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ATTENTION: SPOILERS! - F-14B CAMPAIGN REFORGER PART I+II FEEDBACK THREAD - Read at your own discretion.


IronMike

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SPOILERS FOR MISSION 3

 

After completing the CAP portion of the mission at FL240, I received the clearance to RTB.  Turning back toward the carrier TACAN, I think I triggered the "Mi-8 BRAA 065 etc.....go VID it" script for a second time.  I happily flew off in that direction and searched half of the Black Sea until I ran out of fuel.  Looking at the Tacview file afterwards, I found out that there indeed were no additional helicopters in my AO.

 

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!!! Possible SPOILERS !!!

Here are some errors I found. (continued)

 

Again, missions #06 & #07 has all wrong dates - not only a year.

 

Mission #07

Briefing misspells: thread (should be threat), threads (should be threats), they're (should be their).

Very heavy performance wise.

When locking Hind on PAL Jester always shouts "You spiked a buddy!"

Bandits (gorilla group) are bugging out and we can RTB but they were all slaughtered on the way out.

 

Mission #09

Briefing misspell: thread (should be threat).

Very heavy performance wise.

I was still refueling while the mission ended. I had no chance to fly south.

 

On 1/7/2021 at 5:23 AM, Gun Jam said:

4) I really only felt cheated on one mission where you fly cap  in the mountain range for a while then a mig apparently shows up right under you. I get what the dev was going for but it felt contrived like yeah that totally just spawned there...there's 45 min ill never get back.

Yeah, that was cheap but kinda realistic - it simulates being surprised by a sneak attack - so act accordingly.

 

On 1/6/2021 at 9:31 PM, ebabil said:

I didin't understand the mission 9.

We hit all bandits but we were told that our ship is hit. Then nothing happened.

Is mission failed, If the carrier is hit?

No, it's scripted. After that message you're supposed to hit the tanker and RTB south to Turkey.

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Thank you for all the great feedback guys. Glad you all enjoyed it!

Yes, unfortunately there is no option to load a new map within a mission, that would have been ultimately cool ofc, if you could fly to Incirlik all the way. Hence, how far south you fly is not really important, it serves basically as a cliffhanger for where the next part of the campaign will play. Which I hope pleases you, that was the whole idea behind it, to rework part 1 in a way, that we can give you a 3rd campaign in yet another map 🙂

I will check all the other errors, I hope I can get everything in before the next patch, unfortunately I got sick right after my vacation and need to take it a bit slow still. I will prioritize the coop and SC versions for now, and try to get in as many fixes as possible.

 

As for the abrupt change in pace in mission 5, that actually should be explained from the get go through the briefing. The fleet is basically getting into its routine the first 4 missions for that alpha strike. The first 4 missions are not trying to prevent a war (that is mind you already taking place in East Germany), but to contain escalation. In the way that you do not want to provoke a reaction by the enemy before your strike plan is ready, etc.. That's a usual process, and while the missions ofc are scaled differently and taken from different real life examples, the entire build up to mission 5 and including mission 5 basically mimics the opening of the desert storm air campaign. 🙂

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9小时前,IronMike说:

Thank you for all the great feedback guys. Glad you all enjoyed it!

Yes, unfortunately there is no option to load a new map within a mission, that would have been ultimately cool ofc, if you could fly to Incirlik all the way. Hence, how far south you fly is not really important, it serves basically as a cliffhanger for where the next part of the campaign will play. Which I hope pleases you, that was the whole idea behind it, to rework part 1 in a way, that we can give you a 3rd campaign in yet another map 🙂

I will check all the other errors, I hope I can get everything in before the next patch, unfortunately I got sick right after my vacation and need to take it a bit slow still. I will prioritize the coop and SC versions for now, and try to get in as many fixes as possible.

