[Closed/Finished] Mercenary Campaign - Fall of Emperor

[Runtowin]

Update (July 17th, 2021): This campaign is considered finished because I had lost all ideas on how to continue this campaign. I apologize for any inconvenience this might cause.
Thank you for all your supports.

 

My first campaign. Still WIP. But here we go.

 

The plot:

The campaign takes place in a what-if scenario where 3 Great House failed to kill the padishah emperor in "WOA: SS" campaign by aKaFedaYkin. The combined army of Spacing Guild and House Corrino launched a counter-offensive against all 3 great houses. The result is devastated.

House Ordos simulated their eventual destruction against the Emperor. They decided to booby trap their building, and hid the rest of the army somewhere in Arrakis, using their Stealth Technology. House Ordos raids Emperor/Spacing Guild's mining facility almost everyday and send intel to their allies. They calculate that this is the best way to profit from the situation.

Baron Harkonnen's was KIA during a battle against Sardaukar. This created a power vacuum between Copec Harkonnen and Gunseng Harkonnen. Copec allies himself with the Emperor, refusing to work with their eternal enemy, Atreides. While Gunseng reject the traitorous emperor, believing that Copec is being used by him, and will be disposed later.

House Atreides is the main target of the Emperor's offensive operation. Shaddam IV thinks that house Atreides is the biggest problem and need to destroyed first. However, to keep house Harkonnen and house Ordos at bay, he supplies weapons and tanks to Copec, so that he could fight his brother, and deploy search party for Ordos's outpost. Much to smuggler's dismay, he also claim all spice as his, and require his permission to harvest, no need to say that the price for such paper is absurd. Anyone who doesn't have his permission is permanently retired.

Spacing Guild refuses all transportation between Arrakis and 3 homeworld of house Harkonnen, Atreides, and Ordos, they profit from harvesting spice under Emperor's protection.

A few concerned noble house of Landsraad fears the rising power of house Corrino and Spacing Guild. They fear the combination of space travel monopoly, spice monopoly, and Sardaukar would allow Shaddam IV to swallow up the Landsraad. They contract you, a renowned leader of now-disbanded mercenary group to prevent such future. They will transfer a huge amount of money to your bank to get you started, because any other methods might reveal their involvement in Arrakis' affair.

After signing the contract, you contact Jim, your previous right hand man, to bring you and your newly-formed mercenary group to Arrakis. Jim, actually his codename, while looking unreliable, but is pretty ruthless and capable during his time as mercenary. He joined the smuggler's guild shortly after the group's disbandment, seeking the thrill of battle. He climbed rank rapidly, and now he is the leader of smuggler guild's branch in Arrakis.

With that, start your story in the desert planet of Dune.

 

The campaign features:

• 25+ missions.
• Twist. Everyone loves plot twist.
• Often rich in money, but low tech.
• Unique objective.
• Multiple ways to complete objective.

 

Progress:

• Mission 1-4: Done. Re-balancing.
• Mission 5: Done. Re-balancing.
• Mission 6: Done. Re-balancing.
• Mission 7: Done. Re-balancing.
• Mission 8: Testing.
• Mission 9: Scripting.
• Mission 10: Mapping.
• Mission 11: Scripting.
• Mission 12: Mapping.

 

Download:

Merc - FOE v1.1.rar

How to install:

1. Extract the contents to their respective folder in /data/ folder in your Dune 2000 installation.
2. Ensure that you have the lastest version of Dune 2000, Mission Launcher, and "Tiledata.bin".
3. Launch mission through mission launcher.

 

Changelog:

• FOE v1.0 -> v1.1:

Spoiler

Mission 1:

• Remove MCV, you start with a barrack instead.
• Reduce your starting infantry, but gain 2 Raiders and a turret.
• Nerf your reinforcement to match new balance.
• Reduce smuggler's reinforcement.
• Adjust Imperial reinforcement to match new balance.
• Fix bad terrain tiles.
• Fix long message on 640x480 resolution.
• Fix briefing (credits to Fey). Add additional info about Jim.

 

Mission 2:

• -2 turrets on upper Imperial base.
• -1 Windtrap on upper Imperial base.
• Significantly reduce lower Imperial base build time in late game.
• Fix bad terrain tiles.
• Fix briefing (credits to Fey). Add additional info about Atreides. Now it tells you what to do on this map.

 

Mission 3:

• Fix bad terrain tiles.
• Fix briefing (credits to Fey).

 

Mission 4:

• Atreides' behavior is changed. They now has a high iinitial build time, but reduce rapidly over time.
• Cut most Atreides' reinfocement. But the last reinfocement is stronger.
• Reduce timer to 50 minutes, adjust the enemy reinforcement accordingly.
• Add 2 infantry path to southwest base.
• Add 1 infantry path to abandoned factory.
• Adjust southwest base defense to fit new path.
• Weaken northeast base defense.
• Adjust the layout of southwest base.
• Adjust smuggler's reinforcement.
• Fix briefing (credits to Fey). Add additional info about Spacing Guild.

 

Mission 5:

• Added.

Mission 6:

• Added.

Mission 7:

• Added.

Note:

I intend for these missions to be more difficult than original campaign. So play to your maximum capability.

The campaign is still work in progress, there might be additional changes to existing mission.

I greatly appreciate your feedbacks, possible bugs, bad English (English is not my native language), especially balancing concerns, as my skill is not that good, and I balance based on that.

Let me know if you found any cheese tactics as well.

Thanks for playing my campaign. I hope you have had a great time.

 

 

Edited July 17, 2021 by Runtowin
Update status.

[Feda]

Really glad to see someone using my storyline for a campaign. The plot sounds pretty good, i like the copec/gunseng split towards Emperor/anti-emperor sides. This reflects the previous Harkonnen separation when it came to the allegiance towards the emperor (from missions 7-8 in the normal woa Harkonnen campaign). The Landsraad Houses funding the mercenaries is also a nice idea, I am curious how this will work with the 3 houses stuck on Arrakis which are also part of the Landsraad. 

 

Will probably try the missions as soon as I have some free time.

