[Release] Smugglers Campaign

[Fey]

Thanks for the run-down on that Sietch thing.

Sounds good, though I'll be sure to re-visit the eastern Imperial base and sort the blooms.

If you give the alt versions a try, I look forward to hearing what you have to say! Otherwise, I'll put a focus on adjusting S9V2 in particular. See you then, Cm.

[Cm_blast]

Playing the other versions.

  Reveal hidden contents

Mission 1 version Pillage: Easy, not too much trouble. Easier than the other version to me, just sending raiders against infantry and tanks against turrets and that’s it (or not even that I stepped on accident with a already damaged Raider first and still didn’t loose more than 2 units).

Mission 2: loose to win: Didn’t have too much trouble in this one. I builded a couple or refs near the spice areas and grouped my units in lines all together. I only used money in a few raiders, a couple of quads and a dozen of troopers (not counting extra harvs); I used the starport to buy stuff with a discount, so I manage to order combat tanks at less than 600 credits, and the missile ones a 680 or something like that, really cheap there.

Reached the quota, a bunch of tanks come and take everything out. I was about to sell everything just as the message point it, but I decided to let them to destroy at will.

Mission 3: I reached the quota 3-4 minutes before the time runs out. I found an infantry entrance; I group a good amount of intrantry/grenadiers and raiders to kill all the enemy Atreides I could and take 2 barracks.

At some point I run out of money, then I realise I lost like 3 harverster... the sandworm got fed by my machines. I was busy killing enemies so I didn't hear the "sandworm attack" line. 

I don't know how many units I killed, but as they are like 2 Ais together or more, I just kill a thousand infantry. At least 1 AI went out of money (the other/s still have silos full) and I could go a bit deeper. Good think the Harkonnen based his attacks on groups of quads, that help since I was focusing much more on Raiders.

So Only left missions 6 and 9 to play.

Edited March 18, 2018 by Cm_blast

[Fey]

  On 3/18/2018 at 1:16 PM, Cm_blast said:

Playing the other versions.

  Reveal hidden contents

Mission 1 version Pillage: Easy, not too much trouble. Easier than the other version to me, just sending raiders against infantry and tanks against turrets and that’s it (or not even that I stepped on accident with a already damaged Raider first and still didn’t loose more than 2 units).

Mission 2: loose to win: Didn’t have too much trouble in this one. I builded a couple or refs near the spice areas and grouped my units in lines all together. I only used money in a few raiders, a couple of quads and a dozen of troopers (not counting extra harvs); I used the starport to buy stuff with a discount, so I manage to order combat tanks at less than 600 credits, and the missile ones a 680 or something like that, really cheap there.

Reached the quota, a bunch of tanks come and take everything out. I was about to sell everything just as the message point it, but I decided to let them to destroy at will.

Mission 3: I reached the quota 3-4 minutes before the time runs out. I found an infantry entrance; I group a good amount of intrantry/grenadiers and raiders to kill all the enemy Atreides I could and take 2 barracks.

At some point I run out of money, then I realise I lost like 3 harverster... the sandworm got fed by my machines. I was busy killing enemies so I didn't hear the "sandworm attack" line. 

I don't know how many units I killed, but as they are like 2 Ais together or more, I just kill a thousand infantry. At least 1 AI went out of money (the other/s still have silos full) and I could go a bit deeper. Good think the Harkonnen based his attacks on groups of quads, that help since I was focusing much more on Raiders.

So Only left missions 6 and 9 to play.

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Sweet!

  Reveal hidden contents

That's good. It shouldn't be too hard. The reveal map triggers make things easier this time around?

Haha, lose to win XD I guess so. Did you like how I worked the terrain up differently in the most recent version? And I'm glad the Starport worked out. S2V1 is fairly difficult for a level 2, but the player has enough advantages to kick the Imperials out before the end.

It's more pretty to watch stuff blow up anyway, ain't it?

Nice! Although there's one major entrance into enemy territory, there are quite a few potential avenues of attack. I'm glad you took one of the side routes.

Oh yeah, that worm is a jerk. A few Troopers on the outlying rocks or even on the sand will keep them away pretty decently.

There were almost certainly not a thousand infantry! Yeah, the Harkonnen unit composition was adjusted on several smuggler maps to put a greater focus on raw firepower. More Quads than Trikes and stuff. Raiders are amaaazing on this map! If you decide to test this map again, I'd love to hear the results of a hard-mode playthrough (that is, making the Harkonnen your enemy as well).

Aye. Remember not to go too crazy on S9V2! Play on easy as well if you'd like. The only part that I really need to adjust is the beginning of the map, so if you can clear out Side 7 at least and tell me what you suppose would best be changed, that'd help a lot in re-tuning it. Thanks!

[Cm_blast]

  On 3/18/2018 at 4:28 PM, Fey said:

The reveal map triggers make things easier this time around?

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First mission? yes. I found the first section for myself and then the map got reveleaded and went directly to do the rest.

  On 3/18/2018 at 4:28 PM, Fey said:

It's more pretty to watch stuff blow up anyway, ain't it?

