PMC Ranger Path - beta is released

The_Avon_Lady · Post by **The_Avon_Lady** » 2003-07-04 09:08:57

If that sounds good, what would be the reasonable extract LZ?

Don't have the map in front of me now but somewhere north of the insert point, up in the mountains.

A lot can happen on the way.

The_Avon_Lady · Post by **The_Avon_Lady** » 2003-07-04 09:16:06

On the Capture Mission: Yes, it's tough to take out the first two vehicles then "gently" kill the guys riding with the General, without killing the General.

Again, you have practically no control over your AI to achieve this unless you tell them to hold fire, which is itself unrealistic.

Some suggestions:

1. Keep the truck and jeep further behind the BMP to avoid accidental destruction when BMP gets hit.

2. IF this isn't done yet, the moment the BMP is damaged in any way, the truck and jeep should stop and troops should disembark, and be aware of the source of fire position.

3. Maybe you could code the General to change to a captured status once he is wounded. So if he's shot but not killed, the AI will stop firing at him.

A new point:

If the general gets killed, you need an alternative story line to continue to the next mission, don't you? This might require a new mission or a change of plans in the Path mission itself.

Reacher · Post by **Reacher** » 2003-07-04 13:42:26

I really hate reporting this stuff because I fear that Snake and the gang are getting tired of going back to re-work missions.

But I went back and tried the Ranger "Butcher" mission again. First, I installed version 8. Then deleted my Campaign save folder for PMC Ranger Path. I then "replayed" the Butcher mission. After killing the first group of soldiers we encountered, we then attacked the group of soldiers standing by the fence. At that time, the message was given stating that the area was cleared and secured. We had not even touched the tarmac of the airport! A return message of congratulations was given and a "mission complete." A nice cut scene started, then the mission ends. Total of the mission I played was about 4 minutes. The reinforcements were never mentioned, nor did they arrive.

I was surprised at how quick the mission ended.

I guess that's what we get for complaining about the mission not ending??

<j>

Reacher

Snake_Man · Post by **Snake_Man** » 2003-07-04 14:29:57

We had not even touched the tarmac of the airport! A return message of congratulations was given and a "mission complete."

Oops thats a new bug then. Its also now fixed. Thanks for letting me know.

neuronios · Post by **neuronios** » 2003-07-05 09:48:49

Snake dude,

Thanks for the tweak in ranger butcher, I finally passed it. But guess you over did it a bit, as our friend Reacher posted, now the mission ends almost right after it begins. I liked playing the mission, it was just annoying to run around for hours several times and never ending. Suggest you leave the mission as it was, just making sure it ends after russian reinforcements get zapped. Thanks a lot anyway!

Now I´d like to report that the mission "Ranger serpent" seems to not end as well. Once again I killed all the russian reinforcements coming from the east after taking the airport. I took the T80 from the base you start in and drove all around, drove up that high hill SE from the captured enemy base, took out the binocular and no enemy in sight whatsoever. Made each of my men run in diferent directions untill we had covered huge map area (untill it started to look silly, going into cities way beyond anything you could have planned).

I read in a past post that you had identified this bug before the last two or three releases, but dont know if its fixed. Again people saying finished the campaign and once again I find it impossible without using the cheat, which just makes it all senseless. I wont appeal to that, rather help you out!

If it has been fixed, please let me know what I need to do to move on.

Try not to shorten the mission, for its awesome! Maybe just for now, but for the final release, stick with your original idea. Thanks a lot.

Snake_Man · Post by **Snake_Man** » 2003-07-05 13:24:27

New version of PMC Ranger Path is available.

changelog

Jul 5th, 2003. v1.0b rev 9
- ranger butcher too fast ending trigger, fixed.
- ranger serpent russian tank engines humming, hopefully more distant now.
- ranger serpent won't end, fixed.
- ranger data, radiomsg says A-10 but apaches appear, fixed.
- ranger bridge wont end, objectives arent done, fixed.
- Ranger Morning error message "script exit.sqs not found", fixed.
- ranger path: radio message ReastDead not found, fixed.
- ranger path: if russian major dead, mission failed.
- ranger nocomms, commtower needs to be destroyed.

