[DEPRECIATED] Campaign 4 (Old thread)

[aubergine]

Crashes on Mac OS X 10.5.8 with WZ 3.1 RC 3

The downloaded .wz was placed in mods/autoload

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

You're using the Contingency one, right?

do a --debug=wz, --debug=all, and the crash report (if you can find it). Those errors usually only happen when it's the wrong /autoload spot (like on 'nix, there can be up to 3 locations and only one of them will be the correct one).

I don't have a Mac so I can't test it there, sorry.

[aubergine]

On a mac there is only the one place so I'm pretty sure its where its supposed to be (dak180 or i-Nod could probably confirm). Also, I've no idea how to do command line params on mac :s

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

I see. Sorry it's not working. No idea how to fix that on a Mac, or do commandline parameters.

I have a JS problem that I'm trying to figure out, and you're the person to ask:

Am I allowed to do in a campaign rules.js the same stuff that one would do in a multiplayer rules.js? I ask because I have need of the Cyborg enabling stuff, was wondering if I could do it there instead of in my scripts (.slo and .vlo). The .slo method is currently giving me some fuss, because Cyborgs aren't being treated as BODY in wzscript (and I can't makeComponentAvailable() because of it).

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

And if I can get away with not requiring a .vlo and .slo and just use JS instead, I'll start porting the entire campaign over to JS IMMEDIATELY. It's FAR less clunky-looking.

[aubergine]

Yes, you can do anything in campaign rules.js that you could do in mp/ski rules.js. I documented some of the rules.js stuff here: https://warzone.atlassian.net/wiki/display/mod/rules.js

EDIT: You can acutally use any of the functions in any js script, not just rules.js. Eg. you can put them in scripts such as cam1a.js, AI scripts, scavfact.js, etc.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Good stuff, that will save me a TON of hassle.

[Rman Virgil]

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Just got started. Will post feedback as I proceed.

In story, gameplay, interesting mapping (beauty & maze-like quality) and overall visuals, it is already far in advance of the original. Like your music too.

At the outset, here are a few specific thoughts and observations.

- The on screen text for Mission Briefs and SitRep exchanges works well inplace of cinematics. However, because of the intense nature of the combat exchanges, I'm missing chunks of it and am wishing it would persist longer on screen or that I could retrieve it from the reticule's intelligence button. Guess i could just pause the game when they come up. I do also note more than a little visceral resistance on my part in shifting my gaze up to read, away from attending the focal place of action..... especially with the impending nature of the firefight opportunities as you've created and paced them (well done, btw). This comes back to what I would call facilitating situational awareness on a most fundamental level as opposed to augmenting debilitating cognitive load switch-tasking.

- After retrieving self-repair and being told it was active for all units, I didn't see it working and had to use the mobile repair tanks.

- I tested save game. Got a warning dialog that it couldn't load and that it would instead try and load the regular game without the mod. I pressed ok and then it ended up loading my save game just fine.

- You done a good job of multi-vector attacks, mixing scavs with non scav units and positioning enemy IF batteries to harrass. Both balanced well to give the player a chance while still injecting a fear factor of possibly being overwhelmed by the enemy. However, after a short spell, I was just blasting my way thru everything and that edge of fear dissipated.

I know I'm only early on in your artistry and that you may have already taken this into account in what I have yet to face but I will make a suggestion anway.

You can stand to up the fear factor by a couple of modest air sorties. Perhaps with scav choppers. Because the player is limited to ground combat with a finite set of units, the enemies modest air presence early on will create a fear factor that will linger though all the ground blasting. In essence, the player will feel especially vulnerable and left wondering if there will be more air sorties.

Like I said, just at the very begining. Will offer more feedback and reportage as I proceed.

Even early on, I can already tell this represents a real and tangible luminous future for WZ campaigns and would strongly recommend that campaign lovers take your creation on to experience the sheer interactive narrative magic this particular mode of gameplay can evoke.

