Work in progress - The Road to Dimas

[Paper Tiger]

(In game action phote from Dimas Part 1)

Well, this is my current work in progress. Rather than drop small tasters and screenshots into a multitude of unrelated threads I'll start up a new one where I can post screenshots as they come out.

I've been working solidly on this since I finished the Perdition mini campaign. It's tentatively called 'Perdition - the Road to Dimas' and it will include variants of the three missions from the mini campaign. And there will be a minimum of nine other missions included in it for a total of 12. It's quite possible that there'll be more missions as I'm really warming up to my subject here. It also happens to be my most ambitious project to date. Not only will it be fully dynamic like 'Hasrabit' but it really will use all the tools that BFC have provided.

There will be a mixture of small and epic battles in this one ranging from lightning assaults made by armour and mech infantry forces on confused and frightened Reserve units based in a small village to large tank battles. The maps will also vary from edge-of-the-desert villages to very green agricultural terrain intersected by water obstacles.

The photo at the top of the thread comes from the first ever playthrough of one of the bigger maps and the mission is tentatively called 'Dimas Part 1 - Agony of Doom', the 6th mission in the campaign so far. Like many of the other new missions, it is awaiting v1.1 before playtesting can begin in earnest. This mission is one of a set of three, Dimas Parts 1, 2 and 3, that will represent the large battle for the town of Dimas and will be a major feature in the campaign.

The next shot is a map work in progress and it's the biggest. most detailed map I've ever worked on. It's about 75% done now and I've just started fooling around with units on it to get a feel for the battle.

(Map in progress - Orchard Road)

This battle, the 2nd mission, is tentatively called 'Orchard Road' and will be a full length (2 hours +15 mins extra time) fight to clear a large orchard complex of Reserve forces. This map is huge at 3.2km x 1.2km and it's one of three giants planned for this campaign.

Unlike Perdition, there will be more emphasis on infantry action in most of the missions but each one will be combined arms all the way for Blue. I just get bored playing missions without tanks and vehicles. the battles will start out as simple bloody affairs as your mech forces smash their way through Reserve forces on your way to your first day's objective, the town of Dimas. You won't have any air support although the enemy will from time to time but you will have a lot of artillery available to you. as the campaign continues, you will eventually encounter lead elements of the 3rd Armour Division and then the fight will become much more difficult. they'll enjoy most of the advantages then and you'll have to overcome them in your own way.

I'll post more screenshots of the individual maps with a brief outline of the campaign story later this weekend. I need to redo some of my screenshots as I want to exhibit them with Pete Wenman's Marsh to Water mod.

[Paper Tiger]

Before I start posting more screenshots, I suppose I should give a little more background to the campaign. It's Red on Red (of course) and you will have practically a full Mech Infantry Regiment as your core forces. Don't worry, I'm not INSANE (yet) so only a fraction of your whole force will appear in any one mission. This large core force is split into three distinct Battalion groups imaginatively named A, B and C. The Perdition Group is group B and they get to open the show.

Mission 1 Petani - Shock and Awe

The first mission in the campaign starts at 5am, just before the dawn on a very hazy day. The battle will be quite short, only 45 minutes with some extra time but you will have a LOT of firepower at your disposal to do the job. It's my intention for the first mission to be a bit of a doddle, as long as you go about it the right way. You will have a single BMP-1 Mech Inf Company and a company of T-62MVs from Group B, the Perdition group, and a mass of artillery including a battery of Heavy Rocket artillery to do the job. The enemy force is a single reserve Infantry company and they are nervous and poorly motivated. But they will receive some support from a company of reserve tanks racing along the road to reinforce them.

The village is quite detailed and so far, I've had an absolute blast playing this one. The status of this one is FINISHED. I just have to playtest it with v1.1 to make sure everything is fine and then it's done.

[Paper Tiger]

Mission 2 - Orchard Road

The second mission is still in the drawing phase but it's nearly finished and I'm going to start playing seriously with it tomorrow to get an idea of how to place the AI forces.