[Cm_blast]

Making the Mercenary a group hired by the landsraad it's a interesting concept. They even can be "strong" just because all the resources combined for the Landsraad even with their low tech.

Also, lots of plot.

Oh, also there are custom .uib files. I am wondering what those will change.

At this point I am in the middle of the Fey's one, but as soon as I finish that I'll play your available maps.

[Fey]

Hell yeah! That sounds pretty interesting, man, I can't wait to try this out.

2 hours ago, FedaYkin said:

ermergerd

ERMERGERD FEDAYKIN IS ALIIIVE!! Mate! Where ya been? I missed ya!

[Runtowin]

3 hours ago, FedaYkin said:

I am curious how this will work with the 3 houses stuck on Arrakis which are also part of the Landsraad. 

House Ordos, Harkonnen, and Atreides don't know about the deal. The one who hires the mercenary is selected houses in Landsraad, who is non-ally with Corrino. They have to be extremely careful, any contact with 3 great house in Arrakis is too obvious, and probably considered suspicious in the emperor's eyes.

 

3 hours ago, FedaYkin said:

Really glad to see someone using my storyline for a campaign.

I really like your WOA & SS campaigns, better than the orignal. Because i feel the Sardaukar is too weak in the original campaign.

I have beat all your missions, except Atreides 2 in WOA. Your later missions are easier than the earlier one, I think.

 

3 hours ago, Cm_blast said:

They even can be "strong" just because all the resources combined for the Landsraad even with their low tech.

Probably, but putting everything in one card isn't wise, don't you think?

I'm exploring the rich concept. I think it forces more decision-making during early phase. For example, I can give very few starting units, and you have to rush turret, barrack to deal with early attack; or pushing spice field far away, close to enemy base.

 

1 hour ago, Fey said:

Hell yeah! That sounds pretty interesting, man, I can't wait to try this out.

For some reason, I feel nervous now.

[Fey]

Just now, Runtowin said:

For some reason, I feel nervous now.

Hehe, don't be. I've been doing the D2k editing thing for a while now, and I've had some of my maps looked at by really awesome vets like Cm and Feda. I may be a little harsh on some maps, but I hope to help a mapper improve! So, I'll give you some really good feedback for the first few maps since you're new here. Cool?

[Runtowin]

17 minutes ago, Fey said:

Hehe, don't be. I've been doing the D2k editing thing for a while now, and I've had some of my maps looked at by really awesome vets like Cm and Feda. I may be a little harsh on some maps, but I hope to help a mapper improve! So, I'll give you some really good feedback for the first few maps since you're new here. Cool?

I don't mind harsh criticism. In fact, I need your feedback so I could gauge the difficulty of my mission better. Hope it won't be too easy for you.

[Fey]

2 minutes ago, Runtowin said:

I don't mind harsh criticism. In fact, I need your feedback so I could gauge the difficulty of my mission better. Hope it won't be too easy for you.

On the contrary, I just beat the first one and it was too hard. I'll give ya the full run-down once I'm done with the other three maps.

[Feda]

2 hours ago, Fey said:

Hell yeah! That sounds pretty interesting, man, I can't wait to try this out.

ERMERGERD FEDAYKIN IS ALIIIVE!! Mate! Where ya been? I missed ya!

I've been really busy (and still am) with university and work. Doing both at the same time takes most of the day. My War of Assassins: Sandstorm sequel campaign is still there in some folder, with just 2 missions developed  Wanted to continue it at some point, but I got discouraged by the impossibility to modify colors per map (a setting in the ini file for colors would be awesome), since I want to add some new houses to the scene (and new planets) and i'd need custom colors. I remember funkyfresh said he might add this feature, but it never happened. I've been lurking on the forum from time to time, checking what's new, and even wanted to reply to some topics like the smuggler one but I forgot xD. Besides, I'm working on a game for my graduation project (as in, a real game, developed in Unity) and that takes up even more time, but nonetheless that is really fun to work on.

 

57 minutes ago, Runtowin said:

I really like your WOA & SS campaigns, better than the orignal. Because i feel the Sardaukar is too weak in the original campaign.

I have beat all your missions, except Atreides 2 in WOA. Your later missions are easier than the earlier one, I think.

Yep, I had the same feeling about the Sardaukar in the original. I mean I know it's not the Corrino homeworld, but c'mon, it's the freakin' emperor, does he come on Arrakis with a bunch of minuscule bases as presented in the original campaigns, serving literally no role in the storyline other than "this guy is also here on Arrakis and he is gonna help anyone I am against with a bunch of small shitty armies"? 

[Fey]

Dang, man! I'm glad to hear things are going well for ya. I've been busy, myself. It's nice to hear from you! When you do have some time to return, I've got some Harkonnen maps that need testing and Cm's checking my smuggler campaign again, so I'm going to re-tune that yet again to hopefully make it even better.

Haha, and you guys feel the same way about the Emperor. Glad I'm not alone on that one.

[Fey]

@RuntowinI've played through the first few maps that were released! Details below the spoiler. You asked for feedback on certain things, so I'll focus on that.

Spoiler

MAP01:
As a native English speaker, I can assist you with your spelling and grammar if you'd like. I'll re-write your briefings with corrections, take 'em or leave 'em.

Jim: Welcome to Arrakis, boss! In order to get acquainted with the weather here, you could supervise a Spice-harvesting operation. I have managed to locate a Spice field undisturbed by the Emperor. Recently, they have been actively hunting for anyone that dares to harvest "his" Spice. Good thing that Spice field is surrounded by the mountain. I doubt that the Emperor would find us here.

Jim: Scouts report that there is a small Imperial base to the north. Apparently, they're looking for something there, but that shouldn't be our concern.

Objective: Casually help Jim locate the smuggler leader to harvest Spice.

I've always capitalized the names of the Great Houses and left generic organizations like the smugglers and mercenaries uncapitalized, but that's a stylistic choice, I think. On the other hand, I believe Spice is always capitalized for some reason. Correct me if I'm wrong.

As for the level itself, it was looking pretty good at the start! There was a nice defensible ridge here, but there are a couple of technicalities.


First, notice how one of the messages clipped over the timer and onto the sidebar? At the default resolution, that's what will happen. I suggest setting your resolution to default during testing to check for that kinda thing!