Download from http://www.pmctactical.org/ofp/download ... .0b.r9.rar

The_Avon_Lady · Post by **The_Avon_Lady** » 2003-07-06 08:17:16

Played Path mission again. "Package" was dead within seconds. Please reconsider making this reasonably playable.

BTW, you forgot to mention you added a 2nd BMP to the convoy.

The_Avon_Lady · Post by **The_Avon_Lady** » 2003-07-06 10:16:45

Well, I reverted to the last mission, WMD, after having enough of the Path mission.

I love the way you have the armor seeking us out once we're spotted!

This happened twice before I reached the WMD base and I was thrilled to successfully evade them.

********** SPOILER *************

When I reached the northern edge of the small forrest south of the base, I formed my team into a line, kept them under HOLD fire and targeted practically every enemy below with binocs. Then I issued a SAVEGAME command.

I continued and I should have targeted more enemies because they didn't go down quick enough and the not-too-far away armor started heading in our direction. From there it was a game of hide and seek inside the little forest but we were being chased in circles and the BMP and tank MGs were picking us off, along with a few Red infantry that advanced into the forest.

So I decided to LOAD the game from my savepoint. This time, I targeted everyone with binocs. It was a massacre! They all went down in what seemed like 12-15 seconds. I was actually a bit shocked. Best yet, no rumbling of tracks in the distance.

Went down to the base, set the charges and start heading up the north slopes before destroying the objective. That move was a good idea because the armor started heading over again after the charges went off.

At this point, I suffered my only loss of #2 to a mine. I forgot about those!

I head NW up towards the high mountain peak and then continued in a SW direction, noting two manned Soviet camps in the vallies below, as we passed unnoticed in the mountains above them.

Arrving near and above the waterway, I turned south and went up to the large ruins on the follow peak, which showed no enemy presence when I scout them from a distance.

From up above, I could spot a URAL near the waterline with troops already disembarked. I decided to take the high road and stay on the mountains above.

There's a town, somewhere north of the bridge called Verdas Vey or similar. I took a good look at it from a safe distance to the north and decided that hugging the coast was the way to go.

I didn't notice the patrol to the west of Verdas Vey. My AI did. Though we took them out in no time, I could hear the engines starting in Verdas Vey and I knew from experience what that meant.

I had my team form a line and we hugged the water's edge till we got to the bridge and completed the mission.

Great mission!

************* END OF SPOILER ************

Some suggestions:

Pepper the mountain range above the water with patrols and some accompanying BMPs. It was too easy going through.

The armor in Verdas Vey didn't seem to respond as nastily as the armor at the start of the mission. Do they seek the player out in a similar fashion?

If they do, just be careful if the player makes a dash to the bridge and the Soviet armor manages to follow, those 3-4 nato soldiers and their Hummer at the bridge don't stand a chance.

One last thing: surely this line in the campaign's ending text dialog is incomplete:

and all the rest of the OFP community guys

>:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

Snake_Man · Post by **Snake_Man** » 2003-07-06 12:21:23

Played Path mission again. "Package" was dead within seconds. Please reconsider making this reasonably playable.

Okay I think we need to go to the armored convoy before the UAZ solution then as there is no way I know of how to make the UAZ stay behind to avoid the bmp explosions (if that killed it).

Or maybe another truck or UAZ after the bmp's. hmm.

Also it was strange that I thought the first BMP was with highest rank, the second bmp should be lowest rank... so why do they travel in BMP - BMP - URAL - UAZ. hmm. Tweaking, tweaking...

Pepper the mountain range above the water with patrols and some accompanying BMPs. It was too easy going through.

Well if you take a look at the mission on editor you would have heartattack by all the russians running around there. But I guess we could concentrate their patrols into the most likely area player will take.

Other option is to make some scripted spez natz or something that really just get orders to go to the players position in every few minutes or so.

I was worried that this mission gets too heavy to play, at least in multiplayer with all those enemies. I think someone else posted too about WMD being too easy after the site being blown up. So somekind of tweak is necessary. I'll try something.

armor at the start of the mission. Do they seek the player out in a similar fashion?

