Request for a couple of testers for new mission

[Oudy]

I guess it is time to let my baby go.

I would like a couple of people to play test a mission called "Action at Yanovo" which takes place in July 1941 around Smolensk. It is from the Russian side and is primarily an infantry action. The OOB is as historically accurate as the game permits. Let me know how to contact you and I'll e-mail you the mission.

In addition to testing that the triggers work and that nothing is broken, I would really like play testers is to comment on play balance (I think it may be too easy, but I've run it too many times to be objective). Balancing a mission is almost harder than coding it.

This is a first attempt at scripting and there are probably bugs in my code and/or my logic. I primarily wanted to test some coding ideas. There are comments in the code in case you wanted to see what was going on, but please play it without cheats the first time. Also included is a .pdf file with some historical background.

Based on tester's comments, I'll modify the mission and then upload it for everyone to try.

Thanks

Oudy

[G.Mooyman]

Im up for it. I like historic missions. Also Im trying to do some missions myself so I can look into the code as well.

edit/ ahh crap no pm function on this board. mail to erwin [at] teamredline co uk

[ May 28, 2007, 01:11 PM: Message edited by: G.Mooyman ]

[Jeff Duquette]

I'd like to try it.

Email it to:

jeffduquette (at) hotmail (dot) com

Thnx

[Sargon]

I would love to give it a try also ,,sargon3418@yahoo.com

thanks Scott

[Jeff Duquette]

Fun scenario. Seems well balanced, all though to be fair I only played it once. I actually won, but it was pretty tight. I had only four guys left at the end of the scenario. Unfortunately there was a pesky German hanging out behind one of the buildings -- so the game continued on for a fair period of time while I tracked this determined fellow down and finally killed him.

I liked the tank battle out on the flank that goes on throughout the game. Nice scripting.

[K9crump]

This sounds good. Can I get in on this? Do you have this posted at CMODS yet?

liljequist2000@yahoo.com

Mike

"K9Mike"

[Jeff Duquette]

I know what I wanted to ask...early on in the game there are two German armorded cars that seem to be doing area fire on the village. Was this something you managed to script into the scenario?

[Oudy]

Jeff

The Armored cars are reconnoitering towards the village until they see an enemy unit, then they go into defend until the rest of the troops are in place for an advance.

Hmm, Germans are supposed to retreat after losing too many men, it shouldn't be a fight to the last man.

Oudy

[SlapHappy]

Oudy - Please post when you decide to upload this (ie., get all the bugs worked out).

[Oudy]

Thanks all who offered to test. I'll see what comments I receive before posting to CMODS.

Oudy

[Jeff Duquette]

Originally posted by Oudy:

Jeff

The Armored cars are reconnoitering towards the village until they see an enemy unit, then they go into defend until the rest of the troops are in place for an advance.

Hmm, Germans are supposed to retreat after losing too many men, it shouldn't be a fight to the last man.

Oudy

The total body count at the end of the game was something like 44 or 46 Germans KIA. But I assume this count also included the off site tank battle.(?)

Yes it was basically a slaughter fest on both sides. I retained two of the village blocks for most of the game. As the game wouldnt end I prolonged one of my AT guns forward as well as my maxim. These dudes eventually spotted three or four Germans hunkered down in the 3rd block of buildings (the one closest to the German start line). After my AT and Maxim dudes mowed these fellows down, the game suddenly ended in a Soviet Victory.

I'm gonna try the scenario again tonight after work to see if anything else jumps out at me.

The scenario is good, and seems balanced. In the future please feel free to email me at my hotmail account any additional scenarios you design. Thnx.

Jeff

[Oudy]

Thanks Jeff

Based on the response by SoaN to my scripting question, I have modified the script and the Germans will now retreat...Hurray.

I have a couple other changes to make then I'll send out a corrected version.

Again thanks to everyone

Oudy

[Jeff Duquette]

Just two unrelated comments regarding things I noted during game play. These are unrelated to the scenario design.

1) The ability for gun crews to prolong light ATGs looks real good in the game. Their rate of movement also seems pretty good. I was pleasently surprised to see that the crews will simply push the gun forward for short prolongs; or they will pick up the trails and pull the gun (muzzle to the rear) for longer prolongs. Very nicely done by the game designers. I dunno if crews suffer from fatigue or not during long prolongs.

2) I was also impressed by the ability of the gun shields on the Maxim MG and the light 45mm Paks to provide cover from small arms. Also nicely done by the ToW designers.