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Almost poetic. 

  On 3/18/2018 at 4:28 PM, Fey said:

there are quite a few potential avenues of attack. I'm glad you took one of the side routes.

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Well, I choose the entrance which make the enemy to have more trouble to go, so they scatered trying to get me.

  On 3/18/2018 at 4:28 PM, Fey said:

Oh yeah, that worm is a jerk. A few Troopers on the outlying rocks or even on the sand will keep them away pretty decently.

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I barely have units at my base (just the ones I was building at the moment, but the sandworm wasn't even in the range of the turrets, so he went directly against my poor harversters.

  On 3/18/2018 at 4:28 PM, Fey said:

There were almost certainly not a thousand infantry!

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Well, in the place I was I was dragging the attention of those Ias against me, so the three of them were spending lots of money on units. A shame I can't look at the numbers just to show how many units I killed, but lots of them I can tell. I have like 3 raiders, 3 infantry, 2 grenadiers and 2 quads in that place, and while I was preparing more stuff they kept sending units around those entrance almost nonstop (but 1 by 1).

  On 3/18/2018 at 4:28 PM, Fey said:

Aye. Remember not to go too crazy on S9V2! Play on easy as well if you'd like. The only part that I really need to adjust is the beginning of the map, so if you can clear out Side 7 at least and tell me what you suppose would best be changed, that'd help a lot in re-tuning it. Thanks!

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I'll try on normal, if I died so be it.

My next step it's playing your Harkonnen campaign too. I hope I have the campaign fully updated, but just in case I'll download from the first post (if they seem updated there).

[Fey]

  On 3/18/2018 at 6:13 PM, Cm_blast said:

First mission? yes. I found the first section for myself and then the map got reveleaded and went directly to do the rest.

Almost poetic. 

Well, I choose the entrance which make the enemy to have more trouble to go, so they scatered trying to get me.

I barely have units at my base (just the ones I was building at the moment, but the sandworm wasn't even in the range of the turrets, so he went directly against my poor harversters.

Well, in the place I was I was dragging the attention of those Ias against me, so the three of them were spending lots of money on units. A shame I can't look at the numbers just to show how many units I killed, but lots of them I can tell. I have like 3 raiders, 3 infantry, 2 grenadiers and 2 quads in that place, and while I was preparing more stuff they kept sending units around those entrance almost nonstop (but 1 by 1).

I'll try on normal, if I died so be it.

My next step it's playing your Harkonnen campaign too. I hope I have the campaign fully updated, but just in case I'll download from the first post (if they seem updated there).

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Great. I wanted to make that one a little easier to navigate.

Aye.

Ah, good idea. I think I should open up that entrance a little more, to be honest. It's a little tight.

Yeah. Worm don't give no nuffins.

So it worked out great, but yeah, the entrance is too tight. I'll remember that.

Okay. Good luck, Cm.

Check the final post up 'til now. It has the most recent maps and stuff. Here: https://forum.dune2k.com/topic/27514-wip-harkonnen-campaign-progress-thread/?do=findComment&comment=394977

[Cm_blast]

OK, I download that very last Harkonnen mega-ultra-final-version 

  Reveal hidden contents

For now

Now, About mission 6 from Smuggler Campaign, version 2:

  Reveal hidden contents

The beggining it's hilarious: complaining about "scouting with Tanks?" well, Ordos Tanks are fast and have a bigger vision than raiders. I did well just with the initial tanks, better than having Raiders xD.

Overall the map was easy. Only a couple of vehicles here and there going against me. The thopters did the most damage to me. Also because the design of the map was really easy to take out enemy harverster in addition to the hard navigation that made the enemy to die trying to protect them.

I send a few troopers around the infantry-entrance area, but at the end just a combination of my army and the Mercenary we rampage half of the imperial base.

Later taking the merc base was harder than the version 1 (for obvious reasons), but not too much problem, just a bit more of fighting.

I don't know if after capturing the outpost the end of the mission is still destroying all the Atreides-Emperor units. I could suggest to add (if possible) a small %timer on the mission win. The mercenary units alive (after destroying my small group) continue to destroy the rest of the remaining for the Atreides and Emperor; both were annihilated, and later was when I captured the outpost.

This means I captured the building, a text on screen appears but "mission win" and the screen went out before I could end reading the line.

 

 

[Fey]

  On 3/19/2018 at 10:14 PM, Cm_blast said:

OK, I download that very last Harkonnen mega-ultra-final-version 

  Reveal hidden contents

For now

Now, About mission 6 from Smuggler Campaign, version 2:

  Reveal hidden contents

The beggining it's hilarious: complaining about "scouting with Tanks?" well, Ordos Tanks are fast and have a bigger vision than raiders. I did well just with the initial tanks, better than having Raiders xD.

Overall the map was easy. Only a couple of vehicles here and there going against me. The thopters did the most damage to me. Also because the design of the map was really easy to take out enemy harverster in addition to the hard navigation that made the enemy to die trying to protect them.

