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[STONE SKY]

Good afternoon, gentlemen! Here I will be happy to hear any of your opinions, remarks, ratings!

[Thunderchief2000]

I have just started the Campaign,  completed the first mission.  enjoyed it very much.  The only thing that caused me an issue is the target coordinates in the kneeboard are missing the first 3 characters.  So if you try to get ahead and input them on the carrier during start up  (like i did)  then you get the wrong first 3 digits.  it should be 40J i think but it gives you 39L or something.  so when you enter the co-ords the wp and tg's are not shown due to them being wrong (out of range of the tsd map), but the apache accepts them anyway.

you can figure it out by looking at the other co-ords but it would be better to have the full co-ords in the kneeboard i think.  

minor issue really, but had me stumped for a bit, doesn't take much to be fair.

looking forward to the other missions.

 

[mbits]

By the time I put the targets in mid flight it worked but the FARP I couldnt see anywhere, so I wonder if its 1st three letters are different from the TGT ones.

[Grennymaster]

Hey there,

i purchased the campign just today, but sadly it keeps crashing on me. cant even start the helo up in 1st mission, takes about a minute to crash.

Im on latest open beta, may that be the Problem?

 

[Thunderchief2000]

2 hours ago, Thunderchief2000 said:

I have just started the Campaign,  completed the first mission.  enjoyed it very much.  The only thing that caused me an issue is the target coordinates in the kneeboard are missing the first 3 characters.  So if you try to get ahead and input them on the carrier during start up  (like i did)  then you get the wrong first 3 digits.  it should be 40J i think but it gives you 39L or something.  so when you enter the co-ords the wp and tg's are not shown due to them being wrong (out of range of the tsd map), but the apache accepts them anyway.

you can figure it out by looking at the other co-ords but it would be better to have the full co-ords in the kneeboard i think.  

minor issue really, but had me stumped for a bit, doesn't take much to be fair.

looking forward to the other missions.

 

Quoting myself here, but I’ve just completed mission two and it includes the full coordinates in the kneeboard, so perhaps it’s just an omission in the first mission?

[Grennymaster]

vor einer Stunde schrieb Grennymaster:

Hey there,

i purchased the campign just today, but sadly it keeps crashing on me. cant even start the helo up in 1st mission, takes about a minute to crash.

Im on latest open beta, may that be the Problem?

 

i solved the Problem. its not your campaign, my VR is sort of broken so sry

 

[MrShooty]

Mission 1 is very confusing. I started on the land and flew to WP1 on the ship - supposedly to meet the helos I was escorting. But it seemed they had long gone and I'm guessing I should have started on the Tarawa and flown them into the land? But I'm still confused. Why did I start on the land then? Needs clearer explanation in the mission breifing since that first run was a total waste of 30 mins.

But of the game mechanics that I saw it worked just fine and looked good.

 

Edited January 28, 2023 by MrShooty

[Iron Sights]

Why is the album with the screenshots locked? This an ED issue?

[Thunderchief2000]

38 minutes ago, MrShooty said:

Mission 1 is very confusing. I started on the land and flew to WP1 on the ship - supposedly to meet the helos I was escorting. But it seemed they had long gone and I'm guessing I should have started on the Tarawa and flown them into the land? But I'm still confused. Why did I start on the land then? Needs clearer explanation in the mission breifing since that first run was a total waste of 30 mins.

But of the game mechanics that I saw it worked just fine and looked good.

 

 

There are two AH-64’s to choose from when you first load the mission.  One is labeled “checkpoint”. That is one that starts mid mission, like a quick start if you like.  You should choose the other one if you want to do the full mission. 

[STONE SKY]

16 часов назад, MrShooty сказал:

Mission 1 is very confusing. I started on the land and flew to WP1 on the ship - supposedly to meet the helos I was escorting. But it seemed they had long gone and I'm guessing I should have started on the Tarawa and flown them into the land? But I'm still confused. Why did I start on the land then? Needs clearer explanation in the mission breifing since that first run was a total waste of 30 mins.

But of the game mechanics that I saw it worked just fine and looked good.

 

 

WHEN RE-TAKING THE MISSION, YOU MAY CHOOSE THE HELICOPTER - Saber group 3-2 Checkpoint-1 TO ENTER DIRECTLY BEFORE THE BATTLE MISSION. IN THIS CASE, DO NOT FORGET TO INPUT COORDINATES IN THE TSD

--- I thought that was enough to understand. I have noted your comment, and will make a more detailed description

[Tunstamj]

I've just completed mission 7 (of 12), and have several observations. Overall enjoying the campaign so far, would give it a 7/10 if pressed for a score. Definitely going to see it through to the end and form a full opinion then.

