Single player Campaigns translated

[KodiakJac]

Thank you, Semor76!  

[Dagwoodyt]

I'm not seeing the benefit of a TF6.0 announcement without a successful visual update package. DWT still needs to be sold. Will the visual update help make that map (more) interesting? The effect of a flawed visual update roll out on enthusiasm for an announced TF 6.0 is something worth considering. From a SP standpoint the game doesn't offer enough to hold new players. There is little to suggest much progress on that front so the visual update package seems the only thing that will get me to fire Blitz up again. A TF 6.0 announcement creates flash in the pan excitement that produces repeated questions that then go unanswered.

[Buzzsaw]

8 hours ago, Dagwoodyt said:

From a SP standpoint the game doesn't offer enough to hold new players.

Not sure where you come to this conclusion, there are far more single player campaigns in TOBRUK than the original game... enough to keep a player occupied for quite a while.

 

These include most of the new aircraft and additionally there are bomber campaigns...

[BladeMeister]

2 hours ago, Buzzsaw said:

Not sure where you come to this conclusion, there are far more single player campaigns in TOBRUK than the original game... enough to keep a player occupied for quite a while.

 

These include most of the new aircraft and additionally there are bomber campaigns...

You can't say this Buzzsaw, but I will. He and his posts are not worth acknowledging.

 

S!Blade<><

[Enceladus828]

2 hours ago, Buzzsaw said:

there are far more single player campaigns in TOBRUK than the original game... enough to keep a player occupied for quite a while.

And Tobruk has more SP campaigns than in a single IL-2 GBs installment.

 

TFS went out of their way to give us SP content for Tobruk and probably will in TF 6.0 

[Dagwoodyt]

2 hours ago, Buzzsaw said:

Not sure where you come to this conclusion, there are far more single player campaigns in TOBRUK than the original game... enough to keep a player occupied for quite a while.

 

These include most of the new aircraft and additionally there are bomber campaigns...

That there are many more missions and campaigns I readily acknowledge. Further I acknowledge the huge effort that the team has expended in delivering that content. I mean no offense to those folks who enjoy the available SP content. Doubtless that SP content must be contributing to growing the active player base and correspondingly reflected in forum activity and game stats. Rather than put any finer point on issues that have been raised over SP structure as it is currently implemented I would rather return to the issue I consider central: the need for a successful "relaunch" as means of increasing interest in Blitz.

Edited September 27, 2021 by Dagwoodyt

[Buzzsaw]

1 minute ago, Dagwoodyt said:

That there are many more missions and campaigns I readily acknowledge. Further I acknowledge the huge effort that the team has expended in delivering that content. I mean no offense to those folks who enjoy the available SP content. Doubtless they must contribute to growing the active player base and I have no doubt that those changes are reflected in forum activity and game stats. Rather than put any finer point on issues that have been raised over SP structure as it is currently implemented I would rather return to the issue I consider central: the need for a successful "relaunch" as means of increasing interest in Blitz.

You are welcome to your opinion... and TF is happy to acknowledge there are many areas which need improvement in the game... we are probably more aware of the issues in the game than the community... and we want to fix those issues.

 

And we have put together a systematic plan to address the areas where the game falls short... prioritizing at the moment the game visuals as well as implementing VR.  We made a promise regarding VR and we want to deliver.

 

There will be a promotion campaign for the release of the Visual Update, (On Steam and other venues) and separately we will launching a campaign to promote TF 6.0.  If you want to call that a 'Re-Launch', feel free.  ?

[BladeMeister]

!

Edited September 27, 2021 by BladeMeister

[PB0_Roll]

Will we finally have pilot stats in single player campaigns in 6.0 ?

[Buzzsaw]

On 10/1/2021 at 7:36 AM, PB0_Roll said:

Will we finally have pilot stats in single player campaigns in 6.0 ?

We are working on it.

 

There are individual mission stats right now... but we will try to implement full campaign stats.

