Feedback on "The Maroon Machine"

[afreu]

Hi,

just wanted to know if someone can give me feedback on my recently uploaded scenario "The Maroon Machine".

I'm aware that there are a few 'issues' with the scenario.

Firstly its size makes it impossible to play for weaker PCs. The size of the map itself shouldn't be a problem with 1.2km x 1.2km. And even the number of forces involved isn't that extreme with ~400 BLUE and ~700 RED. What causes the lag are the firefights between a large number of soldiers. I tried to adjust the AI plans in way that minimises the number of simultaneous firefights. But still, with opposing company-sized forces engaged in a firefight the FPS can drop significantly.

Secondly, as with all my scenarios, I create them mostly for my own pleasure (which doesn't mean that I don't care at all if other people enjoy them as well). Accordingly the scenarios are featuring what I like to encounter in a CM:SF scenario. And that is a challenging mission, a tough enemy and intense situations. What is the point of playing, if you know from the start that you will be able to blow your enemy to hell with all the mighty support assets available to Western militaries. That's why the possibility for the player to be annihilated by the enemy AI is always included in my scenarios. That probably makes them less realistic, but at least in my opinion more enjoyable.

The Maroon Machine is such a scenario. If the player makes the wrong decisions, his troops will be punished. It is possible for the player's battalion to be overrun by enemy forces. I think including that threat, makes a player's victory that much more valuable.

Though I realize that my scenarios are not everybody's cup of tea, perhaps there are some who enjoyed this scenario anyway. Looking forward to your comments!

[theFightingSeabee]

I have not yet been able to play this one, but I can assure you that your scenarios are quite good. Yes, your AI has handed me my rear-end a few times, but still great stuff! I'll be looking forward to playing this soon.

Thanks afreu!

[souldierz]

Afreu, I tried playing your mission and as you mentioned, it was no surprise I ran into lag.When I had 2 companies it started to lag every time I moved a platoon, so I decided to edit it and only use B company and its attachments and delete the rest of the ground reinforcements.It's the first time I took time to understand how to do that in the editor and I was able to play the game lag free with 1 Company of Brits, plus the 3 ammo trucks.I accidentally deleted the D company guys, I wanted to keep them, but oops.

Can be considered a SPOILER.

I also boosted the timer up to 4hours figuring i was gonna get bogged down in firefights and would need more time to maneuver and rearm.

First off, what a great mission.Lovely map filled with rolling hills and farm lands.I had to choose carefully where to put my company so the rolling hills didn't give any enemy the advantage of a surprise attack if they assaulted my positions.The transition from night to day was great, especially when firefights broke out and you could see the flashs of gunfire.For a couple fire fights I turned the Icons off and just watched the effects.Very cool and life like at times.The fire fight for the one trench area was good eye candy.

I pushed North across the main road and then cut West and jumped from farmland to farmland.Everything was going very well and I took no casualties at this point and managed to move the ammo trucks to safe areas while taking heavy fire, and responding with heavy fire of my own.I kept the company together as much as possible and managed to move and fight my way to the big entrenched hill.Before I got to the hill, enemy forces flanked from the North and I was able to repel them and received 4-5 casualties.The enemy came out of nowhere and the BMP caught some Brits off guard.

Got in a few more clashes around the big entrenched hill and recoiless rifles were fired my way causing a few more casualties.

As I pushed up the hill with half my company and cleared it out while getting into more firefights, this is where all hell broke lose and I bet you had a smile on your face when you knew what the player was gonna face when they got to that big hill.Seemed like one big trap:D

