[WIP] Harkonnen Campaign progress thread

[Fey]

On 3/27/2018 at 11:20 AM, Runtowin said:

H3V1:

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- Enemy attacked in really small wave. I meant 1-3 units at first. There were bigger wave later on, but mostly like that.

- I took out Summers the Great first. I knew she would be trouble, and she actually was.

- They were supposed to surrender, but I was in middle of my rampage, so they turned hostile  again. Destroyed the whole base.

- Then I took out the Atreides base. The entrance was small, and consisted of many guards. Thanks harvester for tanking the way.

- I destroyed Summers' base again after I took out Atreides CY.

- I feel this mission is easier than H2V1. The enemy mostly left me alone building a massive army of light vehicle, infantry, and harvester.

 

Spoiler

I dunno why the Atreides aren't attacking on H3V1 like they should. I'll tinker with the AI again and see what I can do.

 

On 3/27/2018 at 11:20 AM, Runtowin said:

H3V2:

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- Enemy attack was not too tough, but at least better than H3V1.

- I took out the mercenary's base directly to the north right after the message.

- MCV arrived. I set up a barrack, a refinery, a few windtraps there.

- I used infantry to guard the bridge, hoping to waste their resource.

- I destroyed the small base to the west my starting position. Didn't destroy the left part because I didn't see it.

- Guess what? Ordos charged in with a harvester crushing all my infantry under his its track, while grenadier followed. My top base didn't last long.

- As a revenge, I took out Ordos base without using harvester. They fall really fast.

- The topleft base was little tricky, mostly because of small path. Had to attack multiple time, and drained their resource by constantly destroying harvesters.

- When the topleft base was done, after a bit of scouting, I found the left part of the west bases. Destroying it resulted in a massive amount light infantry appeared. Game crashed right after.

 

Spoiler

Hehe, sorry about the light infantry thing. I don't know how I missed that during testing. Up until that point sounds pretty good though!

 

On 3/27/2018 at 11:20 AM, Runtowin said:

H4V1:

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- The first time, I went together with Gunseng, For some reason, his infantries attacked me! Guess I broke something.

- I restarted, now went to destroy the east base properly. When my MCV came, Gunseng leisurely controlled his tanks to destroy harvesters. C'mon, take your job seriously.

- Same behaviors as H3V1. While I was building my economy, enemy constantly attacked with 1-3 unit, alternated with a bigger wave, but not tough.

- Later on, Gunseng took most of Atreides attack from me.

- The bottomright base annoyed me based on the fact that harvesters kept respawn despite destroying all buildings nearby.

- I flanked from the bottom, and destroyed the main base shortly after. I daresay this map is easier than H3 & H2.

 

Spoiler

Again with the AI not attacking proper? Ugh. Okay, I'll have a look at this one too.

Gunseng asked you to kill the east base. Go to the east base, not the west! Gunseng has to be a neutral entity for the start of the game because otherwise the player would see the MCV in some corner of the map. It's an immersion thing.

 

8 hours ago, Runtowin said:

HBON:

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- I managed to defend the Harkonnen's initial attack. When I destroyed Red Harkonnen's MCV, two more appeared. What?

- "Stand your ground" ? Were you serious, First Lieutenant? This mission was hard for you? Demote time!

- The game ended pretty quick, since their bases were in early state.

- Is this supposed to be a defense map? I saw the timer, and the briefing hinted at that. Maybe a leftover from testing.

- Overall, it was easy, quick map. Same as smuggler's bonus map, I guess.

 

Spoiler

I absolutely hate your turret spam, mate. It's driving me nuts, I swear.

I'm going to need to throw some extra attacks on some weird area of the map or something just to get the player out of the base. And add a bunch more Troopers for them to start with. They get multiple MCVs flown in in case the player is able to destroy the first one, but clearly that wasn't a problem for you.

If you'd like, I'd appreciate a second test where you don't completely halt their invasion before it begins. This is a survival map, and while it is possible to beat up the AI, their INITIAL attack is supposed to not be stopped. So, I need to adjust that.

 

8 hours ago, Runtowin said:

H5V1:

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- I hate how limited building space in this map. I was unable to build Outpost and High Tech Factory.

- Gunseng was kinda a liability midgame. I had to delay my attack to defend his base and his harvesters. At that point, all he build was harvester, harvester and harvester.