This is Group A's first mission. Group A is not an impressive force, a BTR Mech Infantry Company with a single company of T-72M tanks in support. At the moment, you have the full tank company, one Infantry company and a load of artillery to accomplish your mission which is to clear the huge orchard complex of Reserve infantry and some T-54 static tanks. You have 2 hours and the maximum extra time to do it and it looks like a very tall order indeed. But when I ran it through yesterday, I managed to do it all without using any artillery and I didn't take heavy casualties either. Expect this situation to change though as there's only one huge AI group at the moment and I'm in the process of organising the defence.

BTW, the orchard complex at the back of the map is a much more accurate representation of the real life Syrian orchard that 'Strong Stand' was based on. This time around, I think I've managed to do it properly.

[Paper Tiger]

Mission 3 - First Blood

I expect that the title will change before the campaign is finished as this was originally intended to be the campaign opener.

This is another Group A mission with a single Mech Infantry company and some tanks and a load of artillery in support. The terrain is becoming greener now as we race into the Tumah valley towards Dimas.

That village must be cleared out and you have 1 hour and 20 minutes with some extra time to do it. Once again, your opponent is a Reserve infantry formation but resitance and resolve is stiffening so you can expect them to put up a real fight in this one.

The status of this one is FINISHED although it will need to be playtested with the new patch just to make sure everything is fine.

[Paper Tiger]

Mission 4 - Where Farmers Dare

Another Group A mission this one should have a twist in it. So far, you've been overrunning the Reserve force without too much trouble and now you hit a serious barrier. This could even be retitled 'The Reserves Strike Back' if I didn't like the joke title so much.

You will have the best part of two Infantry Companies, D Company and some tanks to do this one as well as the obligatory artillery but you'll probably start to feel a pinch as your artillery starts to run out of ammo.

This is one of my all time personal favourite missions and it's pretty much finished too. Once again, it needs to be playtested with v1.1 but otherwise it's FINISHED. I'm REALLY looking forward to playtesting this one thoroughly.:cool:

[Paper Tiger]

Mission 5 - The Bridges are Burning

Well, of course, they won't be but I like the title.

This is a very large map and it's another Group A battle. You will have the best part of Company A and some engineers as well as tanks and, hopefully some artillery to do this one. It's another 2 hours plus the maximum extra time mission.

It's been playtested a few times but not as part of a compiled campaign and of course, that will be essential. So the status of this one is awaiting compilation and playtesting. So far, every time I've played it, I've managed to get a win but it's sometimes a VERY costly win. But that's why you've got nearly a full Regiment as your core forces.

[Paper Tiger]

Mission 6 - Dimas Part 1 - The Agony of Doom

This is another BIG map and potentially a very big battle.

It's not apparent from this view but this map is my own attempt at making a Hill 621 map. I had a look at Cpl Steiner's Hill 621 map but decided that I couldn't use it as it was too ASL-ey (okay, that's not a real word but you get my meaning). It's a FANTASTIC representation of the actual board but it lacks the authenticity that I am looking for in the maps for this campaign. So I started up a new map that attempted to get the spirit of it and this is what I came up with.

The Hill 621 reference should alert you to the fact that you're going to get a bloody nose in this one. You should have the full Group A in this battle and you have to acheive a victory or the campaign is over. I'm going to try and make it so that you have to expend the best part of your force to get that win but so much is yet undecided.

It's quite possible that playtesting the compiled Group A missions will reveal that Group A is spent in the 'Bridge' mission so this might end up being the first Group C mission. Anyways, this will be your first encounter with the 3rd Armour Division and it should be a huge change of pace for you.

This one is awaiting compilation and playtesting.

Anyway, that's enough for one day. There will be two more missions, both night battles, before the three Perdition missions come up.

[Pete Wenman]

Neil hi

Great looking maps, I can't wait to get hold of these

P

[JohnO]

What are the sizes of your maps, if I may ask?

[Paper Tiger]

No problem. Here's all the info and more...

Name Length Width Area

Petani 880m 448m 0.39km2

Orchard 3200m 1200m 3.84km2

First Blood 640m 960m 0.61km2

Farmers 880m 1152m 1.01km2

Bridges 1136m 1808m 2.05km2

Dimas 1 1280m 1200m 1.53km2

Amarah 2160m 800m 1.73km2

Tumah 1344m 2096m 2.82km2

Flames 1248m 1952m 2.44km2

[theFightingSeabee]

Paper Tiger, you're the man.