Watching the Brits move up and clear the hill while engaging other enemy from it was very cinematic. Missiles were impacting all around the hill giving it a very impressive pounding.As i tried to get the rest of the Company up the hill, the Syrian armor came flooding on to the map at that exact moment and caught most of the Brits half way up the hill.From here on out it felt more like a WW2 style of fight because of all the bombardment and assaulting taking place.The Brits in the trench's on the hill were getting pounded by missiles from Recoiless rifles,and cannon fire from BMP's and Tanks.The level of fire was insane and very cinematic.It turned into an all out desperate battle and one British platoon was completely over run with Syrian troops, looking to regain the hill.In those moments if the pixel Brits could have threw their rifles and helmets at the enemy he would have out of desperation, they didn't have enough bullets,grenades or a good rate of fire to stop the Syrian flood gates from opening up and over running their positions. Air strikes were called in and artillery was laid down danger close near the city and on the trench's.The whole Company or the survivors who still managed to hold out through out the heavy pounding the hill took, threw smoke grenades and the big hill was covered in all kinds of smoke and dust.What a show!

As the armor was hit and moved on, and as the whole area was covered in smoke and dust, trench fighting started to take place.As artillery was falling on the Syrian locations near the trench's and as the two sides fought each other from the trench's, it would make for some very intense moments.It was hard for both sides to hit each other so some firefights lasted a while as bullets would fly through the bush's.Syrian forces would sneak in the trench's and get close to the Brit's and grenades would be thrown and seen bouncing all over the place both ways, claiming multiple victims.

The whole mission turned into a defend the hill scenario and I liked it very much.The fight for the hill was like watching a movie.It started out by getting pounded by Rockets and armored vehicles with a lot of intensity to it,leaving the place covered in smoke and dust, then broke out into a real sneaky and gritty battle inside the trench's, where an occasional grenade would be thrown to break the silence and a fierce gun battle broke out after wards.

Afreu, it seems like you make some very intense missions that produce some very intense firefights.Its a shame when I take a loss or a man goes down, because I try so hard to preserve them, but the mission is so filled with eye candy, it makes it acceptable and not frustrating.This one mission reminded me of the movie 'Hamburger Hill'.

I will try to edit the mission again leaving me with only the D company scouts and B company along with the Para's top command and see if I can push through it.I was successful at defending the hill, but when things settled down on the Hill, I had very few AT and all my ammo trucks were destroyed.Plus it didn't seem like I could rearm any of my MK's, think I deleted their ammo trucks also,another oops.I was going to push on even with the heavy loses, but I thought since I'm going to play it again, i will stop at the hill so I don't know what to expect when I push past it in the next game.

Might not be realistic in the way we see things unfold in today's conflict in the middle east, but it sure was entertaining and I think anyone who likes big intense battles should play this mission.

Great mission Afreu, even though I edited to reduce my lag.I will definitely try any other ones you post.Sorry for not posting any pics this time around,I should have taken some screen shots.This mission definitely produced some grade A pictures to show the community.The hill full of smoke as it got pounded was very cool to see:cool:.Maybe I'll post a few next time around when playing.

Oh, and great briefing by the way.Very well done, but now I learn to read between the lines when it comes to your briefings.A well written brief that makes certain ways seem clear can sucker you into disaster.If I had a C company and did what you said I don't think they would exist anymore.

[afreu]

Thanks for your feedback soldierz!

The number of troops seems to be a real issue. I've made some unsuccessful attempts to redesign the mission in order to optimise its performance. It's difficult to downsize it, since the whole scenario (the size and structure of the map, strategic locations, etc.) is tailored for a battalion attack. I guess what I envisioned with this battle is just too much for the CM:SF engine / the average PC.

I'll just leave it as it is and instead spent the time on new scenarios.

Playing with one company only, it will be quite challenging to survive the CQB fighting in the village after crossing the river and probably very difficult to capture the northern and southern heights. Nevertheless it seems you had quite a good time playing through the first two phases of the battle.

I realise that the mechanized counter attack can be a source of frustration. Ideally it would start 30-45 minutes later, but due to the time limit (latest reinforcement for unwanted units 3h) I had to schedule its appearance earlier. Which brings me to another update wish for the next CM:SF module or CM:N. Please add (1) an option to postpone the arrival of unwanted units (such as HQs) indefinitely or (2) add more reinforcement time options (+3:30, +4:00, ...).