There is no fancy mission stuff for any armor hunting player, its just plain good old OFP. At least I dont think the AI_control script makes armor to hunt infantry.

those 3-4 nato soldiers and their Hummer at the bridge don't stand a chance.

True, but if we add more heavy guys there it just is another piece of units to lag the systems and possibly added M1A1's could break off formation and start to head into the battle. We dont want that to happen.

One last thing: surely this line in the campaign's ending text dialog is incomplete:
and all the rest of the OFP community guys

Heh yeah that needs fixing indeed.

What is the correct term to use, "guys and gals" or "people" or? dunno my english skills are not so good with this.

The_Avon_Lady · Post by **The_Avon_Lady** » 2003-07-06 13:11:11

Okay I think we need to go to the armored convoy before the UAZ solution then as there is no way I know of how to make the UAZ stay behind to avoid the bmp explosions (if that killed it).

No, the BMP explosions didn't do it. My team did it.

Other option is to make some scripted spez natz or something that really just get orders to go to the players position in every few minutes or so.

You don't want to overdo it either. It's legit if the player doesn't get spotted and is moving stealthily.

There is no fancy mission stuff for any armor hunting player, its just plain good old OFP. At least I dont think the AI_control script makes armor to hunt infantry.

You're not doing anything? Not even conveying the player's position? They're like bloodhounds!

True, but if we add more heavy guys there it just is another piece of units to lag the systems and possibly added M1A1's could break off formation and start to head into the battle. We dont want that to happen.

One M1A1 with no fuel?

What is the correct term to use, "guys and gals" or "people" or? dunno my english skills are not so good with this.

OFP player community?

Reacher · Post by **Reacher** » 2003-07-06 14:23:01

I liked the WMD mission. Yes, the destruction of the WMD seemed a little ez, but after that I found it a little more difficult than some are saying. Perhaps it was my route to the bridge, but I got flanked a few times and it was a helluva firefight to stay alive.

And, with each large firefight, you knew you had to get it done quickly because you knew, and could hear, the tanks were coming. (really cool... You knew you stood no chance if they showed up.)

The firefight at the villiage, Verdes Vey (or something like that

), looked at first to be an easy take. But again, flanking moves by the enemy turned it into a lot more work. (I love it

)

Yes, Avon Lady, taking a little time and targeting as many of the enemy as you can, prior to giving the "go go go" signal pays off immensely! You can wipe out a massive amount of troops in seconds by specifically assigning targets. I also may just use the binocculars that gives a good "look" to the squad, which helps them zero in on the enemy. My favorite is when you hear 6 or 7 messages, all saying... "Ready to fire." Then you know it's getting ready to get interesting!

This is one mission that really requires that you scout the terrain for those nasty claymores randomly placed in the area. Once you get in one of these firefights, the mines can stop you dead in your tracks causing you to lose a couple of guys while attacking, (or pulling back). I like finding them, and then shooting them. I also run my squad in single file, just like in a real minefield. It helps.

I liked this mission too... but that was one helluva long march to the bridge.

Nice work!

Reacher

doc · Post by **doc** » 2003-07-07 14:09:39

mission 13 ranger data was f***ing brilliant. Loved the *SPOILER admin edited*, i lost almost half my team, great stuff.
:P

wow!

The_Avon_Lady · Post by **The_Avon_Lady** » 2003-07-20 08:43:09

/bump

Any news on an addition/final update?

Snake_Man · Post by **Snake_Man** » 2003-07-21 00:31:26

Like I posted in the Fury area, I'm currently (was) making the mission ending overview cutscenes for PMC Command Campaign but I'm afraid my summer holiday is kicking in now (I actually cant control when this happens, its a long story).

So simple answer to update question: No. Not anytime soon.

Sorry about that.

FUBARD · Post by **FUBARD** » 2003-08-10 14:38:19

Please please please please,

After many many attempts - will someone pleae post a spoiler for the second mission Ranger Action.

Please - I keep getting killed by artillery.