[PB0_Roll]

???

[Monkeey]

Thank you so much @Semor76 for sharing those campaigns!

 

Quick questions:

 

You mention that the missions are old and have some game breaking issues. Am I too late to the party or is it still usable with the current version of CoD?

 

In the installation process, you wrote that we need to empty the campaign folder before installing this campaigns and I imagine that the Luftwaffe Redux and GB campaign Redux are both replacing the (outdated?) original ones?

But what about the other mission in the folder: Their Finest Hour. It seems to have no replacement, is there a problem with keep it?

[Sokol1]

In theory all those old missions should work OK in actual CloD/Tobruk versions, but some may have issue with early made templates - too many objects around, so is "try to see", or may have some objects that have names changed, like an fictional British destroyer that have their fictional name changed for another... fictional name... ? It's CloD! = Murphy Lawn.

 

For the actual folder placement ignore the missions original readme/instructions and follow the topic bellow. "Been there, done that".  

 

 

Edited February 18, 2022 by Sokol1

[Monkeey]

Thank you very much @Sokol1 ?

 

For anyone arriving here after me, follow closely the new folder arrangement indicated in the post of Sokol1 and know that the "Campaign.mis" file is missing in almost all folders and that the campaign_213 is missing from the "campaign.ini" file.

Edited February 27, 2022 by Monkeey

[Semor76]

On 2/17/2022 at 11:43 AM, Monkeey said:

Thank you so much @Semor76 for sharing those campaigns!

 

Quick questions:

 

You mention that the missions are old and have some game breaking issues. Am I too late to the party or is it still usable with the current version of CoD?

 

In the installation process, you wrote that we need to empty the campaign folder before installing this campaigns and I imagine that the Luftwaffe Redux and GB campaign Redux are both replacing the (outdated?) original ones?

But what about the other mission in the folder: Their Finest Hour. It seems to have no replacement, is there a problem with keep it?

Thanks. All of the custom campaigns should work with the current CoD version. (still with their own problems of course)

Sorry for not providing any futher support for this project.  I was more into DCS for the past months.

I'm right in the process of packing my bag and tomorrow I will heading over to the Polish-Ukranian border with the next German Red Cross convoy to provide Humanitary aid for the ukranian refugees.

 

For the time being, I'm sure @Sokol1 will help you guys with support.

 

Greets and stay safe.

 

 

Edited March 5, 2022 by Semor76

[JS81Knows]

9 hours ago, Semor76 said:

Thanks. All of the custom campaigns should work with the current CoD version. (still with their own problems of course)

Sorry for not providing any futher support for this project.  I was more into DCS for the past months.

I'm right in the process of packing my bag and tomorrow I will heading over to the Polish-Ukranian border with the next German Red Cross convoy to provide Humanitary aid for the ukranian refugees.

 

For the time being, I'm sure @Sokol1 will help you guys with support.

 

Greets and stay safe.

 

 

Good luck with your Red Cross mission. You have my best wishes. God speed. 

[Monkeey]

Thank you for coming back to me @Semor76!

Best wishes to you there, take care.

[gabuzomeu]

Digging  into the  past , waiting for the visual  update, I  have found skins that are used in PiperKiev  campaigns (and some others I  will  repost)  and bring interesting visual  details  (and are,  I  suppose,  period  correct)

An  idea of  the  content  change  in the Battle of  Britain  campaign  (default  on  the  left,  campaign  skins  on  the  right):

[murkz]

Thank you, Semor76

[Semor76]

Be advised guys. The very most of these campaigns are very old now and broken to a degree of unplayability.

 

Maybe a good soul with too much time on his hands may have a look at it and bring it up to working condition again.

 

I will leave the entire postings from page one up, and the links are still working.

 

If one of the them get invalid one day, just leave a comment here or drop me a line. I have a backup of all files on my external HDD.