[handihoc]

Outstanding!

You really deserve to be on the BFC payroll!

I'm very much looking forward to this. The Marines module will be great, no doubt, but I suspect that after a little while playing with the new toys US supremacy may start to grate a little and the more evenly balanced Red on Red battles will be calling me.

Keep 'em coming!

[Paper Tiger]

New mission - Mission 6 Smoke on the water

(In game action photo from Mission 6 'Smoke on the water')

I have been VERY busy this last week creating the biggest map I've ever worked on. At 2720m x 2000m, it's a monster and making it has been a real education. I don't want to do anything quite as big as this again as it was very hard work building it. I had to delete literally thousands of trees from the map to make it playable, a case of too much ambition. But as it happens, it still looks really good when you play on it.

Because it's so big, it's not really possible to get the whole map into one picture without making it look boring so instead, I'm postng a couple of action pictures from the preliminary playtesting session this afternoon. I've played it through twice so far and got one easy win and then a minor victory but at great cost.

There are several large bodies of water in this map and I anticipate that we'll all be throwing a round a lot of smoke when the new Marines module arrives soon. Thus the name...

This mission takes the place of Dimas Part 1 that was posted on page 1 as the storyline of the campaign has been slightly revised. Dimas Part 1 will now take place at around the same time as 'Road to Amarah' in the Perdition mini campaign. This mission will be a meeting engagement between two armour heavy battalions and the preliminary testing has shown that I can run it with good fps even with the long LOS and smoke from the burnng wrecks.

At the moment, there's only one AI plan but that will definitely change as I expect this one will be replayed a few times and I don't want to make it too easy for you guys. I'm also happy to get back to the challenge of designing a proper AI attack again.

That leaves me one more map to do (aready under construction) and then I have all the maps I need. Hopefully, the Marines module will be released sometime next week and that means that I can really get my teeth into this project.

[CogNative]

"At 2720m x 2000m, it's a monster and making it has been a real education."

Salutes to your mental and physical efforts Paper Tiger. Impressive!

My MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz is limited so "Booty Camp" 2.1 will most likely choke on your creative works.

What computer, graphics,etc. system are you using to work on this scale with CMSF?

Much Appreciated,

CogNative

[Paper Tiger]

My rig is nothing special. I have a 64 bit 3ghz Pentium IV with Vista Home 64 edition. My graphics card is an nVidea 8600GT and I have 3GB of RAM. I run CMSF with all the graphics settings at maximum and all these missions play fine on it. I have been designing scenarios for some time now and I've only recently started making them much bigger than 1k squared.

[Roter Stern]

I'm actually convinced that the slow downs on bigger maps have little to do with your hardware setup - recently I upgraded from a first-gen P4 2.4GHz 1Gig RAM and nVidia6600GT-256 (which ran CMSF decently) to a Core2 Duo 3.0 4Gig RAM and SLI 8800GTS-512, and haven't noticed any significant improvement - still get the same amount of chug on large maps with lots of units as I did with the previous rig.

By comparison most of the other games that I was playing on the old computer saw the frame rate double and triple with the new machine, despite now being able to run them with 16xAA

Of course I'd be pretty hard pressed to name a game that has the same level of engine complexity as CMSF does, so if anything we're lucky CMSF runs at all, let alone in Real-Time

But to be a bit more on-topic, I can't wait to play this PT, it looks like another gem! (Still wish I could play Hasrabit again in the mean time).

[handihoc]

The lag thing has been discussed a lot. For me, the worst thing is with high density urban environments, especially with additional smoke from burning vehicles, when, even on a relatively high-spec E660 Core 2 Duo rig, 2Gig RAM, Nvidia 7950 GT, everything still sometimes drops to 10FPS or even less.

Other than that I no longer have a problem, though I did in earlier SF incarnations. Since 1.08 I've been able to play with all settings maxed. All the Hasrabit and Perdition maps run very smooth. Pure joy.

The good news (I hope) is that BF say the 1.10 patch includes significant improvements regarding speedier smoother gameplay. Only a few days to go to test that one out!