The good:

• There's an incredible amount of depth, time, and effort that has clearly been put into this campaign. The most obvious example is custom knee boards every mission that recap frequencies, mission tasks, and maps of the AO. The scripting of individual bits is very impressive, and you must have toiled away in the ME for months getting it all to work. Haven't really had any triggers fail so far (which is amazing), but sometimes it wasn't immediately obvious what I needed to do to hit the next trigger.
• Fully voiced campaign adds some nice immersion; The vast majority of voice actors do a great performance and are miles ahead of any text-to-speech robot voices. Overall this is a positive, but will detail some areas of improvement shortly.
• Apache content hasn't been all that forthcoming in the grand scheme of things, so it's nice to have a formal first Apache campaign - hopefully the first of many! I've scoured the User Files site for any and all Apache content and I'd say this is definitely a step above the overall average.
• There's a real effort in the middle of the campaign to get you up to speed on shipbourne operations (mainly just TOs and landings) which was nice to see, and may encourage more missions like this in the future. It even gets you practicing three different types of approaches to the Tarawa, but I'm not certain anything besides the same approach the harrier would take are relevant.

The neutral:

• You're likely to need to be rather comfortable with the aircraft before trying the campaign - the first mission especially just drops you in quite a dangerous environment (if you're not using stand-off distance/terrain masking properly) and I got wiped first time round as soon as I let George do the flying. This is more a point for George in his current state, but you really do need to be doing the flying during combat (brings me onto my next point)
• There's an awful lot of text in the mission briefings, and not all of it seems relevant. Personally, I would trim some of the excess out so it's more obvious from the start where/what you're meant to be doing. This may help emphasise the story a bit more, and help clear up any confusion as to mission parameters - could always bundle the extra detail bits (e.g. the wall of text on various ship landing techniques) into a supplementary PDF for those looking for more detail..?

The bad:

• For the always 2-crew Apache, you can't play this campaign in COOP!!?? What!? Had a look on the forums and not sure if this is a limitation of DCS campaigns themselves though
• As mentioned above, the vast majority of the voice acting is pretty good, and adds immersion.
  • However, there's one VA (PLT of your Apache, and I suppose canonically the playable character) who adds no emotion and is pretty clearly reading it all off a sheet without any context of the conversation. The mission also centres around you flying a UAE Apache, but the PLT is an unemotional American, which only stands out more when you're flying around a very convincingly Arabic CPG.
  • I would also say some of the dialogue itself is a little clunky at times (again mainly with the PLT) but overall doesn't detract from the immersion of having conversations in the first place.
  • The voice lines from characters such as the tarawa ATC are incredibly quiet/muffled, but thankfully you also included the text on screen so I could actually understand what they were saying.
• There's a couple of rather long missions where you're a wingman to an AI flight lead, and you spend a large chunk patrolling around in a straight line before the AI nearly wipes you out every time they change waypoint; You then fly back in a straight line. Mission 2 for instance I'm not actually sure I let off any ordinance, but I do have a feeling that some of the triggers might have broken..?
• Speaking of triggers some are a bit fiddly - one example is you're tasked with chasing down a fleeing enemy helicopter; you start so far away that I ended up several tens of KMs from the AO by the time I downed it before having to return.
• If you're a real sucker for details I believe there's some factual inaccuracies such as:
  • The notion that your CPG failed his test to be an Apache PLT; fairly sure both crew are trained and competent in both seats, and often swap mission-to-mission
  • Apache pilots being able to read two books at the same time I'm fairly sure is a myth that comes from Ed Macy's aptly-named book "Apache". Still well worth a read despite some potential embellishments.
  • Reasonably sure the only Apaches that are sea-worthy are operated by the UK AAC. Personally don't mind on this one as the LHA can be fun to operate out of, but again if you're a sucker for detail then there it is.

Overall; lovely to see the first Apache campaign (hoping it's the start of a great many more!) - you've clearly put a lot of time and effort into the details which is much appreciated. Probably a fair bit of effort to do, but I would sub out the PLT voice actor and some of the masses of briefing text, and then the experience would immediately jump to an 8.5/10 in my eyes.

Thank you for your time and efforts!

[STONE SKY]

23 часа назад, Tunstamj сказал:

I've just completed mission 7 (of 12), and have several observations. Overall enjoying the campaign so far, would give it a 7/10 if pressed for a score. Definitely going to see it through to the end and form a full opinion then

Thank you for your time and efforts!

I saw your review on Steam! Thank you sir! I will take into account your comments and suggestions in my future projects!

[LooseSeal]

I've just finished the campaign and thought I'd give a few things I noticed.

Starting the final mission, before it leaves my memory! - It's all just a bit too chaotic... There are 4 targets, but I have absolutely no idea which one I'm supposed to attack, or if it's just a free-for-all. The three waypoints in different places don't make it any more clear.

And this is an observation which applies to other missions too - especially the one where you attack an HQ SAM on an island: The invulnerability of your wingmen is extremely immersion-breaking and gamey. I understand that DCS helo AI is pitifully bad... but they just directly overfly the target. And you can see them getting hammered with Gepards, Iglas, all of it. And just flying on. Honestly, I'd rather have no wingman than unkillable Supermen. It leaves me thinking 'Why am I even here?'.

