The Two Week War, version 2.0

[jmarso]

https://www.mediafire.com/file/hqmbef1c17exb00/The_Two_Week_War_Version_2.7z/file

This is an upgrade of a mission pack for the F-14 I released several years back when I was first learning the mission editor. This time around the missions include custom images, kneeboard cards, voice files, more realistic procedures, better briefings, and other little bells and whistles I didn't know how to do back when. (One example is Jester targeting the lantirn pod for you in a couple scenarios) The missions  are available in a single zip file from the link up top, but not in the user files section because they don't comply with the prohibitions on profanity. (There is some salty language here and there). 

The custom voice files are AI generated, created using a paid version of speechify, which I then ran through audacity to 'radio-ize' them before converting them to .ogg files the game can use. The sound engineering involved was approximately one third to one half the effort in the creation of each mission. Sadly, I don't have a stable of folks on hand to do voice acting for me.

After playing several paid campaigns which are heavily scripted, I've been seeking to find a balance between scripted events and player agency, as in letting the player determine his own fate rather than trying to railroad a specific outcome. A lot of time and effort went into these missions, so it seemed like a waste of effort not to release them to the community to try out. This pack was originally going to be 15 missions, but I stopped at 14. All missions are hot starts on the cat or the ramp. I know some people can't stand not doing the startup and checklists every. freakin. time. I am not one of those people. I fly for a living, so I don' relish the 'grind' of doing checklists on the ground. Most of the missions aren't too long, and AAR is available but not required. Perhaps not the most realistic scenarios, but they are fun to play. Sometimes a game needs to be a game. 

These missions are freeware. Others are welcome to modify them as they please, turn them into multiplayer missions or cold starts, whatever. Using them to make money is prohibited. If you release altered versions of them, please credit me as the original mission creator. Also, feedback in this thread is highly valued if you try them out.

To install, place the mission files in your Saved Games DCS missions folder. Happy flying! 

Below is the original description from the original version of the missions:

This is a pack of 14 single player missions for the F-14B Tomcat, set in the Persian Gulf in February of 2005, depicting a brief fictional conflict with Iran. Given the available units in DCS, the makeup of the various naval groups and the air wing is also entirely fictional, with no correlation to ships and squadrons actively deployed to the Gulf during that real-life timeframe.

The missions commence as the CSG is preparing to transit the Strait of Hormuz and begin a regular deployment. The first six missions are relatively uneventful, and useful as training scenarios. Starting around Mission 7 is where the shooting really begins. The player will experience A/A and A/G combat, along with day and night CV operations, along with a couple of opportunities to relish the scenery on the PG map. The action starts off light, then builds in intensity. 

[Barbarossa]

Thanks for your job @jmarso! I'll try them as soon as possible...

 

[draconus]

12 hours ago, jmarso said:

The first six missions are relatively uneventful, and useful as training scenarios. Starting around Mission 7 is where the shooting really begins.

No spoilers please

Thanks for the upload, very appreciated.

Is the SC used in the missions?

[jmarso]

Yes, it does require SC. 

[JupiterJoe]

Thank you.  I look forward to giving this a try.  Always hungry for new Tomcat content. 

Should this be moved to the User Files section?

@jmarsoUpon trying to to load the first mission it failed, saying I need USN-Deckcrew MOD? 

Edited January 15 by JupiterJoe

[jmarso]

Yeah, the deck crew mod should be in the user files section. Not every mission has it as a requirement, though (I don't think), so if you can't grab it, you should be able to play the ones that don't use it. 

As stated in the OP, the mission pack itself can't go to the user file section due to profanity in some of the voice files.  

[JupiterJoe]

I was unable to locate the USN Crew Mod in the User Files section. 

Is it a big job for a layman to go into the ME and remove the need for the USN Deckcrew Mod altogether?

'Profanity'?!  Fantastic.  I look forward to hearing more realistic dialogue 

Edited January 16 by JupiterJoe

[draconus]

1 hour ago, JupiterJoe said:

Is it a big job for a layman to go into the ME and remove the need for the USN Deckcrew Mod altogether?

If there are few it's easy to go to the units list, find what doesn't fit (it'll be some default unit that was put by DCS instead of the mod you don't have afair), click and remove. But if there are a lot... idk.

[JupiterJoe]

Unfortunately the missions won't open with the ME because of the mods and every mission has one.

[draconus]

2 minutes ago, JupiterJoe said:

Unfortunately the missions won't open with the ME because of the mods and every mission has one.

In the meantime you can check this one: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3322208/

[JupiterJoe]

3 hours ago, draconus said:

In the meantime you can check this one: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3322208/

Amazing @draconus.  That worked, thank you.  I didn't even know such a thing existed.  This is my first time messing with community made missions.  You can tell I've completed all the official Campaigns (multiple times), can't you? 