I send a few troopers around the infantry-entrance area, but at the end just a combination of my army and the Mercenary we rampage half of the imperial base.

Later taking the merc base was harder than the version 1 (for obvious reasons), but not too much problem, just a bit more of fighting.

I don't know if after capturing the outpost the end of the mission is still destroying all the Atreides-Emperor units. I could suggest to add (if possible) a small %timer on the mission win. The mercenary units alive (after destroying my small group) continue to destroy the rest of the remaining for the Atreides and Emperor; both were annihilated, and later was when I captured the outpost.

This means I captured the building, a text on screen appears but "mission win" and the screen went out before I could end reading the line.

 

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Haha. XD It's a WIP thread, I'm gonna be making changes left and right. For now, those are the final versions until I get more feedback. I'll proceed with H6-H9 when I can.

  Reveal hidden contents

Raiders are crazy fast and very expendable! Yeah the Ordos tanks are quick, but eating pot-shots from Sardaukar in the rocks is better on a Raider than that tank you need out there supporting the mercenary troops.

The map is pretty easy since Durant handles the brunt of enemy attacks. I think I'll see about making one of the AIs prioritize you or something. Two waves of Ornis is pretty funky but not hard to counter with building placement and Missile Tank spam.

Aye, Durant is extremely well-entrenched on this map. He presents a significantly greater challenge than his S6V1 base after the turning point.

Yee. There are some serious weak spots in Durant's base, so that's all well and good!

Ah, yeah, good point. I'll see if I can add a short timer.

Just S9V2 and the Harkonnen maps left! Good luck.

[Cm_blast]

  On 3/19/2018 at 10:43 PM, Fey said:

but not hard to counter with building placement and Missile Tank spam.

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Bad thing you can't build rocket turrets or missile tanks =(.

  On 3/19/2018 at 10:43 PM, Fey said:

Just S9V2 and the Harkonnen maps left! Good luck.

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I am already prepared to died... or to play the map for 2 hours xD.

[Fey]

  On 3/19/2018 at 11:24 PM, Cm_blast said:

Bad thing you can't build rocket turrets or missile tanks =(.

I am already prepared to died... or to play the map for 2 hours xD.

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Starport! Unfortunately. Ordos gets the short end of the stick too But you start with three Missile Tanks, courtesy of Durant, so there's that at least.

Hehe. XD The part i need tuned shouldn't take THAT long! Unless you plan to try the whole thing, in which case... good luck. lol

[jbil1989]

I saw now ! for a long while I don't enter this site, and I saw o lot of nice campaing I downloaded

 

My first campaign Time Based Smugglers Campaign - Protect Mercenaries

Mini Campaign - Mercenaries Revenge ( Last 3 Mission )

 

Edited March 20, 2018 by jbil1989

[Fey]

Sweet! Hey man, if you want to test these maps out and provide some feedback on how they could be changed, that'd be great. S9V2's a tad overtuned, for instance. After this next testing phase, I'll release an update to the campaign including balancing changes according to peoples' suggestions, so now's a good time.

[Cm_blast]

Mmm... This it's suppose to happen in mission 9 v2?

 

I cleared the first land, a couple of MCV dropped and started to build. Then the line was trigger because my splash damage, so I loaded and attack them manually, both are "neutral", I don't know if this was suppose to happen or just a wrong flag somewhere.

Yup, now it's impossible to play xD, I get the message even when I retreat my units so... something it's wrong.

Edited March 27, 2018 by Cm_blast

[Fey]

  On 3/20/2018 at 10:26 PM, Cm_blast said:

Mmm... This it's suppose to happen in mission 9 v2?

 

I cleared the first land, a couple of MCV dropped and started to build. Then the line was trigger because my splash damage, so I loaded and attack them manually, both are "neutral", I don't know if this was suppose to happen or just a wrong flag somewhere.

Yup, now it's impossible to play xD, I get the message even when I retreat my units so... something it's wrong.

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Whoops, did I break something in the last update?

Thanks for checking that out, Cm. How did the first phase go? Did you manage to take the LZ and fight off the first Imperial base easily enough?

[Cm_blast]

  On 3/20/2018 at 10:43 PM, Fey said:

Whoops, did I break something in the last update?

Thanks for checking that out, Cm. How did the first phase go? Did you manage to take the LZ and fight off the first Imperial base easily enough?

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I destroyed the base, captured the CY (and sold it), I capture the Heavy Factory and sold it when I realice the initial heavy factory capture already was imperial. Then I captured the 4 silos; the other two deploy and that happens.

The first part was easy, the enemy barely builds anything (well, except rebuilding the turrets) and I am not a fast player, just 1 lonely trike and/or quad coming for bottom but that's it.

[Fey]

That's odd, I had Sonic Tanks and Devastators on me before I finished taking the Imperial base. You started with 12 Stealth Raiders, 6 Engineers, and 2 Saboteurs, right? And the Imperials tried to rebuild the Large Gun Turrets at the LZ?