Second, there's a segment of cliff with some rock that's mistakenly placed. It's a minor aesthetic error, nothing important, but I figured you'd like to know. I believe there's another misplaced tile near the MCV drop-off point, so there may be more around the map.

Now, I have some actual problems with the gameplay so far. I wouldn't mind use of reinforcements only until the MCV arrives, but there are way too few of them. When those light vehicles showed up, they annihilated my Light Infantry and nearly annihilated my Siege Tank before the Troopers and Quad arrived at my base. Then, I had nothing to defend against the new waves of Sardaukar with, and couple that with the Imperial reinforcements popping up all over the place and suddenly I've lost a ton of buildings everywhere.

Pre-knowledge offers you great security during testing, but there has to be room for error for the ones you're introducing to your map. For example, I lost that Wind Trap all the way on the west side of the base during the very first attack because most of my buildings were centered on the east side. I expected more attacks from that direction at first. This is a common balancing issue, so don't sweat it! That's what a second opinion is for. And, as you said, it's WIP.

If you gave the player a Barracks to start with, it would allow him to make his own stuff for a while until the MCV arrives, and that'll do everything from fix the early-game balancing issues to help stave off the damn worm before it eats one of the Harvesters. As it did one of mine.

When the Imperials dropped in from behind me, they took a second Wind Trap before I had any chance to react (because Troopers are not mobile and I only have one Quad), which knocked out my power. I sold some Silos to get the radar back because I thought this was a harvest-Spice mission with reinforcements, only to find that when that MCV arrived, I was down a ton of Solaris. I had time to get a Barracks up and take out another wave of Sardaukar with the reinforcement Siege Tanks, since I lost my first one by this point, and I was using a few Light Infantry to take out the small wave coming from the east, only to see a crapton of Trikes and such come in from the southwest and annihilate my remaining Siege Tanks. Checkmate.

So, the kind of precision expected from the player for a map like this is quite high. I'd say you could fix this with significantly more reinforcements, especially some Light Vehicles, or a production structure to start. Maybe tip the player that if there's trouble, an MCV will drop in, or something indicating that the Silos are there stocking stuff up for a reason. The reveal map triggers for the main enemy attack route was a great idea, and you might be able to use more of them near the end of the map.

There's also kinda no room to build stuff. And, if a lot of reinforcements happen at once, it might screw with the AI a tad, so those final reinforcements don't necessarily hunt like they should.

I edited the map a little - added some more terrain, changed up reinforcements, removed a mercenary Harvester, moved the turret, added a Barracks, added a couple of Raiders, etc. I was able to scout the map with the Raiders, the MGT near the Refinery worked out better, even with less funds I was able to do more. Here's the packed up edited map file, so let me know if you like those changes! Even if you don't plan on keeping 'em, I hope they give you some other ideas about what do to. ^^
WIP_FOE1.zip

For the record: The map concept was neat, the terrain structure was cool (especially the Infantry Rock), the smugglers were helpful, and your general unit composition for reinforcements was acceptable, although numbers a little small for what the enemy was throwing at us. Good map, just needed some adjustment, I think.

MAP02:
Ohh, Jim is the smuggler commander? The briefing for MAP01's still off then. XD Sorry, I guess I must have missed that detail. Anyway, here's the adjusted briefing for MAP02:
Jim: That was my tenth base this month, all destroyed. They always smell us somehow.

Atreides Commander: That's House Corrino for you. Eyes everywhere. Anyway, I saw you two fight in the valley. That was a splendid show out there. I was astonished by your tactical decisions. Would you consider working together with us?

Atreides Commander: And you, you're some kind of Mercenary Commander, correct? Do not worry, we will pay handsomely.

You: Let's hear it.

Atreides Commander: The mission is to repel the Emperor's army out of the Atreides' last military base. My men are still fighting bravely but they can't hold it much longer. All the Spice in the plain has been harvested, but it is still rich in the hill. Your task is to destroy all the Harvesters coming from the Emperor's forward base to harvest the Spice there. This will halt their production and allow us to counter-attack. Meanwhile, the smugglers will bring our troops from Caladan. All I need is your cooperation. An MCV will be provided. If you two agree, our mentat will hand you the formal contract.

Jim: I will contact the main Guild. They're pissed about the development here though.

Objective: Destroy all enemy Harvesters until the Atreides wipe out the Emperor's forward base in the plain. The Atreides must survive.

I also tend to capitalize unit and structure names, but that's another stylistic choice. Take it or leave it.

On to the level itself! I like this level. I like it a lot! You seem to have a real knack for terrain layout, but there are once again some weird tiles out of place. Moving through the turret-covered terrain was pretty fun, but there were a feeew too many turrets, I think. You could remove some in the rear areas of the side 1 base. I don't mind the Siege Tank reinforcements and Sardaukar in the rear since that Outpost is revealed pretty early and it's easy to take out, but I suggest making the reveal-map trigger for the Outpost a liiittle bigger. I had already scouted a bunch and it was kind of hard to notice that new patch of purple poking out of the black on my minimap.

I like that side 1 uses multiple Light Factories and Barracks to pump out more units without the use of reinforcements. That was nice to see.

My only real complaint is that after I took out sides 1 and 2, I quickly found that I was totally unable to move to the south side of the map. And, having taken a look in the editor after this point, I noticed the win condition says that side 3 needs to die. And... well, I can't do anything about that. The Atreides weren't even close to beating them when I got around to it. You should change the win condition to after sides 1 and 2 are taken out.

So, great map. Did you lurk around here for a little before posting and try some of mine and Cm's maps, in addition to Feda's WoA campaign? If so, you learned well from our examples! If not, why haven't you yet? Go try some stuff.

MAP03:
Here's the updated briefing.

Atreides Commander: Great job on the last mission! You've earned your reward. Now, we've received juicy info from House Ordos. A high-ranked Imperial officer will move through this region to meet with the Emperor. Unfortunately, due to the sandstorm, he'll need to make an emergency landing and switch Carryalls to make it there. Your job is to prevent him from succeeding.

