DragonShadow

Oh my, there's been a lot of activity here recently. Great to hear back of your experiences Aries, alexej21 and Moezilla. I'd love to have a few track files to look over, if it's not too much trouble. It'd help me in future projects too to see how other people approach the mission. It's certainly nice to hear the challenge in it is appreciated. BaD CrC, there's a few radio triggers but those are purely for the host setting options in the mission (Higher difficulty, AFAC support) that could also be pre-set by a minor edit to the mission. The main challenge in dedicated hosting of the mission probably is the fact that the opposing faction is not passive, it will wipe out Batumi if not stopped. If that does not sound like a problem, one could always vote to restart for example, then I would be intrigued to see the mission in dedicated hosting also. Right now I've been waiting for DCS 1.2.3 to be released, for it to hopefully fix the problem with warehouses being enabled and LAU-88 (The triple rack for Mavericks) not being loaded onto A-10C. I'm aiming then to release an update with a few minor fixes to the mission.

Name: Blindsided : Revision 4 Author: DragonShadow Mission type: Co-op MP (SP supported, though more challenging) Controllable: 3xKa-50, 4xA-10C, 3xSU-25T, 2xSU-25A, 3xSU-27, 2xUH-1H, 2xMi-8 Quick Summary: "Scramble! and defend Batumi airdrome against a surprise attack by well armed insurgents. Then take the battle to them." A three phased mission with varying types of tasks, plenty of detail and scripted events. Figure out the best way to use your finite but flexible resources to tackle the insurgent threat, co-operate with your forces in the air as well as on the ground to turn the battle around. Mission difficulty can be scaled depending on number of players or the challenge you wish to meet. Whether you want to devastate enemy convoys or get into a tight dogfight, you will not meet a passive enemy here. Find full details in the discussion thread. Link/Download: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/2323832/ Full brief/Discussion thread: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=180935 Misc info: 2-6 players recommended on default, 3-12 on higher difficulty

It's great to hear such positive feedback on the mission, thank you both :) It's also nice to note that the community appreciates a bit of a challenge, I've generally been of the opinion that it makes things more intense and fun if there's a chance of losing too. Additionally I'm quite open to hear criticism or other thoughts on the mission also, after all I can't fix things if I don't know about them. I'm certainly considering the possibility of publishing more later on, I have a few ideas on those lines actually. That's going to have to wait at least a while though, as I take a bit of a break from fighting with the mission editor and testing. Oh and if you have a moment, do rate the mission on the download page also.

Certainly :)

Quite welcome. Having a fun, co-operative two player mission with some challenge and chance to learn was the whole original reason I started making the mission. Let me know how it turns out.

Great to get some positive feedback on the mission speckfire, makes me happy to hear that. That's the original version or the 1st revision? In either case you're going to find a few more twists added to it :) Make sure to give the higher difficulty mode a go if you've already beat the base threats before, it's there also to add more replayability.

Glad to hear it, and hope you enjoy it. Would love to hear feedback on it.

Mission download available Missions been released for download, added the links.

Blindsided : 2nd revision Mission download here Co-operative mission supporting upto 9 players (2-3 recommended default, 3-6 on difficult) Flyable aircraft: 3xKa-50, 3xA-10C, 3xSU-25T Limited munitions, aircraft (Warehouse) - by DragonShadow [briefing room] As you may know, we have not received any word back from the eastern patrol, since they reported hearing heavy vehicles in the pass. We can only assume the worst. As of twenty minutes ago we received confirmation that insurgent forces are attempting a sneak attack on the Batumi airdrome. Be adviced that we have received reports that the insurgents are able to mount a credible anti-air threat. US Specops are just now sending ahead a two man TACP unit, designation 'Ferret', to provide coordination on a counter attack on the insurgent outpost we have located to the east. Before we can worry about the outpost though, we must succesfully defend Batumi from the insurgent forces closing on us. Be aware that we are facing at least two groups coming in from the outpost. Local defense forces are engaged with light enemy units as I speak. Your aircrafts have been fueled and armed, there is no time to waste, scramble! Aimed at: Pilots reasonably comfortable with the KA-50, A-10C or SU-25T in combat tasks and start up, moderate difficulty level. Pilots up for more challenge can enable higher difficulty at the beginning of the mission (Radio options, F10 Other). Featuring: Co-op and single player support. Note: Difficulty higher for single player. Three phases of mission with varying types of tasks. Plenty of scripted events with radio traffic (text with audible notifier) and detailing. Choise of two difficulty levels. Some more aggressive, scripted AI behaviour. Finite resources of war through the warehouse functionality. It now matters to make that shot and landing. On the move troop deployments. Airlifted JTAC available (but not necessary) for operations against the insurgent outpost. Optional AFAC available for the defense phase of the mission. Combined operations of KA-50, A-10C and SU-25T, all playing important but not interdependent roles (Set higher difficuly for best effect). Be a part of a team where your actions truly matter to the outcome of the mission. Revision 2 changes: - Extended gameplay to a three phase mission and new locations, "assassination by aircraft". - Added flyable aircrafts to total of 3xA-10C, 3xKA-50, 3xSU-25T. - Added user triggerable difficulty mode for groups larger than 2-3 players, or for more challenge. Affects the entire mission. - Added FARP Perth and Kobuleti airdrome as allied diverts. - Warehouse functionality and use of limited resources to beat the mission with. Figure out how to use them to the best effect. - Russian ground based reinforcements now visible on map to allow easier tracking of progress. - Improved TACP/JTAC positioning not to call bombs so often on it's own head, made some fixes to lasing. - Repositioning on the insurgent troops closest to Batumi airdrome. - Fixed problem with IL-76MD potentially keeping players from spawning. - Targets of opportunity :) - Optional AFAC assists in tracking attacking insurgent units. - Compatibility with KA-50 JTAC mod (AFAC 'Dodge' on 31.00MHZ FM, TACP 'Ferret' on 32.00MHz FM). - Removed special forces helo AI chatter from default radio channel. - Stall detection on insurgent attack, after two hours defense objectives count as completed. - Replaced radio notifier sound with a more correct and smaller in size clip. - Eliminating 80% of deployed forward troops now sufficient for victory condition. - Miscellaneous scripting additions and fixes. Attributions: * Included some suggestions from OddLizard, a few from Frett92, Newspeedy and Hagios * Flight testing with Hagios * Eagle Dynamics for creating the DCS series * Thanks to all who participated in open betatests License: Freeware, distribution allowed as is with all files and attributions intact. All rights otherwise reserved, unless specifically agreed upon. (It's ok to ask.) Mission download here