The_Avon_Lady · Post by **The_Avon_Lady** » 2003-08-10 14:55:01

Please please please please,

After many many attempts - will someone pleae post a spoiler for the second mission Ranger Action.

Please - I keep getting killed by artillery.

Two tips:

1. Kills Russians, especially officers, before they spot you.

2. Run away.

Reacher · Post by **Reacher** » 2003-08-10 15:49:09

Warning! SEMI-SPOILER... READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

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I think that's the one where you attack the ruins. This is one of the best missions of the campaign, and also one of the toughest.

First off... make sure you have a full compliment of soldiers. If you lost ANY soldiers in the first mission you're going to be in trouble now and later on.

Second, equip ALL your soldiers with silenced weapons. This will mean you have to give up a couple of those SAW's, but it will pay off for you. The only noise maker you should have in your squad are the rocket launchers... (you'll need them, trust me.) If you allow a couple of guys to carry the M203, make sure they are the silenced versions, and have them hold their fire until you're ready to act.

Next, surprise is the ultimate advantage. Lay low on your approach and move towards the right side of the ruins near the trees. Keep everyone down and have them hold fire until you get everyone in position. PLACE your soldiers where you want them. Don't allow them to roam around on their own.

Once everyone is in position, start targeting with your binocculars and have your guys act almost like snipers. The enemy will run around after you start shooting, but since they can't immediately tell where the gunfire is coming from, they'll just keep running around. I had the best success with only releasing 1 or 2 soldiers to fire instead of just letting them all go. You have to eliminate some of the enemy before you totally engage them. If not, they can overrun you and your position.

Watch out for the BMP's. They will sniff you out. Have your rocket guys take the BMP out asap. There will be a T-72 show up later, so be prepared.

The enemy will eventually try to flank you on your left and right, so stay sharp and keep your flanks covered.

There are a lot of enemies, so be prepared for a long fight. WATCH YOUR AMMO! (I take nothing but clips. No grenades, just clips). Once you've eliminated all the enemy you can find around the ruins, you're still not through. There are usually 3 or 4 that have fled and are laying out waiting for you to search for them. Watch out.

I thought this was one of Snake's best missions. The first 10 times I tried to complete the mission, I only had 3 soldiers. Needless to say, it was a massacre for my guys. You don't do the Rambo thing on this mission.

This is how I attacked the mission... other ways will work I'm sure, your mileage may vary... 8)

I noticed you mentioned "getting killed by artillery"... I hope we're on the same mission, because in the mission I'm referring to, there is no artillery, other than a couple of armored vehicles. If not, then sorry, but that's the mission #2 I remember. You're not talking about the claymores that Snake devilishly placed all over the friggin' map, are you?

Reacher

FUBARD · Post by **FUBARD** » 2003-08-10 20:35:55

Roacher, Avon Lady,

That's great advice - esp the 'run away' bit

I'll get cracking on it again asap.

It is mission #2 and I definitely get arty and loads of it - can anyone else confirm that?

Thanks- I really appreciate the time taken to reply.

Cheers,
FUBARD

Reacher · Post by **Reacher** » 2003-08-10 22:32:18

Snake? Did I miss some arty somewhere in mission #2? The only thing I remember is the BMP and T-72???

I'm using your latest version... so just confused.

Reacher

The_Avon_Lady · Post by **The_Avon_Lady** » 2003-08-11 03:33:40

I played that mission a few beta revisions ago and it was chock full of artillery! A lot of us complained that it was way too accurate and excessive so it may have been tremendously reduced from what it was originally.

Reacher · Post by **Reacher** » 2003-08-11 04:17:50

Wow, reduced is putting it mildly!

I just played the mission yesterday when I was bored with some other stuff I was doing... (Like fighting my way through the America's Army bugs for their 1.90 version.), and I noticed NO artillery whatsover!

I played it once before after the last beta revision and noticed no arty at that time, either. Apparantly, Snake took it of the mission. Hell, it's hard enough as it is!

Reacher

Snake_Man · Post by **Snake_Man** » 2003-08-11 12:18:52

Artillery (AI_Control.sqs) is still there but its changed so that the backup force which arrives after regular patrols call it, can only call artillery on you.