Edited June 5 by Semor76

[Mysticpuma]

Having spoken with @paul_leonard, and seen some of the incredible work he is doing with the Single Player content that already exists (albeit not these missions), I think offline players will be impressed with his tenacity and effort to create some truly impressive scenarios with what already exists and what is yet to come. Certainly the Ai is much better utilised and the actual map and airfields feel truly alive compared to the sterile scenarios we currently have.....and, the infinite spiral of death, where the Ai ploughs into the ground has been eradicated through his diligent work with the Ai routines.... it's quite incredible to see!

It's been and looks like it will be a while before we get to enjoy the reworking, but it really will be worth the wait.

 

[paul_leonard]

Thanks for the shout out Mysticpuma.  It's been really helpful getting your advice on bringing more life to missions, old and new.  

 

I am working on creating missions and new "campaigns" focusing on re-creating (or re-enacting) the historical events of the time.  As mentioned elsewhere I have already created a re-enactment of the Operation Jubilee air, land and sea battle around Dieppe on August 18, 1942.  Unfortunately it will not see the full light of day until included with TF6.0.  Cybermat47 and I are collaborating on bringing all the existing Team Fusion canned single-player missions and campaigns up to the VR/VU standard.  This includes taking full advantage of TrueSky weather, the new and upgraded Channel Map, the lessons we are learning about AI settings, and taking advantage of the advances in processing power to further enhance the environment, while being mindful that not everyone has a bleeding edge system. 

 

The new map is slightly different in its placement of airfields and related detail, and while being a significant upgrade, will make a hot mess of any mission based on the old map instantly obsolete insofar as objects placed on the ground, particularly those around airfields. Beta testers have already experienced this as the beta has a version of the new map, and they often experience planes, trucks, tents and other paraphernalia smack dab in the middle of runways and taxiways for example.

 

So.... it would be a shame to have all of those older campaigns lost to the community.    I'm will to invest some time fixing and tweaking these older campaigns so that we can continue to experience these older freeware campaigns anew after the VR/VU comes out.

 

But I'm going to need some help from the community. As these were provided to the community freely by the authors, I would like the opportunity to correspond with them so at least see if I can get permission to re-work their work, or encourage them to come back and do the work themselves.  If you know how to reach some of these mission/campaign builders, can you please reach out to them and see if they are willing to correspond with me.  They/you can then DM me here.

 

I also have a collection of missions and campaigns, so if you are interested in sharing them, can you DM me here with a list of what you have and I can compare notes (Semor76?).

 

Question.  Which campaign would you recommend I would start with?

 

 

 

Edited June 5 by paul_leonard

[Semor76]

@paul_leonard

 

Thanks for your help!

 

The campaigns from page one is all what I have.

 

Battle of Britain by Piper_Kiev

Battle of France by Piper-Kiev

Bristol Blenheim by Piper Kiev

Luftwaffe Redux by Bolox & Gabuzomeu

Dunkirk,Operation Dynamo by Piper-Kiev

Erpr.Gr.210 by Piper-Kiev,Geniok,Axel 37

GB campaign Redux by Heinkill,Bolox &  Gabuzomeu

Kampfgeschwader 54 by Piper-Kiev

Stukageschwader II by Piper-Kiev

II./ZG26 Horst Wessel by Piper_Kiev

III./JG-2 by Piper-Kiev

JG-53 Pik As by Piper-Kiev

NJG.1 by Piper-Kiev

JG-26 Schlageter by Piper-Kiev

KG-53 Legion Condor by Piper-Kiev

 

If I can have a whish, I would love to see a re-work of these (or one of them) 3 campaigns: Stukageschwader II, II./ZG26 Horst Wessel, and the Operation Dynamo by Piper-Kiev.

