certain order, you get a bonus.

Players can issue a chat command "objectives" to get a status report of the current objectives and their progress towards completing them. If they're in cheat mode, hidden objectives are also listed in the status report so they get an idea about what secrets there might be in the current level.

[Per]

@Shadow Wolf TJC - I really like your idea of getting power bonus at mission end. I'll see if I can add that.

Artefact is more often used by British English writers, but both forms are legal in both American and British English. Pumpkin inconsistently mixed uses of artifact and artefact all over the codebase and scripts. However, in names.txt, they use "Artifact", which is what is shown to players, so I am leaning toward keeping that spelling.

One thing I've been thinking about, is that it is hard to really apply any skill in playing this level, because you have so little to work with apart from overwhelming force and sending damaged droids back to base to do nothing until you get repair turret next level. I think I would like to swap flamer and engineering tech artifacts on this level, so that you have a chance to research repair turret before the level ends...

[NoQ]

@Shadow Wolf TJC - I really like your idea of getting power bonus at mission end. I'll see if I can add that.

In Battle for Wesnoth - an open-source game with a fairly similar campaign structure - they do the following:
1. At the end of every mission they give you money bonus that is greater than whatever you could have milked during the remaining time limit if you had all "derricks" present on map under your control.
2. Only a certain percentage of oil is carried over to the next mission, 40% or 80% in different campaigns. This makes sure you don't get too much money.
3. If the carryover turned out to be too small, you start with pre-defined minimum amount of oil. Alternatively, in some campaigns, your carryover is always added to the minimum.

[aubergine]

I always used to recycle damaged droids prior to getting repair turret/station so I could get a shiny new droid at full health that little bit sooner.