Mission 11 - pictures pop up with coordinates and tell me that I can hit 'spacebar' because they're in the kneeboard anyway - but they aren't in the kneeboard.

Also with that mission - the guys that randomly appear in the middle of the crater were a little too sudden for me. I know it's an ambush, but they aren't Tusken Raiders that can appear out of the sand.

I have enjoyed the campaign, and some aspects of it were a decent enough challenge. My main advice would be the detail/procedure in the briefings - just for a bit more clarity on what the player is supposed to be doing, how and when. The last mission was the perfect example of that.

[STONE SKY]

11 часов назад, LooseSeal сказал:

I've just finished the campaign and thought I'd give a few things I noticed.

Starting the final mission, before it leaves my memory! - It's all just a bit too chaotic... There are 4 targets, but I have absolutely no idea which one I'm supposed to attack, or if it's just a free-for-all. The three waypoints in different places don't make it any more clear.

And this is an observation which applies to other missions too - especially the one where you attack an HQ SAM on an island: The invulnerability of your wingmen is extremely immersion-breaking and gamey. I understand that DCS helo AI is pitifully bad... but they just directly overfly the target. And you can see them getting hammered with Gepards, Iglas, all of it. And just flying on. Honestly, I'd rather have no wingman than unkillable Supermen. It leaves me thinking 'Why am I even here?'.

Mission 11 - pictures pop up with coordinates and tell me that I can hit 'spacebar' because they're in the kneeboard anyway - but they aren't in the kneeboard.

Also with that mission - the guys that randomly appear in the middle of the crater were a little too sudden for me. I know it's an ambush, but they aren't Tusken Raiders that can appear out of the sand.

I have enjoyed the campaign, and some aspects of it were a decent enough challenge. My main advice would be the detail/procedure in the briefings - just for a bit more clarity on what the player is supposed to be doing, how and when. The last mission was the perfect example of that.

Thanks for the feedback sir! I'm already working on fixing the briefing.
Your comments will be included in the correction process!

[STONE SKY]

-----------but they aren't Tusken Raiders---------

- this is exactly the method that was recreated in this mission. It was described in the script, but after editing the text, and shortening the briefing, I had to shorten the text and part of the story.
But at the beginning, I assumed precisely the method of camouflage in the sands, in prepared dugouts. I think the Iranian special forces are quite capable of this

[STONE SKY]

Friends, I have prepared the Mission Plan.
Instructions for each mission - for correct execution.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hVTHBUVk1zTRRZwHg3eE3fPQHmNQIXJn/view?usp=share_link

Hope this helps!
I also prepared a number of fixes and improvements. We are waiting for the next update of OB.

[Invictus64]

Hello.  I recently purchased this campaign and am very excited to play however the DLC content is not showing up in game under campaign or missions...  Am I doing something wrong?

[Invictus64]

48 minutes ago, Invictus64 said:

Hello.  I recently purchased this campaign and am very excited to play however the DLC content is not showing up in game under campaign or missions...  Am I doing something wrong?

Sorry noob move.  Just learned that I had to be running the beta version.  Got it working.  Looking forward to playing it!

[STONE SKY]

12 часов назад, Invictus64 сказал:

Hello.  I recently purchased this campaign and am very excited to play however the DLC content is not showing up in game under campaign or missions...  Am I doing something wrong?

Have a good game!! 

[Shawnbo]

Ok I think this campaign is very confusing. Like the one where I fly to the ships for qualification. What the hell am I supposed to do? Have no idea what ship im supposed to land on! Your briefings are very vague. Needs less fluff and more precise directions for each mission!!

 

EDIT. I just saw the link with the instructions and will try and see if that helps. Thanks for the better instructions!!

Edited February 23, 2023 by Shawnbo

[CoptrDoctr]

I purchased the campaign on 13Feb and still have yet to play it because it does not show up in my game.

[Zarma]

3 hours ago, CoptrDoctr said:

I purchased the campaign on 13Feb and still have yet to play it because it does not show up in my game.

Are you on stable or open beta ? Because you can only play it on open beta for now.

[STONE SKY]

5 часов назад, CoptrDoctr сказал:

I purchased the campaign on 13Feb and still have yet to play it because it does not show up in my game.

Yes, sir! It's unfortunate! This is the way it works. At the beginning, mods and campaigns appear in open beta, and a few months later in the stable version
 

[STONE SKY]

Friends, the MAD AH-64D campaign can be played in multi-crew mode. Here are some tips. And remember, this is an unofficial add-on that can sometimes cause bugs.
Create a multiplayer game and load one of the campaign missions from the root folder of the game: DCS World OpenBeta\Mods\campaigns\MAD AH-64D

- the campaign must be purchased by both players
- do not choose different helicopters (in checkpoint missions)
- pressing the spacebar to check the radio must be performed by the player who started the server
- Have a good game!

[Talvid]

I just completed mission 3.  It was neat how the CPG saw the targets ashore and we had to hover out of sight.  Your programming makes it easy to hit triggers and doesn't disorient me.  Thanks,  great campaign.