 

As for the abrupt change in pace in mission 5, that actually should be explained from the get go through the briefing. The fleet is basically getting into its routine the first 4 missions for that alpha strike. The first 4 missions are not trying to prevent a war (that is mind you already taking place in East Germany), but to contain escalation. In the way that you do not want to provoke a reaction by the enemy before your strike plan is ready, etc.. That's a usual process, and while the missions ofc are scaled differently and taken from different real life examples, the entire build up to mission 5 and including mission 5 basically mimics the opening of the desert storm air campaign. 🙂

How was your vacation buddy ? hope you enjoy it . And don't forget my PM report LoL .

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Multiple Spoilers

I enjoyed the campaign. The CAP laps in complete silence were welcome and true to life. 
In multiple missions I saw multiple F18s on the LHA when I RTB'ed (I always did).

In the mission where you are ambushed from below, I took care of the threat (after a 35k flat spin down to 7k, oops!), took care of the northern group, but never remembering seeing the RTB messages, nor did I get 100 Score. I jumped back on CAP and waited till night and RTBed myself. 

The last mission was brutal in VR during what seemed to be the AI air spawns. That's all I have to say about that.
Near the end of the last mission when we were getting debriefed on the damages the fleet took, I had the unfortunate coincidence that I was already trying to refuel and Jester was bustin' jokes the whole time that conversation was happening. Ruined the mood, but I guess thats Jester for ya 😛. I was really hoping and ready to fly south to meet up with another thanker too. 

 

I was thinking of mentioning the mispronunciations of certain areas and locations, but heck, same happens IRL 😄

I am looking forward to the next part of the saga!

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Thank you both for your very kind words, happy that you enjoyed it. Not sure why that would happen in mission 7, from the point on the MiG gets killed,

Spoiler

the mission should finish itself.



The mispronounciations I kept on purpose, haha, nice that you noticed that. It was true to the actors, so it felt more true to life to have em deal with it, just like they would without a director looking over their shoulders. 🙂


As for progress for fixes: all issues and typos should be fixed now, some things like AI acting up etc, unfortunatly are up to the RNG gods of DCS. I changed most modexes, but for now didnt touch AI loadouts, mainly in mission 5 I need to check if other loadouts yield the same results, this one was particularly difficult to get the AI to do what it is supposed to. Loadouts will be thus adjusted over time.

Also added a coop version to the mission files and a SC version of the campaign (note that ship statics will be added later for the SC version, I simply ran out of time).


Since many of you mention that you would like to fly further south to meet the tanker at the end - the following text spoils the beginning of the first mission of part 2:

Spoiler

flying south and meeting the tanker is how part 2 of the campaign starts, when you arrive to Turkey and the Syrian theatre.

 


Edited by IronMike
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1 hour ago, IronMike said:

Thank you both for your very kind words, happy that you enjoyed it. Not sure why that would happen in mission 7, from the point on the MiG gets killed,

  Hide contents

the mission should finish itself.

 

 

Don't quote me, but I believe the mission victory conditions is based off of the 

Spoiler

retreat zone (Trigger 1605510802) in some way. Maybe the AI never made it to the zone, which in normal conditions would then trigger the series of flags that eventually trigger the win condition.

Thanks for the "spoiler" format trick!


Edited by Bailey
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6 hours ago, IronMike said:

Since many of you mention that you would like to fly further south to meet the tanker at the end - the following text spoils the beginning of the first mission of part 2:

Mike, we get it, but let it not kick us out like that from the mission suddenly. I had an ending music on full when doing AAR (not funny), was hyped to go south at least half the sea, but then Bam! mission over. Why?


Edited by draconus

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26 minutes ago, draconus said:

Mike, we get it, but let it not kick out us like that from the mission suddenly. I had an ending music on full when doing AAR (not funny), was hyped to go south at least half the sea, but then Bam! mission over. Why?

 

 

You should have had a song playing full 5 minutes at the end... I might take a look to put in a flag, so that it only gets started once done with tanking. although that is hard to determine, depending on the player aar can take long. I think it depends a bit on the player's pace, I'll take a look. Alternatively I might move Texaco far south enough, so that you dont reach it, before the mission is over, will need to see.