- I built 4 turret in his base so I did not need to defend with my own force.

- The constant attack kept me busy. Although I managed to destroy 2 forward bases, at the same time, Gunseng recovered, and spam unit like he had never did.

- Gunseng and I destroyed Atreides together, then took out Imperal base.

 

Spoiler

What? Gunseng builds lots of Harvesters? I mean, he's supposed to build some, but not spam them. I'll check and make sure I didn't break something.

Limited building space. Got it. I'll see what I can do about adding more terrain.

I'm glad the enemy is attacking more. That's good. And it's nice to hear that Gunseng and you took the fight to them together; that was my experience on H4V1 and this one as well, for the last stages of the map. He's supposed to be a reliable ally.

What did you think of the turret nests with the Sonic Tanks in them? Pretty neat midfield landmarks?

Thanks for testing, man! I appreciate it.

Edited March 28, 2018 by Fey

[Runtowin]

Ok then, I'll replay mission bonus.

 

Spoiler

20 hours ago, Fey said:

think of the turret nests with the Sonic Tanks in them? Pretty neat midfield landmarks?

Yep, it's like a fortress.

20 hours ago, Fey said:

What? Gunseng builds lots of Harvesters? I mean, he's supposed to build some, but not spam them. I'll check and make sure I didn't break something.

It's because they're often killed, so he has to rebuild them.

 

 

[Fey]

2 hours ago, Runtowin said:

Ok then, I'll replay mission bonus.

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Yep, it's like a fortress.

It's because they're often killed, so he has to rebuild them.

 

Spoiler

Oh, yeah, I see. I'll see if I can figure something out to help him a little more. Thanks!

 

[Runtowin]

HBON (Defensive):

Spoiler

- I left the north base be destroyed and retreat all my troops to 2 nearest blockades, and fortified my positions.

- I again massed turret, and put Grenadier behind turrets.

- After that, it was quite boring imo. Enemy wasn't tough enough to clear all my turrets, they could destroy 2 at most and I can easily replace them.

- Around midgame, I was sure I had enough tank to destroy their bases anytime I wanted to.

- My suggestion is making enemy harder, so it actually feels like a survival.

BTW, your terrain skills in this campaign is way better than in Smugglers' campaign. Good job.

Edited April 4, 2018 by Runtowin

[Fey]

18 hours ago, Runtowin said:

HBON (Defensive):

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- I left the north base be destroyed and retreat all my troops to 2 nearest blockades, and fortified my positions.

- I again massed turret, and put Grenadier behind turrets.

- After that, it was quite boring imo. Enemy wasn't tough enough to clear all my turrets, they could destroy 2 at most and I can easily replace them.

- Around midgame, I was sure I had enough tank to destroy their bases anytime I wanted to.

- My suggestion is making enemy harder, so it actually feels like a survival.

BTW, your terrain skills in this campaign is way better than in Smugglers' campaign. Good job.

Thanks for the feedback Runtowin! I've been super busy, so sorry about the late reply XD

Spoiler

That's good. I hoped that opening up the middle of the map would make things more interesting... the original version only had one path to go.

That's very good. That's very hard to get past.

I'm sorry it was boring though. Did you at least go and kill them after they built up a bit with the army you'd amassed?

Believe it or not, those AIs are completely optimized. One focuses on infantry and light vehicles right away to prevent the player from rushing them early while the other techs right into tanks and firepower. Edit the map and give yourself a bunch of Rocket Turrets / Sonic Tanks and then just watch either side 0 or side 2; you'll see how quickly and efficiently they build up. The map would certainly be harder if the Harkonnen STARTED with bases, buuuut this is a bonus mission and I want to do SOMETHING weird on every bonus mission. The player should not be able to kill them early but they should also not need to hide behind turrets the whole time. That was my goal with this map.

There are four MORE AIs on the map that land if the enemy takes ground at all. They are optimized, but limited. The initial two AIs are completely unlimited and will build 3 of each sort of factory if left alone, and their economies are surprisingly stable according to all tests performed. If you do watch them in action, I'm curious what you think!

Thanks. I actually built these off the original campaign maps, rather than making them from scratch (like the smugglers campaign), so that has something to do with it for sure.