Basically in the Ranger Action mission it is the officers in center of buildings and the inf squad which is the backup force.

In next update I will remove it completely, I've seen the CoC Unified Artillery and frankly the AI_control artillery is a joke in realism sense. I bet many of you are happy with this change, but of course any opposing thoughts are welcome too if there is any.

The_Avon_Lady · Post by **The_Avon_Lady** » 2003-08-11 12:50:48

I mentioned a long time ago that the artillery was too lethal all of the time.

I suggested less of it and that it should be more random in its innacuracy.

In addition, if you move from the position whose coords were relayed to the arties, the bombardments should not be able to follow you automatically like your shadow.

Reacher · Post by **Reacher** » 2003-08-11 14:27:01

Snake, from a difficultly level, that mission is one tough mission, without the arty.

I suppose you could add another BMP or T72, but the mission doesn't need it, (in my opinion).

To me, it's one of the best missions in the campaign.

Reacher

Xycot · Post by **Xycot** » 2003-08-15 14:21:38

Ok, I just downloaded the campaign and I'm on mission 5 now. On mission 1,2,4 and 5 it came up with an error message: "Cannot load mission, missing addons bis_resistance." Now I think it only comes up with this message on the intros..so if it is that it's not too big of a probelm.. although I do like your Intros. Also, I was thinking that I've missed a few missions because of that error... Im supposedly on mission 5 yet I've nearly conquered all of Kolgujev. Is it supposed to be like this? Anyway, besides that, it's a great campaign. Thanks.

Snake_Man · Post by **Snake_Man** » 2003-08-15 14:53:21

Missions have been ALL started (intros included) in my OFP and they all run fine. No errors.

There is something different in your OFP which gives the error.

Xycot · Post by **Xycot** » 2003-08-15 15:50:20

Hmm, ok, but I can't find the problem. Like I said... it hasn't done the error on all the intros... just a few.

Ok, I'm gonna name the 4 missions that I've done and the 5th that im on now. I'd like to know if they are in the correct order that you made them( in case this error has made me miss a few).

1. PMC Ranger Invasion
2." " Action
3." " Baseblast
4." " Mountain
5." " Action 2

Ok that's my order so far, so if you could tell me if thats correct then that would be great. I "think" the error only affects the intros, but I'm not sure. Thanks again.

P.S Is the campaign suppost to start on Kolgujev?

Snake_Man · Post by **Snake_Man** » 2003-08-23 22:34:18

After a short break new PMC Ranger Path campaign version is out. Its v1.0b rev 10, here is the changelog.

changelog

Aug 24th, 2003. v1.0b rev 10
- changed ending credits to include ladies too.

- Ranger Juice helo to careless mode, no more wandering around.
- campaign save-status hopefully fixed.
- added MH-60 to 6 missions.
- removed artillery from all missions, unrealistic crap.
- changed all non Ranger/Delta units to JAM HD units, cool!
- made new Ranger Action 2 ending cutscene.
- Invasion, reinf blackhawk is deleted after its used.
- added music to Ranger POW, on helo flight.
- Ranger Baseblast end cutscene, west units died, fixed.
- Ranger Airbase didn't end easily, reduced ending trigger size.

Notice that you must download the new MH-60L/K Blackhawk addon from BAS, this campaign now uses the helo and JAM units. Make sure you have them installed before running this new version.

download here http://www.pmctactical.org/ofp/download ... 0b.r10.rar

Enjoy.

Snake_Man · Post by **Snake_Man** » 2003-08-23 22:35:41

Is the campaign suppost to start on Kolgujev?

PMC Ranger Invasion is the first mission of the campaign, thats in Kolgujev.

Reacher · Post by **Reacher** » 2003-08-23 22:44:34

Welcome back, Snake...

I'm going to try and find that MH-60 L/K download and replay the campaign.

Still working on the other one... (man it's a long ass campaign!)

Reacher

Reacher · Post by **Reacher** » 2003-08-25 01:32:35

Snake, had a major problem with the new campaign version you just released.