[Cm_blast]

  On 3/20/2018 at 10:55 PM, Fey said:

That's odd, I had Sonic Tanks and Devastators on me before I finished taking the Imperial base. You started with 12 Stealth Raiders, 6 Engineers, and 2 Saboteurs, right? And the Imperials tried to rebuild the Large Gun Turrets at the LZ?

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Yes.

Noone come at me. Besides a trike, a infantry or so spawned by the buildings noone come at me.

[Fey]

  On 3/20/2018 at 11:48 PM, Cm_blast said:

Yes.

Noone come at me. Besides a trike, a infantry or so spawned by the buildings noone come at me.

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That's really weird. Okay, one more question: You know how much time elapsed on the map up to the point where the Ordos and mercs got there? Any idea?

[Cm_blast]

  On 3/20/2018 at 11:49 PM, Fey said:

That's really weird. Okay, one more question: You know how much time elapsed on the map up to the point where the Ordos and mercs got there? Any idea?

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15-20 minutes I think. the screen said 30 minutes when I quit, but I paused a moment.

Edited March 21, 2018 by Cm_blast

[Fey]

Alright. Thanks for the data. I'll be looking in to the issues with S9V2.

[Runtowin]

First, I will post my experience playing your missions.

S1V1:

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- I didn't realize that you need to build the barrack to continue. I interpreted "Choose wisely" as building either refinery or barrack.

- When Imperial MCV dropped in, I killed all their starting units with my starting units. After that, when trying to destroy their barrack, they got reinforcement and I had to retreat. Feelbad.

- However, those guys were easy as well, 7-10 troopers + remaining units slaughtered them all. I destroyed their CY right after they built Heavy Factory.

 

 

 

S1V2:

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- This mission was easier than the first version. I lured their troops to smuggler's base for an easy kill. Lost 1 combat tank, 1 quad, 3 raiders at the end.

 

S2V1:

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- I lured the enemy to Fremen's Sietch. Hoping that they would trigger hostility, then they fought each other, and they did. Unfortunately, the Sietch was destroyed soon after, to my disappointment. BTW, why would they want revenge on me, while the Imperial forces was the one who destroyed their Sietch?

- I found zero advantage from putting my infantry in the middle. One careless move and a siege tank wipe them.

- When I triggered the battle between Emperor & Fremen. They split their forces 25/75 between something in southeast and my base.

 

 

S2V2:

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- I managed to do destroy the base in the South, right after Summers left. I left a windtrap intact though. When I tried to destroy it later, hoping to reduce reinforcement, but they received another MCV. All effort wasted.

- I had a fun time playing cat&mouse, leading their troops away from the base. Combat tank was not that scary without Sardaukar.

- Overall, it's much harder than S2V1. I had to retry many times. Quite different compared with S1, where version 2 is easier than version 1.

- I wish you added a timer though.

 

 

S3V1:

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- When I destroyed Atreides first without ever meeting Harkonnen, the game was kinda messed up. Harkonnen became hostile with me, so I went to destroy his base but was greeted with "Hello. Let's talk business." from Summers. Harkonnen asked 5000 Credit. I happened to have that amount. The game ended right there, when I was turning everything in Harkonnen's base to dust.

- My second time, I want to destroy them both. So I built a huge army then station them in both sides' bases. Then attacked both at once while keeping credit below 5000. When I destroyed Harkonnen's base first, then their commander taunted "Your aid is worthless". C'mon, I don't even ally with you yet, get your fact straight.

- Third time, I played as intended. The difficulty was quite low. Mass raider win vs everything.

 

 

S3V2:

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- Early on, I built up economy. When Harkonnen came (without having enough credit), my economy was already running strong with 3 light factories and 3 barracks. Then I took everything I had, went straight to their base and razed everything down. To deal with combat tank, I had 2 of harvesters draw their fire, then picked them up one by one. The base was gone shortly after their first refinery.

- With Atreides, I lured everything inside the base out with raider, then kill them all, with troopers on rock. I sent 3 of my harvesters to their base, and squished any infantries they came across. While Atreides' Turrets focused-fired on these harvesters, my armies behind took them out with minimal casualty. The map was over quite fast.

- The mercenary kept Atreides at bay, so I didn't really have any problem building up economy.

 

 

 

S4V1:

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- I tempted to station my troops both sides, and destroy them all. But I guessed it would result in mission fail, so I didn't.

- I found fighting the Harkonnen was way easier than the Ordos, mostly because Harkonnen's base was so close, so you could lure them to mercenary's troops.

- I destroyed the Harkonnen's base before the first Ordos' attack. Their economy was already collapsing right at the moment of betrayal, due to exposed harvesters.

 

 

S5V1:

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- I was at lost at first. No idea that you had to find the Ixian yourself. I let the starting point destroyed due to panic when Ixians asked where I was.

- I also believed this was another defense mission without timer. I waited for while until I realized that enemy attacks was too weak for such mission.

- After that, it was just 1vs1. The enemy was not too tough.

- Hey, I saw your infinite reinforcement.

- I didn't do your optional challenge. Maybe I would do it later.