 

[paul_leonard]

Thinking about how much to enhance.  Some questions for the community:

1. What should my target system be?  Adding a lot of AI in the form of AAA puts a load on the CPU.  Adding a lot of static objects like smoke and airfield detail, puts a load on the GPU (actually I'm suspicious that smoke is CPU dependent, but not sure).  Building for VR puts a lot of load on both.  I develop most of my missions on a 8th gen mobile 2060 laptop with a target 40-50fps at 1080p in 2D on Medium.  I do that because I'm also into VR and even my cutting edge rig struggles with Full Monty VR. That leaves a lot of stuff on the cutting room floor though.  I am fortunate and also have a AMD5950x/3090 desktop and a new Area51 Ultra9/285K 5090.  Yet a lot of us (moi aussi) are on of the older demographic and perhaps stopped upgrading a few years ago.  I think my target for this should be 2 generations ago with is basically some variation on my 5950x/30x0 gen desktop.  But that means leaving the older systems behind.  Thoughts?
2. My work on the AI settings has led me into the dilemma of "Lethality versus Reality".  The AI is much more aggressive now.  AI aircraft engage and will fight aggressively and will not disengage until basically fuel or ammunition run out.  They will also engage multiple time and chase you.  This results in ahistorical mission outcomes.  It is clear in real life that pilots were much more timid and concerned for their personal well being than virtual pilots.  The result is that many more aircraft will be damaged or destroyed that if you read a book on it.  I think we play this sim for air combat, so I'm not so concerned about mass murderer outcomes, but mileage may vary.  I've seen a lot of frustration about the lack of combat.  The new AI settings cure that, in spades.  Would you agree, lethality wins?
3. I personally dislike campaigns.  They lock a lot of hard work by mission designers behind a progression/victory requirement.  People finish books, they rarely finish computer games.  So I am happy to update campaigns as designed, but would anyone like me to break the campaign structure and deliver as a set of single missions that they could play at their leisure, in the order they wish,, knowing the order the campaign designer wanted them to play.  In other words, freedom to play as you want to play them (leading sentence)?

Lot to unpack.  Comments solicited.

 

[AtomicP]

I have a 5600X and 3060 which I think is fairly typical in gamer terms, but probably on the lower side compared to some folk on here. However, I think it's reasonable to shoot for the middle of the pack and if possible, allow some scaling for higher end machines.

 

For AI, I think the balance is whether the player is continually frustrated. It's fine to be beaten a few times if you're learning the ropes but you need to feel like you're being beaten fairly and win the odd time, perhaps besting the AI eventually since it does not improve in skill.

 

I have limited time so I rarely play campaigns these days. Il-2 BoX has some nice ones that are linear scripted ones that are reasonably short and the conditions needed to progress are fairly easy to accomplish. I'd prefer single missions but they could be linked into a theme of sorts, so like a pseudo campaign. Many moons ago I played loads of sims on the Amiga and these had fairly short missions linking a linear campaign (F-117, Gunship 2000 etc.) although I did have more free time back then...

 

I appreciate your efforts on this, thank you.

[paul_leonard]

AtomicP: Thanks for the feedback.  I too think that your system is close to target if not right on.  Your rig should already allow you to fly in 4K in 2D with pretty much everything turned up.  I build missions on an old 2060 laptop with a target of 50fps on 1080p on Medium.  Then people can turn up from there.  VR stresses things and simply demands a high end system, but your system still good but you may have to turn a few things down.

 

Most of my missions I am working on seem to last from 25-45 minutes, being 5 minutes in air to get oriented, about 15-20 minutes of air combat and maybe 15 minutes to fly home and land, longer if it is a bomber mission.  You can exit at any time without  penalty as they are no success/fail criteria (I leave that to you to decide) and you can play missions in any order you want.  The link is the actual Battle of Britain day by day, combat by combat.  You can follow things chronologically, choose a side or squadron to follow, a mission type, aircraft, whatever.  There will be lots of choice.

 

I think the AI settings I'm using will strike that balance.  I'm being pretty rigorous about consistency of settings across missions.  This will allow me to be able to make mass changes with little work, if the community finds that a different set of settings would result in an improvement.