 

3 hours ago, Bailey said:

Don't quote me, but I believe the mission victory conditions is based off of the 

  Hide contents

retreat zone (Trigger 1605510802) in some way. Maybe the AI never made it to the zone, which in normal conditions would then trigger the series of flags that eventually trigger the win condition.

Thanks for the "spoiler" format trick!

 

 

 

could be that the friendly AI shwacked them all, although that shouldnt happen, those are just these AI eventualities that sometimes occur... I will see if I can put in another failsafe


Edited by IronMike
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2 hours ago, IronMike said:

You should have had a song playing full 5 minutes at the end... I might take a look to put in a flag, so that it only gets started once done with tanking. although that is hard to determine, depending on the player aar can take long. I think it depends a bit on the player's pace, I'll take a look. Alternatively I might move Texaco far south enough, so that you dont reach it, before the mission is over, will need to see.

or a zone trigger around the tanker's orbit, or at south... just something for those that play it more seriously, they see 3000lbs, so they want to hit the tanker before the long transfer, and when they're done with AAR, they want to actually fly south for some time, even that 5 minutes for the song, not forced to quit... thanks

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Hey IronMike

I just finished Mission 3 (supercarrier version) and i am absolutely hooked. You guys have really created something amazing here. It really makes me feel like I am right there. I also started controlling Jester with Vaicom AIRIO and well it just elevated your mind blowing module and campaign to the next level. I hope you will create another campaign somewhere down the road. I have not seriously touched the Hornet in months and i wont for the forseeable future. Thank you Heatblur🙏

Now all i need is a real RIO....


Edited by makosch
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I cannot tell you how happy it makes us that you guys enjoy it! That's how it should be. Thank you for sharing your experiences with it! It's the most rewarding part of it all. 🙂 

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8小时前,IronMike说:

I cannot tell you how happy it makes us that you guys enjoy it! That's how it should be. Thank you for sharing your experiences with it! It's the most rewarding part of it all. 🙂 

hei check PM some suggest about Acronyms and Abbreviations .

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Some Spoil of mission 8 and 9:

 

Just finish the campaign few minutes ago. I really appreciate this campaign, even if i would like that all missions start from the carrier. But that only a point of detail.

 

Story is great, missions are really enjoyable, and puts us in all kind of situation. You've done an excellent job here Mike !! 

 

Just one or two things that i would like to see in the next chapter is more coms between pilots of the same squadron, or package (like Baltic have done it in the Red Flag one for the M2000c). I think it will reinforce the immersion, and the feeling to be part of a team. And maybe some other kind of mission than CAP and interception. I was really happy in mission 8 when i saw a TARPS mission, but then i realise that i was in protection of F14 that will do the job (even if the retasking was fun) . i don't know if TARPS pod is available for us (don't think so) but it would definitly be a fun type of mission to fly.

 

But again, well done with that campaign Mike. i really can't wait to fly the next part of it.


Edited by o-Tomcat-o
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9 hours ago, o-Tomcat-o said:

Some Spoil of mission 8 and 9:

 

Just finish the campaign few minutes ago. I really appreciate this campaign, even if i would like that all missions start from the carrier. But that only a point of detail.

 

Story is great, missions are really enjoyable, and puts us in all kind of situation. You've done an excellent job here Mike !! 

 

Just one or two things that i would like to see in the next chapter is more coms between pilots of the same squadron, or package (like Baltic have done it in the Red Flag one for the M2000c). I think it will reinforce the immersion, and the feeling to be part of a team. And maybe some other kind of mission than CAP and interception. I was really happy in mission 8 when i saw a TARPS mission, but then i realise that i was in protection of F14 that will do the job (even if the retasking was fun) . i don't know if TARPS pod is available for us (don't think so) but i would definitly be a fun type of mission to fly.

 

But again, well done with that campaign Mike. i really can't wait to fly the next part of it.

 

 

Thank you for the kind feedback!

