What makes a good campaign?

[WelshZeCorgi]

I'm considering trying to make a few user missions... but from the forums experience/preference/imagination, how would you describe a good mission/ campaign?

[McBlemmen]

Realistic scenarios are a must. No John rambo style missions going up against the entire world alone.

[GauSki]

I'm sure the answer to this will be a bit different for everyone.. But for me in single player anyway, a good campaign need to offer Immersion.

 

Some things you might want to include to achieve this:

- A reasonably realistic and believable background story (Answering the who/why/when/how type questions).

 

- A clear progression of the conflict as the campaign and "storyline" progresses that conveys a feeling that your actions in previous missions has had an effect on the overall situation.

 

- Good use of scripted voice acting and comms including radio chatter, in-flight briefings, unexpected developments etc

 

- Good use of AI flights, ground units and airbase traffic to make you feel like you're not alone (unless you mean it to be that way!)

 

And also for general enjoyment it's important to have varied mission types and varied weather/ flight times.

 

You need to try and give the pilot a sense that he is out in Georgia for a reason... He has a job to do and his wingmen and troops that depend on it!!

 

... Just my 2 cents

Edited October 8, 2015 by GauSki

[Yurgon]

GauSki already made a lot of good points.

 

One more thing I like about good campaigns is getting familiar with the AO so that by mission 3 or 4 or 5 I've memorized ATC freqs, runway elevation, I know some of the landmarks and maybe even specific details on the target area (like: "Yesterday I stopped the enemy advance on that intersection and, oh look, there are some wrecks there!").

 

A perfect example would be the "Save Badger" mini-campaign, and "The Enemy Within" also uses the same airport (except for one well explained exception) throughout the campaign and several missions return to previous target areas.

 

BTW, if you x-post, it would be nice if you linked to the other thread(s) so that people can find the best place to reply.

 

(Chances are the threads will be merged to the Missions and Campaigns section anyway)

[Charly_Owl]

Feeling an emotional connection to the objective makes some missions very special for me. I'm mainly thinking of rescue missions with either the Huey or the Mi-8. Waaay back I remember playing a scenario where I would listen to the crashed pilot's radio, which made me want to find him and get him back home at all costs. A mission like "Rescue at Mount Elbrus" is what I'm mainly thinking of.

[PiedDroit]

What GauSki said...

I also like Yurgon's point of making an area familiar.

 

If you vary the difficulty of the mission, it's best to make to balance with flight time: short/hard, long/easy so people won't have to restart a long flight too often and would be able to restart numerous times a tough mission to try various approaches.

 

P.S. You should merge the two identical threads ;)

[Sabre-TLA]

In a similar vein: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=138968

and this: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=142080

[WelshZeCorgi]

Just a question regarding realism...

 

In CSAR operations, do they only use "CSAR" pilots that were trained only to perform CSAR missions? Or do all A10C pilots perform such a task if needed?

 

Also, are there any other interesting missions A10C pilots perform, (missions like CSAR?)

[lanmancz]

On a somewhat related note - if you'd like some real world inspiration try reading this book :

http://www.amazon.com/A-10s-Over-Kosovo-Airpower-Operation/dp/1585661228

It can also be found in PDF format.

[Wrecking Crew]

One more thing I like about good campaigns is getting familiar with the AO so that by mission 3 or 4 or 5 I've memorized ATC freqs, runway elevation, I know some of the landmarks and maybe even specific details on the target area (like: "Yesterday I stopped the enemy advance on that intersection and, oh look, there are some wrecks there!").

 

This is an excellent suggestion!

 

WC

[lanmancz]

This is an excellent suggestion!

 

Indeed! I never thought about putting some wrecks in areas from previous missions. That's a great idea! :thumbup:

[Yurgon]

Oh, one more thing.

 

If a mission starts at 12:00 on 1st of June with no wind, my initial impression is that the mission designer lacks imagination and the mission will be boring.

 

Just a few nice high altitude clouds, a bit of wind, maybe an early morning sortie with a beautiful sunrise or a dusk-flight with a night-landing, and a sentence or two in the briefing regarding wind and visibility do wonders for immersion IMO. :thumbup:

 

The infamous "OP Hammerfall 3" of "The Enemy Within" (*) is a prime example of how weather (low clouds in the mountains) can turn a walk-in-the-park mission into one of the most demanding missions I've ever flown in DCS, so if a mission is good but just a tad too easy, some rain or low clouds will surely make it much more challenging. :hehe:

 

(*) Just kidding, BD, I love the mission. :D

[WelshZeCorgi]

Just a question regarding realism...

 

In CSAR operations, do they only use "CSAR" pilots that were trained only to perform CSAR missions? Or do all A10C pilots perform such a task if needed?