 

 

 

S6V1:

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- I deployed my MCV in Ordos' base. It seemed you intend the player to deploy in the southeast vacant lot. But why would I build in a place where I need to spend my resource defending when I could abuse rely on my ally?

- The enemy didn't seem to try to destroy the Starpost. I had my Grenadier waiting for them. What a shame.

- I destroyed the Atreides first, since they're closer to my base. They trained too many infantries. My siege tank + raider easily takes them out. I left a few useless buildings, hoping Ordos would remove them for me, then switched my attention to Emperor + Harkonnen.

- I stationed a medium group of vehicle + troopers in mercenary's base. However, I rarely use them, mercenary did well on their own, although Imperial units managed to destroy most turrets and Ixian research centre.

- The first time I played, I destroyed Durant's outpost as my stationed troops were already there before the relevant message told me not to. I had to reload. I thought it was a betrayal again.

- I found a trike in Ordos' starting unit.

 

 

S6V2:
 

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- *Saw safe spice field on the far right* *Deploy MCV in mercenary base*. Stealing mercenary's spice field feels good man. Then I massed turret in his base for an automatic defense.

- The enemy was too passive, they rarely attacked you, and their attack is just insignificant. I had a lot of free time developing my army.

- The twist was the same as V1. However, my turrets there killed all opposition when it began.

 

 

S7V1:

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- I'm playing this map, but so far the there is a huge leap in difficulty. The enemy keeps coming at you, so I have to build a turret wall, with siege tank + missile tank behind.

- I take it back. The key to this map, is your starting unit could destroy the refinery of small north base with few casualty, which will render the whole base useless. It become 1v3, and you will have much easier time.

- At 15-20 minute mark, I destroyed the west base. I built another CY there, since the entrance to the base is easy to defend, which granted me access to 2 big spice fields.

- Ten minutes later, I destroyed Sumadi's main base. I like the flanking route in the west. It took me to another 10 minutes to find all harvesters. They looked so much like mine.

- I found Imperial Trike near northwest cliff. Probably easter egg.

- Still harder than previous mission. But I kinda like the solution.

 

 

Have yet to play other missions. Coming soon.

 

Edited March 21, 2018 by Runtowin
Info++

[Cm_blast]

  On 3/21/2018 at 3:07 AM, Runtowin said:

but they received another MCV. All effort wasted

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I still have nightmares about this campaign xD.

  On 3/21/2018 at 3:07 AM, Runtowin said:

S3V1:

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Wow, you are literally broking his map. Goodwork.
(poor Fey).

  On 3/21/2018 at 3:07 AM, Runtowin said:

I found Imperial Trike near northwest cliff. Probably easter egg.

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I can tell he it's using it for the dialogues. I saw that unit too. I don't know if the game would be affected if you kill him (I think missile tanks were in range); probably not, but just in case I didn't try to destroy it.

Unfortunately in Dune 2000 it's not possible to do this: "5 minutes after X building it's destroyed, 20 tanks appears on screen".

[Fey]

Aww man, so much stuff! Okay, let's see what's up.

  On 3/21/2018 at 3:07 AM, Runtowin said:

S1V1:

  Reveal hidden contents

- I didn't realize that you need to build the barrack to continue. I interpreted "Choose wisely" as building either refinery or barrack.

- When Imperial MCV dropped in, I killed all their starting units with my starting units. After that, when trying to destroy their barrack, they got reinforcement and I had to retreat. Feelbad.

- However, those guys were easy as well, 7-10 troopers + remaining units slaughtered them all. I destroyed their CY right after they built Heavy Factory.

S1V2:

  Reveal hidden contents

- This mission was easier than the first version. I lured their troops to smuggler's base for an easy kill. Lost 1 combat tank, 1 quad, 3 raiders at the end.

S2V1:

  Reveal hidden contents

- I lured the enemy to Fremen's Sietch. Hoping that they would trigger hostility, then they fought each other, and they did. Unfortunately, the Sietch was destroyed soon after, to my disappointment. BTW, why would they want revenge on me, while the Imperial forces was the one who destroyed their Sietch?

- I found zero advantage from putting my infantry in the middle. One careless move and a siege tank wipe them.

- When I triggered the battle between Emperor & Fremen. They split their forces 25/75 between something in southeast and my base.

S2V2:

  Reveal hidden contents

- I managed to do destroy the base in the South, right after Summers left. I left a windtrap intact though. When I tried to destroy it later, hoping to reduce reinforcement, but they received another MCV. All effort wasted.

- I had a fun time playing cat&mouse, leading their troops away from the base. Combat tank was not that scary without Sardaukar.

- Overall, it's much harder than S2V1. I had to retry many times. Quite different compared with S1, where version 2 is easier than version 1.

- I wish you added a timer though.

S3V1:

  Reveal hidden contents

- When I destroyed Atreides first without ever meeting Harkonnen, the game was kinda messed up. Harkonnen became hostile with me, so I went to destroy his base but was greeted with "Hello. Let's talk business." from Summers. Harkonnen asked 5000 Credit. I happened to have that amount. The game ended right there, when I was turning everything in Harkonnen's base to dust.