Edited January 16 by JupiterJoe

[JupiterJoe]

@jmarsoYour dialogue is the best I've encountered in a campaign and I've played 'em all.  Enjoying your missions thoroughly.  I think you could easily sell this as an official campaign via the website.  It would be a crying shame if you don't do more F-14 content.

Edited January 17 by JupiterJoe

[jmarso]

4 hours ago, JupiterJoe said:

@jmarsoYour dialogue is the best I've encountered in a campaign and I've played 'em all.  Enjoying your missions thoroughly.  I think you could easily sell this as an official campaign via the website.  It would be a crying shame if you don't do more F-14 content.

 

I've made content for a lot of games and never charged a penny for it- labor of love for me. Especially with DCS though, the way updates break things I would feel obligated to 'keep up' with it all if I was charging money for missions. When it's freeware, nobody loses anything they paid for if a game update breaks a mission pack and I'm out of the DCS loop for several months, which happens.

 

I'm currently working on a paired set of missions for both the Hornet and the Tomcat on the Kola map. It's a single storyline: The Battle of Vestfjord. So far I've got three Hornet missions done and am working on the third Tomcat mission. I'll be posting about this separately when the project is ready for release. Some of the missions run concurrently (you play the same mission from two different perspectives), and some will be unique to the platform. Lots of air to air and naval warfare in the early phase, and it'll eventually move to a ground strike phase once the New Soviet (this happens in an alternate 1998) naval blockade is broken. The good news is that it will be two complete mission packs, one for the Hornet drivers, and one for the Tomcat drivers. Fly Navy! Keep your eyes peeled! 

Edited January 18 by jmarso

[Dunska]

Is the is the mod required?

US Navy Deck Equipment
https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3301580/

[JupiterJoe]

8 hours ago, jmarso said:

I'm currently working on a paired set of missions for both the Hornet and the Tomcat on the Kola map. It's a single storyline: The Battle of Vestfjord. So far I've got three Hornet missions done and am working on the third Tomcat mission. I'll be posting about this separately when the project is ready for release. Some of the missions run concurrently (you play the same mission from two different perspectives), and some will be unique to the platform. Lots of air to air and naval warfare in the early phase, and it'll eventually move to a ground strike phase once the New Soviet (this happens in an alternate 1998) naval blockade is broken. The good news is that it will be two complete mission packs, one for the Hornet drivers, and one for the Tomcat drivers. Fly Navy! Keep your eyes peeled! 

Fantastic news.  If you ever need a voice actor to read some of your wonderful dialogue, I'd be happy to oblige. 

[speed-of-heat]

3 hours ago, Dunska said:

Is the is the mod required?

US Navy Deck Equipment
https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3301580/

It's definitely asking for USN-Deckcrew , but it doesn't seem to be that one ?

Sorry yes it is that and the next mission wants Military Aircraft Mod 

Edited January 18 by speed-of-heat

[speed-of-heat]

Military Aircraft Mod 1.7.1a (MAM)

[JupiterJoe]

I have used the Campaign Builder for the first time and have added all the missions.  This is just for my own use of course.  I have never really mucked about with the Mission Editor before.  When I complete Mission One it says I've failed the campaign.  @jmarso It says the score is 50 for completing the mission.  I changed this to 100 and the mission compete trigger to landing back on the carrier.  I can't get it to work though.  Any ideas?  Is the following correct?

Mission Complete (100, Offline)

Unit Inside moving Zone (Player, Mission Complete, Stennis_AI)

Type: Unit Inside Moving Zone

Unit: Player

Zone Mission Complete

Zone Unit: Stennis_AI

[draconus]

Stennis? That means no deck crew for now, pity.

Edited January 18 by draconus

[jmarso]

3 hours ago, JupiterJoe said:

I have used the Campaign Builder for the first time and have added all the missions.  This is just for my own use of course.  I have never really mucked about with the Mission Editor before.  When I complete Mission One it says I've failed the campaign.  @jmarso It says the score is 50 for completing the mission.  I changed this to 100 and the mission compete trigger to landing back on the carrier.  I can't get it to work though.  Any ideas?  Is the following correct?

Mission Complete (100, Offline)

Unit Inside moving Zone (Player, Mission Complete, Stennis_AI)

Type: Unit Inside Moving Zone

Unit: Player

Zone Mission Complete

Zone Unit: Stennis_AI

 I didn't set anything up for a campaign in terms of scoring, etc, and honestly I know very little about campaign building. Mostly with my mission packs, you get a 'Mission Complete' message of some kind when you trap, and a rare "Mission Failed" if something really bad happens, like the carrier gets hit or something like that. The missions are designed more for self-evaluation, because they aren't too heavily scripted. Also, because I release them as individual missions instead of campaigns, you don't have to complete one to move on to the next. You can pick and choose the ones you want to play, or play them in any order, etc. 

1 hour ago, draconus said:

Stennis? That means no deck crew for now, pity.

Yeah, these were made well before that. You could change the carrier in the ME, I guess, but they all start hot on the cat anyway. 

Edited January 19 by jmarso