You: (Hmmm, we have to wait until he lands in the first place. Sounds inefficient. We could just destroy the Air Control Center to prevent him from landing...)

Atreides Commander: The security there is high, as expected. We will provide a special cloak made with Ordos stealth technology. They can bypass vehicles without detection. However, infantry and turrets will fire on you if you get close.

You: I'm going to hire men suitable for this mission. Consider it done.

Objective: Kill the Sardaukar officer by either destroying the Air Control Center before he lands, or by intercepting his transfer to the new Carryall.

Intels:
- The target wears armor made of gold. He is a jerk, not liked by fellow officers.
- The target will arrive in approximately 9 minutes.
- Turrets and infantry can detect nearby invisible units.
- Due to radio interference, you have to command from a nearby hidden Outpost. Do not let it be destroyed, nor sold.

Now on to the level itself. Pretty interesting concept! I noticed the Fremen Fedaykin were called "Assassins" when moused over. Neat.

It was a little confusing at first, but I managed to make it to the airport and intercept the guy. I made it out with one Assassin at 50% HP. The ways to go aren't too obvious, but I navigated okay. Maybe instead of a bunch of Reveal Map triggers, you can make the Imperial infantry spread all over the place the player's ally for, like, half a second, and then set them back to enemy? That would reveal all the trouble spots on the map.

As with the other two maps, there are some funny terrain tiles in weird places. Some of the rock is just straight-up cut off in a couple of places.

MAP04:
Here's the updated briefing for the last map available at the moment.

Atreides Mentat: Our spy has confirmed the assassination. Today, our commander is busy preparing our next operation, so I'll personally brief you on your next contract. This is the strategic supply depot of House Corrino and the Sardaukar, which is crucial for their war effort in our territory. There were many attempts to retake this location, but all have failed.

Atreides Mentat: Therefore, we plan to do a pincer. The smugglers will engage enemy forces from the southeast while we assault from the north. Unfortunately, our troops haven't arrived yet and the Emperor has already launched multiple attacks. Your contract this time is to keep them busy. Realistically speaking, none of us can withstand their concentrated attacks for long. Hold out for at least 70 minutes, then we will show them what it means to be fighting against House Atreides.

Objective: Eliminate all hostile forces. The Atreides must survive.

Intels:
- The contract forbids the use of an MCV or Construction Yard.
- There is an abandoned Atreides Factory somewhere in the area. Capture it, and maybe we can find something good in there.
- The Spacing Guild and the Sardaukar are concentrating on Jim's force. You might not want their attention.
- Be careful of sandworms. They appear to be more vicious.

Hold out 70 minutes? Only one Factory? VICIOUS SANDWORMS? I am scared. Let's see how this goes.

Okay. I finished this map! This has one of those infinite reinforcements things that I'm not too fond of. Ask Cm - I'm pretty picky about reinforcements! A few Missile Tanks here, a squad of light vehicles there... as long as they come at a good time and add something substantial, they're fine! Without the infinite reinforcements landing in the middle of either Imperial base, I'd have finished this map a good deal sooner.

The Imperials already command the toughest Combat Tanks on Dune. I don't really see why they need Devastators. The Spacing Guild can receive high-tech tanks and that'd be good enough, and you could place a few guard-mode Devastators or Sonic Tanks owned by the Spacing Guild around nearby bases.

The Saboteurs were nice, once, and then I kept getting them and I was like "but y doe." I guess they'd help with taking down the turrets and such, but the Imperials seem to love Siege Tanks on this level and I'm not sure there were enough infantry-only entrances near juicy targets to get a really good attack in.

The Starport is a support structure. It can't really sustain enough tanks on its own to make a really solid assault team, but it's nice for reinforcing the position. Given the attacks of the Atreides and smugglers, the light vehicles went to good use supporting them.

The Atreides and smuggler AIs are neutral or allied to the Imperial AI in the northeast. I had to take that base out by myself, which I did first thing since I wanted to focus on where they were attacking. They continued to be neutral even after the southwest base was leveled, so I had to clear out the stragglers by myself again. Even though it wasn't as fortified, remember, light vehicles are support units! A frontal assault against turrets and Siege Tanks would benefit greatly from Combat Tanks, and there aren't very many of them on this mission for us.

Finally, escorting that Engineer up to the top right corner was kind of aids. I'd suggest putting a new Imperial AI up there with just units, and once all those units are destroyed, an Engineer is flown in. I'm glad a bunch of tanks spawned in, but I kiiind of wish I got to build Combat Tanks. I miss Combat Tanks.

Despite all that, this was fun. Being able to build / attack from two directions was convenient and kept things interesting, and I frequently changed my primary buildings. The enemy attacks were fierce, but not too fierce. They took out a few buildings, I wiped out their base. And, having the middle of the map open was a great decision and I fully support it. My biggest complaint is the infinite reinforcements, and I kinda wish we had another Refinery or something... and, since we can only build Harvesters, I'd love to have a Heavy Factory for starts so I can pump out Harvesters lots. They keep blowing 'em up. IMO, you should greatly reduce the Imperial reinforcements at either base, add a trigger for the player's allies to go attack the northeast after southwest's gone, boost AI build rate to compensate and maybe give the Guild some more of those Devastators and such instead of the Imperials. And that thing with the Engineer and Heavy Factory. The worm wasn't that much of a jerk on this map, so we cool.

You may also want to reduce the amount of time on that timer. This match was over pretty quick.

Some good stuff here, man. A great start. I hope my feedback's helpful in tuning your maps and improving them further.

[Runtowin]

5 hours ago, Fey said:

As a native English speaker, I can assist you with your spelling and grammar if you'd like. I'll re-write your briefings with corrections, take 'em or leave 'em.

Thanks. I probably take it anyway.

 

5 hours ago, Fey said:

First, notice how one of the messages clipped over the timer and onto the sidebar? At the default resolution, that's what will happen. I suggest setting your resolution to default during testing to check for that kinda thing!

Noted. I often play in 800x600, so I didn't encounter this issue.

 

 

5 hours ago, Fey said:

Second, there's a segment of cliff with some rock that's mistakenly placed. It's a minor aesthetic error, nothing important, but I figured you'd like to know. I believe there's another misplaced tile near the MCV drop-off point, so there may be more around the map.