- My second time, I want to destroy them both. So I built a huge army then station them in both sides' bases. Then attacked both at once while keeping credit below 5000. When I destroyed Harkonnen's base first, then their commander taunted "Your aid is worthless". C'mon, I don't even ally with you yet, get your fact straight.

- Third time, I played as intended. The difficulty was quite low. Mass raider win vs everything.

S3V2:

  Reveal hidden contents

- Early on, I built up economy. When Harkonnen came (without having enough credit), my economy was already running strong with 3 light factories and 3 barracks. Then I took everything I had, went straight to their base and razed everything down. To deal with combat tank, I had 2 of harvesters draw their fire, then picked them up one by one. The base was gone shortly after their first refinery.

- With Atreides, I lured everything inside the base out with raider, then kill them all, with troopers on rock. I sent 3 of my harvesters to their base, and squished any infantries they came across. While Atreides' Turrets focused-fired on these harvesters, my armies behind took them out with minimal casualty. The map was over quite fast.

- The mercenary kept Atreides at bay, so I didn't really have any problem building up economy.

S4V1:

  Reveal hidden contents

- I tempted to station my troops both sides, and destroy them all. But I guessed it would result in mission fail, so I didn't.

- I found fighting the Harkonnen was way easier than the Ordos, mostly because Harkonnen's base was so close, so you could lure them to mercenary's troops.

- I destroyed the Harkonnen's base before the first Ordos' attack. Their economy was already collapsing right at the moment of betrayal, due to exposed harvesters.

S5V1:

  Reveal hidden contents

- I was at lost at first. No idea that you had to find the Ixian yourself. I let the starting point destroyed due to panic when Ixians asked where I was.

- I also believed this was another defense mission without timer. I waited for while until I realized that enemy attacks was too weak for such mission.

- After that, it was just 1vs1. The enemy was not too tough.

- Hey, I saw your infinite reinforcement.

- I didn't do your optional challenge. Maybe I would do it later.

S6V1:

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- I deployed my MCV in Ordos' base. It seemed you intend the player to deploy in the southeast vacant lot. But why would I build in a place where I need to spend my resource defending when I could abuse rely on my ally?

- The enemy didn't seem to try to destroy the Starpost. I had my Grenadier waiting for them. What a shame.

- I destroyed the Atreides first, since they're closer to my base. They trained too many infantries. My siege tank + raider easily takes them out. I left a few useless buildings, hoping Ordos would remove them for me, then switched my attention to Emperor + Harkonnen.

- I stationed a medium group of vehicle + troopers in mercenary's base. However, I rarely use them, mercenary did well on their own, although Imperial units managed to destroy most turrets and Ixian research centre.

- The first time I played, I destroyed Durant's outpost as my stationed troops were already there before the relevant message told me not to. I had to reload. I thought it was a betrayal again.

- I found a trike in Ordos' starting unit.

S6V2:
 

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- *Saw safe spice field on the far right* *Deploy MCV in mercenary base*. Stealing mercenary's spice field feels good man. Then I massed turret in his base for an automatic defense.

- The enemy was too passive, they rarely attacked you, and their attack is just insignificant. I had a lot of free time developing my army.

- The twist was the same as V1. However, my turrets there killed all opposition when it began.

S7V1:

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- I'm playing this map, but so far the there is a huge leap in difficulty. The enemy keeps coming at you, so I have to build a turret wall, with siege tank + missile tank behind.

Have yet to play other missions. Coming soon.

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Replies:

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Thanks for testing, man! This'll help a lot when I update this campaign.

S1V1:

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Oh, that's interesting. Did you figure it out eventually or did you need to restart or something? The language barrier always presents some interesting issues, so perhaps I could rephrase what he says to make his requests more clear.

I'm glad to hear the Imperials gave you some initial trouble. They're supposed to be an easy enemy, but not be too hard to beat. They do have a higher tech level and they do build up pretty nicely, but you've had some time to build up, so it ultimately serves as a nice little tutorial 1v1.

S1V2:

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Not bad! Kiting is OP, from the sound of it. You have sufficient forces to destroy the Imperials without the aid of your ally; I gave the player limited units and control over the base so they would focus on that task at hand. I think I shall make it so Sumadi doesn't build any more units, or has a normal build rate of, like, 99999 or something.

S2V1:

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Aaaagh, stop kiting! You're breaking my maps!! XD

There is actually no trigger causing the Fremen to force-enemy on you, so you must have aggro'd them at some point. If you only kite stuff to them and let the Imperials aggro them completely, they should take revenge on the Imperials on their own.

Well, not the infantry on their own. If you place Siege Tanks or Missile Tanks behind the ridge, they're in a great spot to fire on enemy units. Light vehicles can swarm enemy forces in the dunes very easily. If you scout a little north of the ridge, you can see the Imperials coming. And, if you spread your infantry around on the rocks (one or two infantry per tile), you'll find they last a long while! There are a lot of infantry-only tiles and the Imperials place a much larger focus on Combat Tanks and Missile Tanks over Siege Tanks. If you keep some Quads ready for the Siege Tanks and take out the Sardaukar with Grenadiers or Trikes, the ridge is extremely tough for any of their other units to pass.