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I thought it an excellent campaign: atmospheric, exciting and tense and not the usual experience. Having the first half of the missions RoE restricted brought suspense and unease, and I enjoyed them far more than I would have expected - if someone had said prior "you won't fire a shot for the first 4 missions" I might have been a bit non-plussed but I'm glad to have been pleasantly surprised. 

 

That said, it did feel a little short; it felt like it was over before it had a chance to get some momentum, and get invested properly.

 

Another 2 or 3 combat missions would have perhaps helped embed the player into the scenario before side-swiping them with the denouement!

 

And I concur that a little more comms with the wingman might help put you "in the squadron" and add some personalities to the campaign; it would certainly help add some life to that otherwise mildly incompetent drone hanging off your wing!

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10 minutes ago, DD_Fenrir said:

I thought it an excellent campaign: atmospheric, exciting and tense and not the usual experience. Having the first half of the missions RoE restricted brought suspense and unease, and I enjoyed them far more than I would have expected - if someone had said prior "you won't fire a shot for the first 4 missions" I might have been a bit non-plussed but I'm glad to have been pleasantly surprised. 

 

That said, it did feel a little short; it felt like it was over before it had a chance to get some momentum, and get invested properly.

 

Another 2 or 3 combat missions would have perhaps helped embed the player into the scenario before side-swiping them with the denouement!

 

And I concur that a little more comms with the wingman might help put you "in the squadron" and add some personalities to the campaign; it would certainly help add some life to that otherwise mildly incompetent drone hanging off your wing!

 

 

Thank you Fenrir! As for length: don't forget this was only the first half of it really. I had to restrict myself a bit, to not shoot all my cannons before even part 2 has started hehe... Which will bring --- change. I'll leave it at that for now. 🙂 The overall mission length will in the end be between 18 and 20, I need to see. 


I intentionally left the wingmen out, except for I think 3 or 4 small occasions where he says something (to assure the player kinda he is really there). What I just don't like in Singleplayer, is how disconnect the AI is with a human "flow" sometimes, personally, I send them to anchor at the first convenient moment, and they are lucky if I remember them by the time I am rtb... 😄 It is a similar "trick" as leaving out the player's voice, despite him getting constantly addressed. The void that it leaves, is like a canvas left to be painted by the player's own imagination. But I hear you both, if you want more of that, I will take it on board.


Thank you for all the kind words!





 


Edited by IronMike
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7 minutes ago, IronMike said:

What I just don't like in Singleplayer, is how disconnect the AI is with a human "flow" sometimes, personally, I send them to anchor at the first convenient moment, and they are lucky if I remember them by the time I am rtb... 😄 
 

 

Ha!

 

 I find them just too useful as missile magnets to leave 'em bumbling around - besides, who knows what they'd get up to without adult supervision!

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11 minutes ago, DD_Fenrir said:

 

Ha!

 

 I find them just too useful as missile magnets to leave 'em bumbling around - besides, who knows what they'd get up to without adult supervision!

 

 

But that's exactly the thing. At one of my playthroughs the wingman decided to kill himself

Spoiler

when trying to keep up for the shot on the hind in mission 7...

LMAO, right afterwards he (the voice acted wingmen) then brabbled about keeping an eye on low guys...

I almost deleted that, too 😄

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Servus Iron Mike,

 

I played it through twice, now. I really liked the campaign. Very immersive. 👍 

 

Some minor nitpicks/ suggestions would be:

- sometimes "module-Jester" talks over "plot-Jester", while wingman and AWACS AEW (I listened to that Fighter Pilot Podcast episode and "Gersh" was adamant the E-2 is not an AWACS 🙂 ) are talking as well. This really drowns out plot-Jester and makes it hard to follow the narrative. I really had to pause the mission to read the text in order to keep up. Could this maybe be solved by moving trigger zones somewhat? Especially when TLAM's and TLAD's are launched, which freaks Jester out (it would be nice, while you guys are in the process of teaching Jester new things about missiles anyway, to also teach him to differentiate between air-to-air and air/surface-to-surface missiles. Even better would be if he could learn to distinguish between missiles that are a threat to the aircraft and those that are not a factor.)