This is no excuse, but I mostly use auto feature from the map editor in mission 1. In later mission, I mostly hand-place them myself.

 

5 hours ago, Fey said:

When those light vehicles showed up, they annihilated my Light Infantry and nearly annihilated my Siege Tank before the Troopers and Quad arrived at my base. Then, I had nothing to defend against the new waves of Sardaukar with, and couple that with the Imperial reinforcements popping up all over the place and suddenly I've lost a ton of buildings everywhere.

You can actually survive the first two waves of Sardaukar with zero damage. Then retreat your siege tank to the base and let infantry handle light vehicle. Also, you should save Siege tank to deal with Sardaukar.

 

5 hours ago, Fey said:

So, the kind of precision expected from the player for a map like this is quite high. I'd say you could fix this with significantly more reinforcements, especially some Light Vehicles, or a production structure to start. Maybe tip the player that if there's trouble, an MCV will drop in, or something indicating that the Silos are there stocking stuff up for a reason.

Noted. Maybe I'll give more troopers + more starting credit.

 

5 hours ago, Fey said:

Here's the packed up edited map file, so let me know if you like those changes!

I'll take a look.

 

5 hours ago, Fey said:

My only real complaint is that after I took out sides 1 and 2, I quickly found that I was totally unable to move to the south side of the map. And, having taken a look in the editor after this point, I noticed the win condition says that side 3 needs to die. And... well, I can't do anything about that. The Atreides weren't even close to beating them when I got around to it. You should change the win condition to after sides 1 and 2 are taken out.

You are supposed to camp the revealed spice field and kill the harvester coming from below, Atreides will get a huge reinforcement every time you take out all the harvesters. The game will end in 5 more minutes at most. I guess it's not too obvious from the briefing. BTW, how is the state of Atreides's base when you finished?

 

5 hours ago, Fey said:

It was a little confusing at first, but I managed to make it to the airport and intercept the guy. I made it out with one Assassin at 50% HP. The ways to go aren't too obvious, but I navigated okay. Maybe instead of a bunch of Reveal Map triggers, you can make the Imperial infantry spread all over the place the player's ally for, like, half a second, and then set them back to enemy? That would reveal all the trouble spots on the map.

I intend for the player to explore the map. That's why the timer is generous. It's feel too linear otherwise.

 

5 hours ago, Fey said:

Okay. I finished this map! This has one of those infinite reinforcements things that I'm not too fond of. Ask Cm - I'm pretty picky about reinforcements! A few Missile Tanks here, a squad of light vehicles there... as long as they come at a good time and add something substantial, they're fine! Without the infinite reinforcements landing in the middle of either Imperial base, I'd have finished this map a good deal sooner.

The intention is to give Sardaukar + Devastator, which they can't build. I'll remove other vehicles.

 

5 hours ago, Fey said:

The Imperials already command the toughest Combat Tanks on Dune. I don't really see why they need Devastators. The Spacing Guild can receive high-tech tanks and that'd be good enough, and you could place a few guard-mode Devastators or Sonic Tanks owned by the Spacing Guild around nearby bases.

I like the idea that they have access to everything, also hint at how Copec sold the blueprint for Harkonnen's ultimate tank.

 

5 hours ago, Fey said:

The Saboteurs were nice, once, and then I kept getting them and I was like "but y doe." I guess they'd help with taking down the turrets and such, but the Imperials seem to love Siege Tanks on this level and I'm not sure there were enough infantry-only entrances near juicy targets to get a really good attack in.

You don't need to, just send them straight to your target.

The idea is Saboteur takes out Turret, you takes out defense, then saboteur razes the rest of the base. Though, the second step is optional.

 

5 hours ago, Fey said:

The Atreides and smuggler AIs are neutral or allied to the Imperial AI in the northeast. I had to take that base out by myself, which I did first thing since I wanted to focus on where they were attacking. They continued to be neutral even after the southwest base was leveled, so I had to clear out the stragglers by myself again. Even though it wasn't as fortified, remember, light vehicles are support units! A frontal assault against turrets and Siege Tanks would benefit greatly from Combat Tanks, and there aren't very many of them on this mission for us.

I never been able to take out the entire south base that fast. And destroying turret is Saboteur's job.

I'll add condition to solve the neutral issue.

5 hours ago, Fey said:

Finally, escorting that Engineer up to the top right corner was kind of aids. I'd suggest putting a new Imperial AI up there with just units, and once all those units are destroyed, an Engineer is flown in. I'm glad a bunch of tanks spawned in, but I kiiind of wish I got to build Combat Tanks. I miss Combat Tanks.

You do though. No idea why but, you need to research heavy factory first.

The intent for them is the rewards if you take out the north base fast enough, since I can clear the entire the north base myself with just those units.

 

5 hours ago, Fey said:

The worm wasn't that much of a jerk on this map, so we cool.

No way.

They keep eating my vehicles, in my test run.

 

5 hours ago, Fey said:

You may also want to reduce the amount of time on that timer. This match was over pretty quick.

That means I have bump up the mission. Probably a git gud problem with my skill level.

Perhaps the Atreides will be mostly useless until times run out.

 

6 hours ago, Fey said:

weird tiles

 

6 hours ago, Fey said:

there's a segment of cliff with some rock that's mistakenly placed. It's a minor aesthetic error,

 

6 hours ago, Fey said:

As with the other two maps, there are some funny terrain tiles in weird places. Some of the rock is just straight-up cut off in a couple of places.

My eyes are playing trick on me, I can't seem to find such things. I'd love precise coordinates for me to fix.

 

Thanks for the detailed feedback, Fey. Really appreciate it.

Now I can decide whether to put 10 or 20 Sonic Tanks for next mission.

[Fey]

5 hours ago, Runtowin said:

Thanks. I probably take it anyway.

Noted. I often play in 800x600, so I didn't encounter this issue.

This is no excuse, but I mostly use auto feature from the map editor in mission 1. In later mission, I mostly hand-place them myself.

You can actually survive the first two waves of Sardaukar with zero damage. Then retreat your siege tank to the base and let infantry handle light vehicle. Also, you should save Siege tank to deal with Sardaukar.