[Jeff Duquette]

Ok – second time I played the game ended after the Germans suffered 24-KIA and lost one of the attacking armored cars – Soviet Victory. I could only get one of my Pak 45mm’s to limber. But I managed to get it into a decent position behind the village and kept the German Armored Cars and their infantry at bay – mostly from the Pak fire.

Third time I played I was slaughtered. I couldn’t get either of my Pak 45mm’s to limber onto their transports. I was trying to prolong them to the village, but the German armored cars got into the village and began systematically destroying all my infantry before I could get the guns up.

I’m having a heck of a time trying to get my two 45mm Paks to limber onto their transports. Getting the two guns into position to support the Russian Infantry is key to holding the village. I’ll admit I’m a retard – what the heck does a guy need to do to get his guns to hitch up onto the trucks?

I noticed that if I select either of the guns during setup I can’t get the mouse to let go of the gun. Sorta weird.

[Oudy]

Jeff

The guns start the game limbered all you have to do is move them. It is one of the scripts I wrote. I would do the same for the machine gun but SoaN said there was a bug, so you have to limber that one manually.

Thanks for the help.

Oudy

[Jeff Duquette]

Perhaps it is something I am doing during initial setup. However it seems like sometimes the guns start automatically limbered -- other times the trucks will take off without the guns being limbered. I'll have another look at this tonight -- your updated scenario file. Getting the guns to the village is pretty crucial to the Soviets being able to hold the village.

Regarding the Maxim -- I have never been able to get it to limber onto the jeep. I always end up prolonging it to the village.

[Oudy]

Jeff

Make sure the infantry has moved past the jeep and machine gun before trying to limber; it can be a bit tricky, but it will limber. I wonder if there is an issue with the limbered guns if you move them within the setup area? I never move them during setup. Maybe I should take out the ActivateDispositionMode command. This is why having other people play test is important because everyone plays differently.

Thanks

Oudy

[G.Mooyman]

Yes I also noticed when you replace the trucks or the guns in the deployment phase the guns arnt limbered anymore when the game starts. If you dont touch em during deployment its all OK.

Ive never been able thusfar to limber any gun to any vehicle during a battle, tho I havnt really tried since most of the time there isnt time for it anyway hehe.

[Webwing]

How is this one going Oudy?

I'm sure it's going to be a lot of fun to play with a lot of neat stuff in it.

I'm anxious to give it a try.

--

[Oudy]

Webwing

Doing a few last minute changes to incorporate tester's comments and then I'll upload. How much I'll do before uploading depends on how much longer I can stand to look at it, hehe.

Oudy

[Jeff Duquette]

Originally posted by Oudy:

Jeff

Make sure the infantry has moved past the jeep and machine gun before trying to limber; it can be a bit tricky, but it will limber. I wonder if there is an issue with the limbered guns if you move them within the setup area? I never move them during setup. Maybe I should take out the ActivateDispositionMode command. This is why having other people play test is important because everyone plays differently.

Thanks

Oudy

That seems to be what my issue was. I was adjusting their starting positions and the guns would start the scenario unlimbered. I played it again -- the new version -- and didnt adjust the start position of the guns or their transports and the things stayed limbered.

The game however drug on till I killed all the attacking Germans. I had to kill 46-Germans, than the game finally ended. I suffered pretty heavy -- 44-KIA. I wonder if that is resulting in the extended play -- i.e. if the Soviet loose alot of men?

[Oudy]

Jeff

I had a human logical bug in the code. I think I've gotten it fixed now. I added a few more refinements and it's about ready to go.

If you ever want to see how AI units behave, script a mission. I've run this one dozens and dozens of times and each time the AI acts a little differently. It is really pretty cool. I've come to appreciate the unexpected behaviors in the AI; not the stupid ones, but the ones that make the AI seem a little more human.

Tomorrow

Oudy

[Jeff Duquette]

Not that this needs to be done in your scenario, but you can place units outside of deployment zones within the editor. I did this by accident in a couple of scenarios I modified. The unit is basically frozen in place during the deployment sequence. I think you may be able to rotate its facing, but I'd have to check that again.

As to the scripting thing -- I have not played with it at all in the editor. I'm sure there are alot of folks here that would enjoy reading your experiances with scripting the scenarios and how to go about scripting things. Or is this already covered in one of those editor videos?