Do you think there is something else I should add to the ridge to make it more appealing? Maybe I should make the Grenadier reinforcements you get appear at the middle, that would provide some set-up.

S2V2:

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It's a survival map. Sumadi tells you to run and hold out for as long as you can, stating explicitly the new objective to the map. Attempting to destroy the Imperials' MCV team only makes it harder.

What unit composition did you use to defend the Sietch? I prefer Grenadiers and Troopers with Trikes. Makes the map very easy.

A timer's a good idea, but I think I would need to change up the win conditions to make it work. And, I'm waaay out of room on this map for new events. I'll see what I can do.

S3B1:

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Hey, you skipped the bonus mission? Sure, play through all choices of the main missions but skip the bonus one.

It appears on the listing right after S2 because that's where it falls in the storyline. The Harkonnen bonus mission is the same way.

S3V1:

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Holy hell, how did you break this map so much? The briefing explicitly states that you must form an alliance with either of the Houses as the primary objective. You're smugglers, not mercenaries! Combat is not necessarily the goal, or at least not the immediate goal, of the campaign.

Still, the odd behavior certainly helps me to flesh out these bugs. I guess I could change the Harkonnen dialogue if you do something silly like fight them. The limited space for events has been really killing me! This is one such map where the limitations show, but I got it working better in S4V1 where the player actually does have a choice in ally. Maybe I could change the map to be more like that one.

The intended gameplay for the map is probably among the easiest in the campaign. No one is really looking to kill you, you're there seeking business, and the Great Houses aren't throwing tanks at each-other yet. So, coincidentally, they're not throwing tanks at you either.

S3V2:

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Nicely done. The Harkonnen don't pose much of a threat to you in the version of this match where you don't ally with them, but without their aid, taking out the Atreides base is more difficult. The Harkonnen place a focus on Quads and Troopers if you leave them up and running.

Harvesters are pretty OP in the first few levels, or at least on either version of S3 and on S1V1. The Medium Gun Turrets and enemy numbers make up for this somewhat on S3V2. I simply use Raiders, Light Infantry or Grenadiers to beat up their infantry. Anyway, what do you think? Did they last long enough? You didn't say if a map was fun or not in your analyses, so... fun?

Aye. What did you think of the dialogue between Summers and Durant? He said he'd defend, so you should attack, and he had a reaction to your decision with the Harkonnen. And, did he defend your Harvesters and base very well, or did you have to help him here or there?

S4V1:

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The objectives of the map in the briefing state that you should preserve an alliance and strike a deal with the Ordos, not that you need to or should kill everyone. Again, it's a smugglers campaign! If you want to blow everything up, the Harkonnen campaign (still WIP) has much more straightforward objectives. And, indeed, it would result in mission failure to destroy the side you're supposed to protect!

That's good. Cm only fought the Ordos, so I had to get a feel for the Harkonnen. I agree that fighting them is easier, although mostly because I can get my own forces over to their base without any trouble. The way the story goes is, you've currently got an alliance with the Harkonnen, so you're pretty close to their base.

Do you think I should relocate the smuggler and mercenary bases so the Harkonnen have more space to themselves? Or, is this option fine as it is? They do have a lot of turrets to help stave off attacks, but once you make your alliance and turn on someone, the mercs follow suit and send all their forces. So, the map is over pretty quickly once this development arises.

I think I could make the Ordos' first attack happen sooner, just in case the player goes and sees them early.

S5V1:

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The objective in the briefing explicitly states, "Prevent the destruction of the Ixian base." Summers also thinks of reaching the base, twice, and when the time comes to fight the Harkonnen, Aurelianus also explicitly states, "You must fight the Harkonnen," as long as her Starport is still up and running. Otherwise, the map is already lost, but just doesn't say so yet. The objectives are very clear.

I'm glad that Aurelianus' cry for help reached your ears, though. I put that in just for this exact purpose!

RIP the starting position, though. That's a pity.

How did you approach the enemy on this map? They have a large and formidable base. And hey, those reinforcements aren't infinite! I added those because the secondary AI occasionally broke during testing. Not only are there only a few units in those reinforcements, but the Outpost can be destroyed to prevent further drops! It's fair.

That's okay, I appreciate the testing on its own. Where did you set up your MCV?

And, you didn't comment on the mod, either! Cm had a lot of qualms about the more expensive buildings and upgrades. What do you think of all that? And what did you think of Troopers and Trikes on S1, and Quads and Grenadiers on S2 / S3? Isn't the tech changed up nicely?

S6V1:

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Good question. Summers actually asks about that in the briefing, but Moriaen recommends the rock to the south, although she also says she doesn't mind if you set up in her base. So, that was an intentional choice.