Noted. Maybe I'll give more troopers + more starting credit.

Aye. I used to play in a higher resolution, and then Cm was like "ayy m8 ya got some stuff cutting off" and I was like "oh"

Aha, wow! Yeah, it's kinda imperfect, so it's a good idea to check over the new rocks you put in whenever you use the auto-complete. It can save time, but it does take some review.

But, you see, by the time I saw those Trikes and Quad, there was nothing I could do to bring the Infantry back or the Siege Tank. Knowing about stuff ahead of time makes the map way easier! So, one has to account for a player not being aware of how the map works yet. And, what if the player puts that Siege Tank in a position he thought was safe, but it wasn't actually and it gets sniped by Sardaukar? The Barracks is a way to compensate for losses and lack of player knowledge, as would more reinforcements. More starting credits, I'm not sure that would do any good without a production facility to start.

I'm not saying that it'd be best to make the level easy as pie or whatever, losing and needing to restart is common on challenging maps. It's just that having some flexibility for the player, some compensation, in case of unforeseen trouble helps a lot with map tuning in general. The attached edited version gives the player less Siege Tanks, but allows for infantry production, and the map was still pretty tricky. Just, a lot more manageable.

5 hours ago, Runtowin said:

You are supposed to camp the revealed spice field and kill the harvester coming from below, Atreides will get a huge reinforcement every time you take out all the harvesters. The game will end in 5 more minutes at most. I guess it's not too obvious from the briefing. BTW, how is the state of Atreides's base when you finished?

Ohhhh. Okay. Yeah, if there was, like, an in-game note about that or something, that'd help! I got there and I saw the Atreides attacking but they kind of did no damage at all. I used debug to look at the Imperial base before exiting and they had tanks on every tile. Literally, every tile. So, you know.

There was also a Harvester stuck in the little crevice southwest of the revealed Spice field. The Carryall doesn't pick a Harvester up if it's nearby Spice, even if there's an impassible cliff between the Harvester and the Spice.

The Atreides base was in excellent condition. They had their line of turrets and everything up even at the end of the game.

5 hours ago, Runtowin said:

I intend for the player to explore the map. That's why the timer is generous. It's feel too linear otherwise.

That's fair enough. I think enough was revealed to be able to get there with no problem. Fedaykin have weapons better suited to popping tanks, not infantry, so the number of Light Infantry I had to take out kiiinda worried me, but it wasn't impossible, as you can see! I actually took out a Wind Trap like a derp the first time around, got those light vehicles in the southwest and I was like "wait is this broken?" but then I was like "oh, yeah, alarm" and did it right the next time around. That one was on me!

By the way, your attention to linearity is much appreciated. I love me some non-linear gameplay.

5 hours ago, Runtowin said:

The intention is to give Sardaukar + Devastator, which they can't build. I'll remove other vehicles.

I like the idea that they have access to everything, also hint at how Copec sold the blueprint for Harkonnen's ultimate tank.

You don't need to, just send them straight to your target.

The idea is Saboteur takes out Turret, you takes out defense, then saboteur razes the rest of the base. Though, the second step is optional.

I never been able to take out the entire south base that fast. And destroying turret is Saboteur's job.

I'll add condition to solve the neutral issue.

You do though. No idea why but, you need to research heavy factory first.

The intent for them is the rewards if you take out the north base fast enough, since I can clear the entire the north base myself with just those units.

No way.

They keep eating my vehicles, in my test run.

That means I have bump up the mission. Probably a git gud problem with my skill level.

Perhaps the Atreides will be mostly useless until times run out.

My eyes are playing trick on me, I can't seem to find such things. I'd love precise coordinates for me to fix.

I thought they were pumping Sardaukar out of the Barracks in the bottom left, but I guess that's a different AI. I don't mind a few Devastators, but those reinforcements came by several times while I was in the middle of wrecking their core structures. Feelsbadman!

Oh yeah. I mean, rule of cool applies. Devastators + Sardaukar = tough, but not too tough. What if they were delivered to the Starport? That way, you'd have a structure to blow up, just like FOE02. And, as I stated, I enjoyed that map a lot. No, you can't make units hunt from the Starport, but you can time the Imperial attacks a little more tightly and there'll be some greater unit variety coming the player's way.

I guess. Saboteurs are very delicate infantry; I used them to take out the ConYard and three Wind Traps at the northeast base during my first attack, but for the turrets and defenses I spammed good ol' Troopers. Then, I had no juicy targets for the Saboteurs since the southwest base was pried open like a can of worms.

Infantry are extremely effective DPS. I just covered my Troopers with mostly light vehicles and whatever I could scrounge up from the Starport, and I attacked with the allies and there you have it.

Wait, what? I can build Combat Tanks? *checks map* Wow. What the heck? Why do Combat Tanks require an upgrade? Well, I guess that's a fair reward, although I think the northeast base should be a little easier to take out and the mission timer should be reduced, anyway. It's a fairly long mission as it is!

Yah weh. The worm's really RNG. It can be your best friend or your worst nightmare. In fact, the worm ate a couple of Devastators and a Missile Tank at one point during this match. I was like "I LOVE YOU WORM!" And then it ate one of my thingies and I was like ""

Oh no, it was a fine difficulty! Fending off the enemy offensive was tough to do without losing some structures, and I did lose a couple of turrets. Their defense is just quite powerful for only light tech being available to start. So, you know, if that was nerfed a little it'd progress the map sooner. I never got the chance to use Combat Tanks, except from the Starport.

Nooo, I like the Atreides attacking! Attacking is fun, don't make them useless! 70 minutes is a long timer for reinforcements to arrive, so if you made the first part of the map defense-oriented, and then 40 minutes into the game the Atreides started getting reinforcements, the Heavy Factory could be taken, etc., it'd make the latter stages of the map more interesting. IMO.

There are tiles like that in quite a lot of places. One good example is on FOE03 just south of the Harkonnen Palace. There's some rock that juts out west and is cut off by that doodad. Keep your eyes out for stuff like that.

5 hours ago, Runtowin said:

Thanks for the detailed feedback, Fey. Really appreciate it.