- not a big fan of air starts and hot starts (although I see why you opted for those due to narrative reasons)

- as others have pointed out, the campaign overall feels a little "rushed" in the middle. It feels like it is a couple of missions short (in a narrative sense)

- it would be great if you could include the script that other mission creators have used that lets one "skip" AA refueling. While I never had to refuel during any of the missions, it would be a nice option for those who struggle with hooking up to the tanker in the Tomcat, but still would like to follow the mission to the letter.   

- I did have some trigger problems during the "CAP over the mountains" mission. On one try, wingman also simply left me and disappeared into the sunset.....

 

Lastly, do we need to own the Syria map for part 2 of this campaign?


Edited by Jayhawk1971
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Thank you for the feedback, I will look into it. Jester shutting up during plot comms is an issue that's difficult to avoid. Naturally trigger zones will always somehow coincide with events, or sometimes must even, and Jester goes bananza. We're thinking about a solution, where one could make him silent per trigger, but we're not sure yet if possible.

I initially left the AI radios on, to give a chatter background, but sometimes it is also horrible, especially the wingman repeating a target for 100 times... In the next update, the campaign description will recommend to lower the radio sound to 20%, and I will silence most of the AI, too.. This will make the campaign overall a tad more quiet, but will not always break the plot voices as often. I mean, most missions are ok, but mission 5, mission 6 and mission 9 are particularly affected by this.

As for part 2, indeed it will require the Syria Map. The PG campaign will of course require the PG map, but I am also thinking of making it super carrier only, since it is already locked behind a dlc.

 

PS: I'll see if I can foretell the alpha strike a bit clearer in the narration, likely in briefing for mission 1 and 4. There's not really a build up to an alpha strike, except, routine flight ops, recce, basically the stuff the player is doing. You get into routine for a while, the strike gets planned, and then it is: go! I think I need to make it clearer that this strike, is why you are here... (It is mentioned in the initial campaign briefing though, but I think folks forget again by the time they get to mission 5).


Edited by IronMike

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On 12/31/2020 at 2:59 AM, IronMike said:

 

 

Hi Ustio, my apologies, in mission 5 was a bug, I published a hotfix right after release, which you likely missed. You dont need to replay missions 1 to 4, simply download the mission 5 from the link below and replace the one you have, and you can continue. Additionally the link contains some frequency hotfixes. My apologies for the inconvience.
 

 

 

See above pls. Also to you my apologies, I was hoping everyone would see the hotfix before coming to mission 5. In the version included with the module last patch, it is fixed.

SPOILER

 

Still have a problem at mission 5, even after replacing the original mission with the one from your link.

I tried again just today: I shot the two flankers, then I shot the first fulcrum just after it took off and my wingman shot the other one.  Then there is the "Uzi 6 splash both migs" announcement, and we are told to resume CAP at wpt 2-3, then two messages in succession "you were too slow uzi 5 had to shoot the SU27" and a few seconds later "you were too slow uzi 5 had to shoot the mig29s" and then nothing.

I had already had this problem 4-5 times before I saw this thread, then I saw the post about the bug, I downloaded the new mission file and replaced the old miz file with it.  Same thing (as described above).

Do I have to shoot all the bandits myself (not letting my wingman help me) ?  What am I doing wrong ?


Edited by Pyker
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Are you waiting maybe not long enough at your cap station? Are you sure you updated the correct file? To be sure you can copy the one from the campaign in the F14 mods folder, as it has the latest version. In your DCS install: Mods\aircraft\F14\Missions\Campaigns\OP Reforger

 

PS: if you killed the SU27s and the MiGs, you shouldnt get the "it took you too long" msg, that is a bug, I need to look into that. Thank you. (It does not affect mission progress though..)


Edited by IronMike

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