EDIT:@ Further in on the first stage. Still stand by the suggestion of a adding modest air sortie triggers throughout the players blasting away of scav ground installations.

[Shadow Wolf TJC]

- I tested save game. Got a warning dialog that it couldn't load and that it would instead try and load the regular game without the mod. I pressed ok and then it ended up loading my save game just fine.

I'm guessing that it's a problem with having multiple mods saved and loaded at a time. (See ticket 3567) Because of this bug, I was forced to offer an alternative version of Contingency with NullBot and Ultimate Scavengers built in instead of being left separate from Contingency. Goth-Zagog Thou may need to likewise have Contingency built into his Campaign 4 mod to get rid of that bug (though probably only when it comes time to publish it, as keeping Campaign 4 and Contingency separate would probably be useful for development purposes).

[Rman Virgil]

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SW, I used Goth's single integrated .wz in Autoload. Nothing else. So, i would guess, integration notwithstanding, the same issue persists as Autoloading multiple mods ?

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[aubergine]

I've not yet been able to play this due to some issues on Mac OS X, but having read through the scripts the one thing I did notice is that the commander is given a name and also dialog. This means the player is no longer the commander, but is now someone in control of the commander, which seemed strange?

In the previous campaigns, the player was always the commander, and they were never seen on map. It's like they were overhead commanding their troops. (Which always made command droids seem very strange to me...)

[Rman Virgil]

I've not yet been able to play this due to some issues on Mac OS X, but having read through the scripts the one thing I did notice is that the commander is given a name and also dialog. This means the player is no longer the commander, but is now someone in control of the commander, which seemed strange?

In the previous campaigns, the player was always the commander, and they were never seen on map. It's like they were overhead commanding their troops. (Which always made command droids seem very strange to me...)

I seem to be experiencing it as role playing a field lieutenant and commanding his squad which includes an assistant command droid. Different than the original campaign, to be sure, but also, for me anyway, more satisfying.

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[aubergine]

I'm very eager to get to play this, I think I'll have to get my mac upgraded to a new OS X first though (I've been putting that task off for over 2 years now!)

I'm very interested to see how the dynamic mission objectives work out in actual gameplay, I've seen what they do from reading scripts but seeing it in practice will be a whole different experience. I guess in-game you don't realise that the objectives are dynamic, they will just seem appropriate to whatever has happened so far. It will mean that depending on your actions, you'll actually get a different game to someone else who did things differently, which I find very exciting.

If you've not tried it yet, let one of your transports be destroyed and play for a bit, then start again and let the other transport get destroyed. You'll see the story and gameplay adapt to the situations.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Thanks for the great feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

With the addition of Contingency, I planned to add Scavenger Choppers to harass the player. Nothing like the blitz-like air raids that USM is known and loved for, but as harassment and "fear factor".

Speaking of which, the fear factor kicks into overdrive when you attempt to storm the Research Base on M3. Gotta love Incendiary Mortars.

And yes, Gibbs is your "field lieutenant" and doing his job -- situation reporting and suggested courses of action. Ultimately it's up to the player what actually takes place. I was in the military, and I know how it's supposed to work in the field.

(ADDENDUM] I plan to add the voice clips corresponding to the on-screen text. Should have mentioned that before. The text will eventually match the dialog. My girlfriend's brother is deaf, so I am sensitive to their needs as well.

[aubergine]

Really looking forward to voice clips! If you get chance, could you do some generic voice clips that could be used in general situation reporting (eg. for skirmish games, challenges, etc)? Just random stuff that might be heard on the battlefield. I've also wanted random status reports over crackly radio, things that could be played as subtle background audio on videos or cutscenes (like the "sector clear" stuff at the start of this video). Ideally, I'd like to get SitRep mod to point where there is random radio chatter (status reports from various officers, buildings, etc) during periods of low activity. Would love to chat to you some time about how weather affects real-life battlefields, as I'm planning on making an extensive weather mod at some point.