Now I can decide whether to put 10 or 20 Sonic Tanks for next mission.

Ayy, no problem m8.

Uhh... enemy Sonic Tanks? They're very effective siege weapons, especially in choke points. Don't need numbers, just need placement!

Edit: Oh, by the way, I'm currently in the update phase for my smugglers campaign, and I have a work in progress Harkonnen campaign going. If you wanna give either a play and suggest some changes, now's a fine time - and you might learn something more about D2k mapping you could apply to your future maps! If not, they'll be updated according to Cm's suggestions alone.

The smugglers campaign consists of 15 maps. 9 levels, 5 missions with alternate versions, 1 bonus mission. The Harkonnen map has 5 levels complete, and the bonus mission is done as well, for a total of 9 of 15 maps complete. There's a mod too, so if you do give it a try and want to set the game back to normal for resuming work on your own campaign, TibEd has a convenient "Remove changes from game" option.

Edited March 20, 2018 by Fey

[Runtowin]

3 hours ago, Fey said:

But, you see, by the time I saw those Trikes and Quad, there was nothing I could do to bring the Infantry back or the Siege Tank. Knowing about stuff ahead of time makes the map way easier! So, one has to account for a player not being aware of how the map works yet. And, what if the player puts that Siege Tank in a position he thought was safe, but it wasn't actually and it gets sniped by Sardaukar? The Barracks is a way to compensate for losses and lack of player knowledge, as would more reinforcements. More starting credits, I'm not sure that would do any good without a production facility to start.

I'll play with your idea, I assure you. But I probably cut MCV if I give a barrack.

 

3 hours ago, Fey said:

There was also a Harvester stuck in the little crevice southwest of the revealed Spice field. The Carryall doesn't pick a Harvester up if it's nearby Spice, even if there's an impassible cliff between the Harvester and the Spice.

Won't be a problem, encountered it in my test run. Quad should reach it.

The reason for that bug is spice bloom. Their accuracy is on par with Death Hand missile.

 

3 hours ago, Fey said:

Ohhhh. Okay. Yeah, if there was, like, an in-game note about that or something, that'd help!

Will do.

 

3 hours ago, Fey said:

those reinforcements came by several times while I was in the middle of wrecking their core structures. Feelsbadman!

 

3 hours ago, Fey said:

What if they were delivered to the Starport? That way, you'd have a structure to blow up, just like FOE02.

The reinforcement arrived from heighliner already. What you've seen is probably the AI buying stuff themselves.

 

3 hours ago, Fey said:

And, as I stated, I enjoyed that map a lot

Glad you like it. I had a hard time beating that map. When I completed the map, one time, my northwest base was gone, other time, smuggler's base was almost destroyed. I blame the worm.

There will be more missions of this style in the future.

 

4 hours ago, Fey said:

Oh no, it was a fine difficulty! Fending off the enemy offensive was tough to do without losing some structures, and I did lose a couple of turrets. Their defense is just quite powerful for only light tech being available to start.

You made everything sound too easy in your feedback though.

 

4 hours ago, Fey said:

Nooo, I like the Atreides attacking! Attacking is fun, don't make them useless! 70 minutes is a long timer for reinforcements to arrive, so if you made the first part of the map defense-oriented, and then 40 minutes into the game the Atreides started getting reinforcements, the Heavy Factory could be taken, etc., it'd make the latter stages of the map more interesting. IMO.

I'll explore different options for Atreides. One of them being increasing build rate over time, but reduce reinforcement.

 

4 hours ago, Fey said:

There are tiles like that in quite a lot of places. One good example is on FOE03 just south of the Harkonnen Palace. There's some rock that juts out west and is cut off by that doodad. Keep your eyes out for stuff like that.

Found it. I'll keep my eye peeled when I rework on these maps.

 

4 hours ago, Fey said:

The smugglers campaign consists of 15 maps. 9 levels, 5 missions with alternate versions, 1 bonus mission.

It's already in my backlog. I'll swap it to the front.

 

 

 

[Fey]

52 minutes ago, Runtowin said:

I'll play with your idea, I assure you. But I probably cut MCV if I give a barrack.

That sounds fair to me, although in that case I'd suggest light vehicle reinforcements only, no infantry. I had a small squad of Raiders and Quads I was using for quick-response. Given the size of the base and the multitude of directions enemy reinforcements might come from, I believe that's quite necessary.

52 minutes ago, Runtowin said:

Won't be a problem, encountered it in my test run. Quad should reach it.

The reason for that bug is spice bloom. Their accuracy is on par with Death Hand missile.

Ohh. You could move the bloom a little!

52 minutes ago, Runtowin said:

The reinforcement arrived from heighliner already. What you've seen is probably the AI buying stuff themselves.

No no, I mean the Carryall-dropped reinforcement at the north base entrance of the southwest Imperial base. You know, the one that drops some Devastators and Sardaukar off? What if that arrived via the Starport, or something could be done to stop them from dropping those units off?

52 minutes ago, Runtowin said:

Glad you like it. I had a hard time beating that map. When I completed the map, one time, my northwest base was gone, other time, smuggler's base was almost destroyed. I blame the worm.

There will be more missions of this style in the future.

I believe I was referring to FOE02 with that comment, but FOE04 was cool too.

52 minutes ago, Runtowin said:

You made everything sound too easy in your feedback though.

If you wanna make the enemy offense harder to fend off, I'd suggest weakening their defense a tad. Compensation! Personally, I could do with a few less Large Gun Turrets. XD

52 minutes ago, Runtowin said:

I'll explore different options for Atreides. One of them being increasing build rate over time, but reduce reinforcement.

That sounds fair to me.

52 minutes ago, Runtowin said:

Found it. I'll keep my eye peeled when I rework on these maps.

It's always easiest as you're working on the map. If you need to go back and look through all the stuff you've drawn up before, it's hard to know where last you left off, ain't it?

52 minutes ago, Runtowin said:

It's already in my backlog. I'll swap it to the front.

Thanks. I'm hoping to update that campaign soon, so your feedback would go to great use at this time. Perfection is always a step away, it seems. We can only try and get closer and closer to it. That's why I'm excited for some more feedback! And excited to provide it.