As for the answer, the main threat of losing this map comes from losing the Outpost in the middle of the map. The Ordos Starport is completely out of danger and almost certainly won't be lost before Durant's Outpost. Enemy forces will extremely often prefer to send troops to the middle, almost always completely ignoring you on the south side of the map. The occasional attack can be fended off with a single Medium Gun Turret and a few Raiders or Quads.

The Atreides AIs I'm using tend to put a greater focus on Light Infantry and Siege Tanks. The Harkonnen, on the other hand, prefer more raw firepower in the form of Quads and Missile Tanks. I'll certainly ask the Atreides to build more armor on this map, though.

I'm glad to hear that the mercenaries held their own fairly well, although I'm thinking I should strengthen enemy attacks and make it more engaging at midfield. I'm also sorry to hear about the whole Outpost destruction thing, but, uhh... whenever an objective changes, it is stated in-game through dialogue, and the objective didn't automatically become "kill him" just because he wants to kill you! Summers and Durant are old time friends, after all. They just have very different wants and needs, which I plan to explore more in the mercenary campaign.

But yeah, it was a betrayal. Just, with a different objective.

Huh? The Ordos don't start with any Trikes. They must have ordered one from the Starport.

S6V2:

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Durant already has a turret line! It's fine! XD

This map is currently undertuned. I'll be looking for ways to increase enemy difficulty for sure. How'd you manage the two air strike squads? Did you spread your structures, tech right up to Starport for Missile Tanks, place lots of Concrete...?

Yep. The twist on either version of S6 is the same since they both lead in to S7. Sumadi's been trying to get you killed so he can go back to business as usual; your fooling around with the Great Houses has been bugging him, but you have some influence among the smugglers now. So, he's kind of screwed.

S7V1:

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You didn't finish it yet? Okay, I'll be keeping my ears out. Yeah, Cm also found this map was a huge spike in difficulty, so I'll be adjusting it for sure. And, I'll adjust the previous maps to be more difficult.

See you on S7-S9! And in the Harkonnen campaign.

 

  On 3/21/2018 at 12:58 PM, Cm_blast said:

I still have nightmares about this campaign xD.

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Hopefully in a good way?

  On 3/21/2018 at 12:58 PM, Cm_blast said:

Wow, you are literally broking his map. Goodwork.
(poor Fey).

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T_T

  On 3/21/2018 at 12:58 PM, Cm_blast said:

I can tell he it's using it for the dialogues. I saw that unit too. I don't know if the game would be affected if you kill him (I think missile tanks were in range); probably not, but just in case I didn't try to destroy it.

Unfortunately in Dune 2000 it's not possible to do this: "5 minutes after X building it's destroyed, 20 tanks appears on screen".

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Aww man, did he edit his post while I was writing mine? Lol I didn't see that. I tend to keep a page up for a while and write more between other things.

I guess I'll refresh the page and look.

[Fey]

  On 3/21/2018 at 3:07 AM, Runtowin said:

S7V1:

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- I'm playing this map, but so far the there is a huge leap in difficulty. The enemy keeps coming at you, so I have to build a turret wall, with siege tank + missile tank behind.

- I take it back. The key to this map, is your starting unit could destroy the refinery of small north base with few casualty, which will render the whole base useless. It become 1v3, and you will have much easier time.

- At 15-20 minute mark, I destroyed the west base. I built another CY there, since the entrance to the base is easy to defend, which granted me access to 2 big spice fields.

- Ten minutes later, I destroyed Sumadi's main base. I like the flanking route in the west. It took me to another 10 minutes to find all harvesters. They looked so much like mine.

- I found Imperial Trike near northwest cliff. Probably easter egg.

- Still harder than previous mission. But I kinda like the solution.

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Ah, here we go.

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Oh wow, that's a good find. I think I'll move that Refinery back a tad.

Yep, I like to set up there as well. The Spice fields nearest the player are, you know, temporary. So, expansion becomes pretty essential!

Ah, I'm sorry you had trouble finding Sumadi's Harvesters. If you check the minimap, you'll see he has a nice, bold red compared to your dark brown color. That should help. If you capture Sumadi's Outpost instead, his remaining forces will stand down.

I believe that unit spawned when you destroyed his Outpost. It's an end-game condition unit, I think, but I should certainly move it so it can't be destroyed!

The solution? Do you mean... you prefer it harder, this way? I do as well, but it's difficult striking a balance. There are so many things a player might do, like what you did on S3V1, so. There's a lot to consider! I appreciate all the testing and feedback, this will help immensely when I update the campaign again.

Thanks.

Edited March 21, 2018 by Fey

[Cm_blast]

  On 3/21/2018 at 1:06 PM, Fey said:

And, you didn't comment on the mod, either! Cm had a lot of qualms about the more expensive buildings and upgrades.

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Plot twist, he it's not even using your modded stuff xD. That would be hilarious.

[Fey]

  On 3/21/2018 at 1:24 PM, Cm_blast said:

Plot twist, he it's not even using your modded stuff xD. That would be hilarious.

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He would need to play over it again for intended gameplay XD

He mentioned Grenadiers on S6V1 though, so.