 

Also, are there any other interesting missions A10C pilots perform, (missions as interesting as but not like CSAR?)

[ezfox]

THIS:

A clear progression of the conflict as the campaign and "storyline" progresses that conveys a feeling that your actions in previous missions has had an effect on the overall situation.

[baltic_dragon]

Oh, one more thing.

 

The infamous "OP Hammerfall 3" of "The Enemy Within" (*) is a prime example of how weather (low clouds in the mountains) can turn a walk-in-the-park mission into one of the most demanding missions I've ever flown in DCS, so if a mission is good but just a tad too easy, some rain or low clouds will surely make it much more challenging. :hehe:

 

(*) Just kidding, BD, I love the mission. :D

 

I hate it, those bloody clouds get me killed on every second play through ;))

 

Just a question regarding realism...

 

In CSAR operations, do they only use "CSAR" pilots that were trained only to perform CSAR missions? Or do all A10C pilots perform such a task if needed?

 

Also, are there any other interesting missions A10C pilots perform, (missions as interesting as but not like CSAR?)

 

THIS:

 

A-10s are usually in charge of a CSAR mission, but these utilise many different airframes. Not all A10 pilots can do that, though, only those with special qualifications and experience (they are called "Sandy qualified", Sandy being a term describing pilot in charge of CSAR. There is a lot about it in A-10s over Kosovo, you can find this book on the net legally and for free.

 

Role of A-10s depends on the enemy and theatre. From anti-armour, through ground attack, limited SEAD to escort. Which brings me to the point: for good campaign you need

- good background of the scenario

- good story which evolves with every mission

- different types of tasks and missions

- atmospheric voice overs

- good balance of fun and realism (most players won't do a 4-h patrol sortie where nothing happens)

 

Good luck in your work, if you need any help or advice - just shout!

[DarkFire]

I'm considering trying to make a few user missions... but from the forums experience/preference/imagination, how would you describe a good mission/ campaign?

 

Some things I like to see in missions:

 

1. A bit of variety. As Yurgon commented, it's very nice to fly missions that have variety in terms of time of day and the weather and season.

 

2. Missions shouldn't be pointlessly difficult just for the sake of being pointlessly difficult. DCS isn't a Japanese platform game. Having your target defended by an entire battalion of SA-10 sites along with enough Tunguskas for several army groups isn't immersive and isn't fun. Similarly facing off against several air wings of F-15Cs on my own in my Flanker isn't realistic or fun.

 

3. Missions should have realistic and achievable objectives. Obviously what constitutes "realistic" and "achievable" will vary depending on the player aircraft, but typically a given aircraft should have a single task. That one task could be fairly complicated, such as defending a team of friendly ground units from waves of incoming enemies, but missions that have you doing task after task after task, hundreds of Km apart from each other, aren't really realistic and can become very repetitive if you die late on in the mission.

 

4. Missions should have at least some back story. Why are you there? What's the situation that caused you to be deployed? Who are the enemy and why? What's the reason for your mission today (or tonight)? I love to see some of this detail in mission briefings and this should have become easier now with the increase in the maximum number of characters that can be used to write a mission briefing.

 

5. Briefing photos! I want loads of briefing photos! I love missions that have a 'title page', perhaps a general picture of your flight plan, maybe some reconnaissance photos etc tec. This adds an enormous amount of immersion for me.

 

6. Voice acting. For me this is probably the no.1 thing that adds HUGE amounts of immersion in missions. I've found that the DCS community is hugely generous in donating their time doing voice overs for a couple of my missions, for which I'm always very grateful. If there's one single thing that adds loads of immersion to a mission, it's having voice acting.

 

For campaigns, I like to see the following:

 

1. Even more briefing material. I love campaigns that have lengthy back stories which really set a scene for and explain the reasons behind what you're going to be doing.

 

2. Mission difficulty within the campaign should ramp up. Having a first mission where your task is to take out an A-50 AWACS that's escorted by thirty Flankers would not be a fun introduction. The classic first campaign mission is a familiarisation flight, and this is something that I like as it gives an understanding of the general layout of friendly & enemy forces without immediately dropping you in at the proverbial deep end. Having incredibly difficult missions right at the start doesn't encourage the player to progress in the campaign or to see it through right to the end, which is the whole point isn't it? Later missions can be more difficult to provide a sense of achievement.

 

3. It's nice to have missions that follow on from each other, to give the impression that what you or your unit has achieved in previous missions has had an effect on the general situation.

 

4. This is really a matter of personal preference, but I prefer longer (>10 missions) campaigns so that the campaign can tell an overarching story as it progresses.