[CogNative]

Thanks for the computer info. Back on topic.

"There are several large bodies of water in this map and I anticipate that we'll all be throwing a round a lot of smoke when the new Marines module arrives soon."

Sounds fantastic. The screen shots look very immersive.

Salutes again to your mental and physical efforts Paper Tiger.

CogNative

[Paper Tiger]

The main challenge for me in this campaign is going to be giving each mission it's own unique feel. At the moment, there are three assaults on small towns performed by mech infantry with tanks in support. The newest small town assault mission currently under development, 'Minutemen', takes place at night and so far, it's different but not THAT much different. I don't want it to be too 'samey' although I know that you'll find the feel of the campaign will change drastically when you eventually come into contact with the lead units of the 3rd Armour Division.

However, I'll get a better feel for each mission once I've got the Marines installed and see how the AI handles it's artillery etc so that I can customise each one more effectively.

[LongLeftFlank]

This looks fantastic! Keep it up!

[Paper Tiger]

New Mission

I wish I could say that I'd been hard at work at this this week but I haven't done much because I'm waiting for the Marine module to arrive. Instead, I've been half-heartedly working on a new map for a mission that was tentatively called 'Minutemen'. It was going to be a night action between your mech force inf with some tanks in support v some uncons. I did play it a couple of times but didn't really like it so I reworked the map to expand the village and I'm going to make it a late afternoon action instead.

It's going to be a group B battle so you'll have BMP-1 mounted infantry and some T-62s again for this but I'm designing this one to be tough.

I'm getting a bit more confident designing small villages and towns now so this map will be reasonably small but very detailed. I reckon the map is nearly finished now so the real work will begin once the Marines is installed. I need dynamic artillery and air power before I can playtest it in a meaningful way.

[CogNative]

"...I'm waiting for the Marine module to arrive.."

Yes and Version 1.10 as well but what you have now PT are are some very pleasant map views. The Marines should be right at home descending on your small villages and towns based on what Steve posted below.

"The difference is that the Marines are "denser" (hehe) than their Army counterparts. Instead of having 9 soldiers move into a house to check out what's in the fridge, where the booze is hidden, use the toilette (hopefully using scented hand soap after!), etc... the Marines go in with 13 men to do exactly the same thing".... "Map size can probably be a bit bigger with Version 1.10 in general, though, because of various performance tweaks that have been made since v1.08. Since that is a game engine function it applies equally to any forces used and not just the Marines."

"I reworked the map to expand the village and I'm going to make it a late afternoon action instead."

The dusk battles can be quite impressive visually with the long shadows and dimming light. Noticed this yesterday mucking around with the Scenario Editor battle times.

"Dynamic artillery and air power..." Now we are talking pyrotechnics pleasures.

CogNative

[Paper Tiger]

While these missions are all Red on Red missions, it is certainly my plan to rework quite a few of them into a second Marines v Red campaign but that won't happen until the Red on Red is (nearly) finished. I expect I'll have to expand some of the maps to make them work and indeed, I have already started work on expanding the 'Perdition's Flames' map to make it better for a tank duel. I have a feeling that the Marines will be a more infantry-centric experience so I am sure I will enjoy working on this second project.

I plan to give the AI lots of artillery and air support but, as to how much, I'll have to see how effective it is in the game. If it's VERY effective, I'll keep it low but otherwise, expect a lot. Especially when you come into contact with the 3rd Armour.

Since BFC have announced that their Marines campaign has Red core forces too, I will tell you now that there are Red core forces in this campaign too. However, I'm not going to give any more away about them.

[Rokossovski]

Paper Tiger,

The maps look really great. I loved the maps from the Hasrabit Campaign as well.

Could I persuade you to put the maps up on CMMODs? (Not just your more recent stuff). Even if you don't have a stand-alone scenario to go with it? I like to toy around with the maps, but I can't do that when they are buried within a larger campaign.

Please?

[Paper Tiger]

Obviously I'm desperate to get back to work on this project and hopefully, I'll have Hasrabit completely updated by tomorrow evening and that will leave me the weekend free to work exclusively on these missions. Then I'll post some more screenshots.