Great to hear it Newspeedy, and thanks for getting it out there for people :). I'm quite glad to see theres mostly positive feedback on the mission so far, and that people have been enjoying it. Appreciate the feedback from everyone who has commented or rated the mission at this point. Hah, I know the feeling on the manpads, they give you such a warm surprise welcome. I think we can manage without any additional ones for now though ;), trying to keep things fun and balanced. Sure, I'll give some consideration to extending the mission a tad more. But I'll also have to be a bit careful to keep it from becoming too long or heavy for an evenings session for two players. Any chance of a track file, etc on one of those flights? I'm curious and I think it would also help to see how people react in and fly the mission. Not to mention it'd just be fun to see people flying it. It might of course be best to share it elsewhere than on the forums.

Opinions requested :) As the mission has been downloaded some 50 times between the original and the revision, I thought I would ask what peoples experiences with it so far have been. Given this is the first mission I have published for the simulator community I'd rather like to hear your opinions and thoughts on it. Is this something that has been enjoyed? Should I possibly consider building more missions for the community? Or has it just been so terrible that everyone is being polite as to not say anything? :) I opened a poll on the subject for quick feedback. It's fine if your only feedback is that you liked or did not like the mission, but written comments and suggestions would be appreciated. For example thanks to TurboHog bringing it to my attention, the potential issue with the particular unit spawning should be resolved in the revision.

Blindsided - Revision 1 Revision 1 for Blindsided is now completed, it has been uploaded to the DCS file server and can be found here: http://files.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/181026/ Changes include: - More informative briefing. - Relaxed F2/F10 viewing to allow allies also. - Mission events will only begin once a player enters an aircraft, better support for standalone servers. - Fixed possibility of a group spawning next to a player. - Improved placement of the deployed insurgent troops to make them more reasonable to find. - Eliminating 85% of the deployed troops is now sufficient for the victory condition. - Fixed aggressive AI to be more reliable, also some other scripting. - Moved eastern aircraft support units into better cover to lessen likelyhood of being destroyed in initial attack. - Added another group of insurgents attacking from the outpost to keep up the pacing. - Added airlifted reinforcements for players to balance out the above. - Reinforcements will help with clearing insurgent infantry incase no KA-50's are piloted. - Added in a few small non-essential insurgent camps. - Added initial situation map.

Hey Frett. That would be the same we beta tested some, yeah. Great to hear that it's been spotted in the 'wild' :). On the note of the group that spawned on you, acknowledged. I see what happened there and I will be fixing it. I have a pretty good idea of how to keep that from happening, and to make more sure in the same that the group acts it's intended purpose as well. Though pretty unlucky certainly that you happened to be right there at the time ;). I have a few other things in the plans now as well to make the mission more friendly to unattended servers given it's scramble nature. I'll see if I can implement those in the revision also.

Hello there. I thought I would make a little contribution to the DCS series/simulator community alongside my first appearance on the forums. I have created a new 1-4 player (2 recommended) co-operative mission named 'Blindsided'. Revision 2 is out, new forum thread: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=1549069#post1549069 Download from: http://files.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/218169/ Revision 1 of the mission can still be downloaded from: http://files.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/181026/ Original version can still be downloaded from: http://files.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/181010/ "Scramble! and defend Batumi airdrome against a sneak attack by well armed insurgents. Then take the battle to them." The mission is aimed at pilots reasonably comfortable with either the KA-50 or A-10C in combat tasks and start up, and has a moderate difficulty level. It is something originally created for myself and a friend to truly get into the ins and outs of combat, but it has grown a lot since. Hopefully it should be enjoyable for those learning, as well as a tightly co-operative experience for more advanced players also. It also demonstrates a feature I think would be a useful addition to the series as a whole, mobile units carrying a loadout of troops to deploy on the move. Given the feature is not fully implemented into the series, it is of course a scripted workaround for now. All in all the mission features a good few scripted events, complete with airlifted JTAC to make the battlefield come a bit more to life as well as provide a twist or two. I'd love to get some feedback, or even see a track or two of people taking the mission on. At any rate I hope you will enjoy the mission if you give it a try. Featuring: Co-op and single player (Multiplayer server with 1 client) support. Note: Difficulty higher for single player. Plenty of scripted events with radio traffic (text with audible notifier) and miscallaneous detailing. Some more aggressive, scripted AI behaviour. On the move troop deployments. JTAC available (but not necessary) for final operations. Be a part of a team where your actions truly matter to the outcome of the mission.