I downloaded the add-on files as instructed, placing them in the Res add-on folder.

When I started the game, the video shot me back to the desktop with the error message, "Unable to memory map o.pbo"

So, I went back and checked to make sure I put everything in. It was, so now I can't run the mission. I couldn't even access OFP at all. I removed the add-ons and the sim worked just fine. But your mission obviously wouldn't run without the add-ons.

The add-ons I placed in the res/addon folder were:
BAS-repair
BAS-SOAR
BAS-MAH60
BAS-SOAR185
BAS-SOAR Pilots
and Jam Mag

Any ideas what I could have done wrong?

Thanks

Reacher

Snake_Man · Post by **Snake_Man** » 2003-08-25 02:07:45

I dont know much about the memory map errors. One option is to remove all user made addons except what you need in PMC Ranger Path.

There should be quite much yapper on BIS forums about the memory mapping stuff.

Reacher · Post by **Reacher** » 2003-08-25 03:54:35

One thing I discovered on another attempt to load the addons. I found that I had 2 of the BAS files, (older versions), in my OFP Addons. They were quite smaller than the new ones, so I overwrote them. I tried again and the same thing occurred. "Unable to memory map Res/addons/o.pbo

So I removed all the addons, except the 2 that I had replaced in OFP addons. The only error I got then was the following when the OFP main screen came up:
No Entry 'ConfigBin/CFGweapons.Jam_MP55BASDmag

This leads me to believe there is something screwy with this Jam program.

Anyway, after selecting "ok", OFP went ahead and started. I was able to run all missions except those in Ranger Path.

I could be the problem here, but I suspect that not enough testing on all systems was done.

Reacher

Reacher · Post by **Reacher** » 2003-08-30 20:36:29

PROBLEM SOLVED! 8)

My add-on's folder must have had too much stuff in it. I removed several add-ons I wasn't using and put them in a new folder called "add-on2"

I then reinstalled the new files, (JAM included), and the campaign works just fine.

Reacher

The_Avon_Lady · Post by **The_Avon_Lady** » 2003-08-31 12:27:53

In mission PMC Ranger Pilots, getting missing addon msg for bas_repairh, which comes with the new BAS Blackhawks.

Snake_Man · Post by **Snake_Man** » 2003-08-31 12:41:14

In mission PMC Ranger Pilots, getting missing addon msg for bas_repairh, which comes with the new BAS Blackhawks.

Again my usual reply: I have tested all the missions to start in my OFP computer without any missing addon errors.

I think this calls for note to the readme and campaign page. Sure I'm lamer and do mistakes, but I *DO* make sure that every release of this campaign is checked so that neither the cutscene or mission itself doesn't contain any missing errors.

Btw I havent even used the repair helipad thingy. I have no idea why you got the error.

The_Avon_Lady · Post by **The_Avon_Lady** » 2003-08-31 12:55:50

Well, here's another error in the Ranger Pilots mission:

The moment we disembark from the Blackhawk, #3, the medic, announces "3, SUPPORTING" and runs off directly to the location of the pilots.

Reacher · Post by **Reacher** » 2003-08-31 14:43:57

Avon Lady,

Will the medic respond to a "return to formation" command?

Reacher

The_Avon_Lady · Post by **The_Avon_Lady** » 2003-08-31 15:12:51

Will the medic respond to a "return to formation" command?

No. He won't stop for a HALT command either. Once he's dispatched, he's under the Hypocratic Oath to tend to the ill.

Reacher · Post by **Reacher** » 2003-08-31 15:26:24

No. He won't stop for a HALT command either. Once he's dispatched, he's under the Hypocratic Oath to tend to the ill.

Hmmm, well that won't do...

I'm trying to recall that mission. Is it a pilot rescue mission?

I haven't had a chance to run the latest version of the Ranger campaign as I've been on The Crusades for the past several weeks, (commonly called PMC-Fury Campaign)

I have no idea how many missions are in the Fury Campaign, but I must have played 80 or 90 so far. What's nice is, the missions are getting even better! Snake actually let me drive a tank in a recent one!

Reacher