Question about Campaign Progression

[baltic_dragon]

Seeing how many people would rather replay a mission which is not a major success than have the campaign progress, I am thinking if I shouldn't change the victory conditions for most of the missions when preparing the update. Could you let me know whether:

 

A) You would rather leave things as they are, with campaign progressing unless none of the objectives are met or player dies.

 

B) You would like to see the victory conditions changed with campaign progressing only upon major success / return to base after having fulfilled most of the objectives.

 

As this is a linear campaign, it might make sense to go for option B. On the other hand, I know how frustrating it is not being able to move on when stuck in a particularly difficult mission.

 

Looking forward to your comments / preferences!

[Cik]

i'd rather it stay the way it is, some missions are relatively frustrating, and with the long flight times being forced to fly to target for 15-20 minutes only to repeatedly fail and then being forced to fly back again is not a good time.

 

as long as the mission isn't a total failure (IE, the player dies or the objective/forces involved aren't totally destroyed) i think the mission should just go to the next. the real ideal is to have a branching, persistent campaign but seeing as DCS doesn't really support that at this stage and the amount of work it would entail the first option is the best choice IMO.

 

the thing is, if you really want to replay the mission you can always just play it stand-alone by going into mission ---> the campaign folder and selecting it if you want to see what a total success looks like or for the challenge.

[Yurgon]

There are good points for both options. I think it's a mostly a matter of personal taste.

 

I like to complete a mission by achieving all relevant goals and landing at the end, so my preference would be to change the campaign so that this becomes mandatory. I also think the campaign is very "fair" in the way it presents its challenges - there are no hidden SAMs popping up out of nowhere, no enemy interceptors that kill the player just because the AI CAP screwed up, or mission failures due to a stroke of bad luck. If the player fails a mission, it's either due to a bug, or the player simply didn't perform as expected.

 

In essence, my impression is that it would be fair and logical to repeat failed missions. Then again, I've flown all missions several times and I'm surely biased regarding their (perceived) difficulty, and I agree that players could always just play a mission from the "Mission" menu. Anyway, +1 for changing the victory conditions because of personal preference. ;)

[karkka]

Like other stated, A re-fly button, so you can choose if you want to try again with the mission, or proceed to the next one. In that case you get another chance to complete the mission.

 

I still don't understand if you proceed to the next mission.

 

-If you play an mission do one objective and the exit the mission.

-If you crash

-Get shot down

 

What do I have to do to fail and complete an mission.

 

Sometime I start an mission and then I don't have time play any more and exit the game, and next time I play it´s just skip to the next mission.

[bzhnono]

I prefer option 1.

It's more realistic, the war still goes on even if you fail your mission

[karkka]

I prefer option 1.

It's more realistic, the war still goes on even if you fail your mission

 

The problem is if you like me want to play his campaign, and do all the objective in every mission, that's for me is the real thing cause you still had an objective to complete. And for me it´s a great way to learn the A10C.

 

But I understand it´s all about personal preference.

Edited March 6, 2016 by karkka

[baltic_dragon]

You can always go back to any mission you played and open it as single mission and play it again! Or play the campain once more later on and see if you will do better.

 

What I am planning to do during the update is to also change some things within the missions to keep the element of surprise for those playing the campaing second time - so the MANPAD you remeber moght be in a different place or there may be more enemies and they are now in a bit different location than before :)

[baltic_dragon]

the real ideal is to have a branching, persistent campaign but seeing as DCS doesn't really support that at this stage and the amount of work it would entail the first option is the best choice IMO

 

Oh, branching campaign is doable and I have been - and still am playing with the idea. But it requires A LOT LOT LOT more work to have a rewarding and long campaign. For instance to have a campaign where player will play 15 missions, you would have to build around 28 and in a single playthrough player will see only half of these.

 

One possibility (which I am still considering for the new A-10C campaign under development) is to do minor alterations to next mission based on the results of the previous one. That could range from different briefing (describing results of your actions in the previous ine) but keeping the mission basically the same in different variants, through some minor changes (say, you fail to destroy that SA-13 so it will reappear in the next mission, although the rest of that mission will be unaltered) up to very rare occassion when upon failure you sre presented with a totally different one (but that would happen max 2 times during the campaign).

 

It requires more work and better planning, but is also much more realistic and fun for players I guess.

[bzhnono]

You can always go back to any mission you played and open it as single mission and play it again! Or play the campain once more later on and see if you will do better.

 

What I am planning to do during the update is to also change some things within the missions to keep the element of surprise for those playing the campaing second time - so the MANPAD you remeber moght be in a different place or there may be more enemies and they are now in a bit different location than before :)

 

Sounds excellent

Thanks

[14_Punch]

Campaign is Awesome...don't change too much! 85 to 90% would be typical in real world Mission Effectiveness.

[paulca]

Just noticed that the Odessa mission progresses even if you get shot down by the Frigate and don't even order in the other flights. I replayed it via "Mission" mode.

 

Has anyone managed to kill the Frigate? It irritates me, shooting me down only being one reason.

[Andryl]

I think the progression should be as real as it can be.

I personally don't like missions where you get 100 score without landing back at your base, but I also don't like when you get a mission failure without responsability.

For example in the F-15 Red Flag campaign I failed a mission because a bomber I had to escort was shot down by a SAM, while I succeded in stopping the enemy fighters.

These are my two cents...

[Yurgon]

Has anyone managed to kill the Frigate? It irritates me, shooting me down only being one reason.

 

I had that happen once as well. The thing is... you're not supposed to attack the frigate. The target in that mission is an unarmed leisure boat. ;)

[baltic_dragon]

I had that happen once as well. The thing is... you're not supposed to attack the frigate. The target in that mission is an unarmed leisure boat. ;)

 

And you say I am cruel and sadistic!

[Yurgon]

And you say I am cruel and sadistic!

 

Course you are, placing both so close to each other that players are not entirely unlikely to attack the wrong target. After all, they're both a spot on the TGP in a near endless pool of water. Just one shoots back while the other grants mission success. :D

[baltic_dragon]

I think I have an answer to my question: for campaign to progress player will have to fulfill at least one objective and land at homeplate or divert base. So ejection or breaking the mission mid-air is an automatic repeat. Sounds fair?

[Yurgon]

I think I have an answer to my question: for campaign to progress player will have to fulfill at least one objective and land at homeplate or divert base. So ejection or breaking the mission mid-air is an automatic repeat. Sounds fair?

 

Yup, sounds pretty fair indeed. :thumbup:

[Mick F]

Sounds good. Love this campaign!

[baltic_dragon]

Thanks! :)