If you're looking for a list of things to test, here. I don't mean to get off-topic or anything, but... yeah

Spoiler

If you'd like to play through however you want, go right ahead. I am looking for an opinion on the optional challenges and other things on the maps, though! So, here's a list of challenges for you, without any spoilers that aren't mentioned in the mission briefings, if you want to give them a try.

S2V1:

Spoiler

1. Attack and kill the Fremen northeast of your starting position.
2. Defend your base using infantry in the rock formation in the center of the map.

S3V2:

Spoiler

1. Do not ally with the Harkonnen.

S4V1:

Spoiler

1. Go and see the Ordos before they ask you to come see them.
2. Ally with the Ordos against the Harkonnen.

S5V1:

Spoiler

1. Keep your initial starting position alive.
2. Set up at least two ConYards on different rock islands.

S6V1:

Spoiler

1. Defend midfield using infantry and light vehicles.

S9V2:

Spoiler

This map is currently overtuned. It's more difficult than it should be. If you can beat the first phase of this map (up to the point where your allies arrive), that's all I need tested. Just let me know what you think I'd best do to change the beginning of this map to make it easier, and the latter stages should fall into place.

Thanks.

I'll be keeping my eyes out for FOE05!

Edited March 20, 2018 by Fey

[Runtowin]

1 hour ago, Fey said:

No no, I mean the Carryall-dropped reinforcement at the north base entrance of the southwest Imperial base. You know, the one that drops some Devastators and Sardaukar off? What if that arrived via the Starport, or something could be done to stop them from dropping those units off?

They're one-time reinforcement. I split into many carryalls for cinematic effect.

 

 

[Fey]

1 minute ago, Runtowin said:

They're one-time reinforcement. I split into many carryalls for cinematic effect.

Huh? That's weird, I saw them drop several times, the same reinforcements in the same spot, while I was trying to take out that base. XD

[djbaskan60]

Hello, thanks for campaign and i'm waiting other missions.  

Misssion 1 : When the time finish, this game dont finish ? After again played, when the time finish =>  game finished lol  Nice idea mission 1

Mission 2 : Very good idea, I was forced  kill my harvester to sarduakar everyime, i need to restart. After again I understood your campaign, different idea for atreides help.

Mission 3 , I dont finish yet 

Mission 4 : Very hard for me  but I enjoyed to use sobetour, I lost starport , 1 rafinary, 1 ligh factory, 4 windtrap.. I saw engineer  . I discovered atreides heavy factory  
 

[jbil1989]

Hi, it looks very different, I'm playing now

 

My first campaign Time Based Smugglers Campaign - Protect Mercenaries

Mini Campaign - Mercenaries Revenge ( Last 3 Mission )

 

Edited March 20, 2018 by jbil1989

[Runtowin]

On 3/20/2018 at 9:29 PM, djbaskan60 said:

Hello, thanks for campaign and i'm waiting other missions. 

Thanks for playing! Detailed feedback is welcome but not necessary.

On 3/21/2018 at 1:23 AM, jbil1989 said:

Hi, it looks very different, I'm playing now

What do you think about it?

 

I'm releasing a patch in a day or two. I get patch note out of the way first:

FOE v1.1 change log:

Spoiler

Mission 1:

• Remove MCV, you start with a barrack instead.
• Reduce your starting infantry, but gain 2 Raiders and a turret.
• Nerf your reinforcement to match new balance.
• Reduce smuggler's reinforcement.
• Adjust Imperial reinforcement to match new balance.
• Fix bad terrain tiles.
• Fix long message on 640x480 resolution.
• Fix briefing (credits to Fey). Add additional info about Jim.

 

Mission 2:

• -2 turrets on upper Imperial base.
• -1 Windtrap on upper Imperial base.
• Significantly reduce lower Imperial base build time in late game.
• Fix bad terrain tiles.
• Fix briefing (credits to Fey). Add additional info about Atreides. Now it tells you what to do on this map.

 

Mission 3:

• Fix bad terrain tiles.
• Fix briefing (credits to Fey).

 

Mission 4:

• Atreides' behavior is changed. They now has a high iinitial build time, but reduce rapidly over time.
• Cut most Atreides' reinfocement. But the last reinfocement is stronger.
• Reduce timer to 50 minutes, adjust the enemy reinforcement accordingly.
• Add 2 infantry path to southwest base.
• Add 1 infantry path to abandoned factory.
• Adjust southwest base defense to fit new path.
• Weaken northeast base defense.
• Adjust the layout of southwest base.
• Adjust smuggler's reinforcement.
• Fix briefing (credits to Fey). Add additional info about Spacing Guild.

 

Mission 5:

• Added.

Mission 6:

• Added.

Mission 7:

• Added.

 

[Fey]

Three new missions, and those changes to the first four levels sound really great! I'll have a look at this again when I can.

By the way, how did you go about editing the Fremen mouse-over on mission 3? Is there a program you used to find and/or edit that text? There are so many text blips that I don't know what to look for, and I'd love to change the UI data for my campaigns in a few places.

[Runtowin]

1 hour ago, Fey said:

By the way, how did you go about editing the Fremen mouse-over on mission 3? Is there a program you used to find and/or edit that text? There are so many text blips that I don't know what to look for, and I'd love to change the UI data for my campaigns in a few places.

I use custom text.uib for that. You could search for the editor easily, Gruntmods already includes it in his version.

However, the map & mission editor doesn't support this, you have to add a line manually in .ini file to use custom text.uib

[Fey]

So the line has to differ in the ini AND you need a custom text thingy? I'll look around and see if I can figure it out.

[Runtowin]

31 minutes ago, Fey said:

So the line has to differ in the ini AND you need a custom text thingy? I'll look around and see if I can figure it out.

By default, the mission uses "text.uib" in UI_DATA folder for most texts, unit name, and briefing in original campaign. To change any of them you have create your own version of "text.uib" and tell the game that you use that version in ".ini". This is also the only way to make briefing in game works, but it isn't worth the effort IMO.

[Fey]

Oooh, I'm interested in learning about that :O So you can make the briefing work for any map?