GDI - While They Sleep (Single Player)

[nariac]

Hello there. It's me again, with another single player mission. This one took a long time to make and test, and has a lot of fairly complex triggers in it which I'm quite proud of, but it's finally done. Hopefully this will prove to be a little more difficult than my last one was. Enjoy!

While They Sleep

Doctor Moebius has been kidnapped, and is being forced to work upon Kane's Tiberium weapons. Civilian hostages have been taken to ensure he complies, and so we must free him quickly. Use your commando to infiltrate Nod's base by night. Many of the defences should be inactive and fewer patrols will be present, but be careful not to allow the alarm to be raised. Kill any of Nod's scientists if you see them, but the primary objective is to evacuate the Doctor and destroy the Technology Centre.

Changelog:

• Added a second loss trigger for "All destroyed". Now the player will lose if Moebius dies, or if everything they have which isn't Moebius dies.
• When the flame tank driver has had his ... "fun" ... he'll return to his post.

WhileTheySleep_v.4.zip

Edited May 2, 2017 by nariac

[MattAttack]

aw shit.. just beat version 3.  Anyway, very cool map!  I don't want to spoil it, so I'll try to be a little vague.  I might PM with some questions and/or suggestions.  Nice layout and concept and I like it's sort of sinister undertone, for a GDI mission.  Very puzzle-like with some interesting solutions, which have already inspired me with some mission ideas myself.  My complaints are few; what you mention about the APC in the readme was a bit of a problem for me, since had to re-load the game several times.  Not sure how you get around that one, though-- and it's frustrating because you really NEED most of those engis!  I felt thrown into some pretty cruel, desperate situations (although karma I suppose for some of my older, more sadistic missions) and some more average players might be turned off, just depends on who you're trying to appeal to.  I appreciated having to wrack my brain a bit in the beginning.  I liked the flight path of the Chinook coming in, but felt a little trolled by it on it's way out, though.. lol (Didn't know if that was intentional or if I neglected to destroy a couple of structures)

 

So, in closing:  Really liked it, clever, and I might borrow some of your ideas!  And don't forget to kill all your Dr. Chans!

[Nyerguds]

Doctor Moebius is the Damsel in Distress of C&C1, lol. Always getting captured, threatened, assaulted. Zelda and Peach ain't got nothing on this guy

[nariac]

Yeah, the engineers thing has always annoyed me to the point I was tempted just to have the correct number of them walk in off the side of the map but that felt a bit lame.

 

I think version 4 mainly adds a helicopter patrol because it makes the base feel like it's "waking up" and looks badass, and also because I only just worked out how to make a helicopter patrol and wanted to put it in.

 

And also because it guarantees a Moebius kill when "all to hunt" is triggered - one time everything just got stuck for some reason. >.>

 

I've tested it several times now, I'm not sure what it was like on your version but the way it plays now is the APC has a list of waypoints it forcemoves to so it won't just stop when it gets shot, and the engineers will instantly run for their lives, which helps save as many as possible. Also the Obelisk was moved to the very right of the map and a turret placed where it used to be. That way, if the APC survives the obelisk hit, the turret can finish it, but if it does get one-shot, the turret can't slaughter the engineers. You only "need" 2 of the 5 engineers to survive, but once I got unlucky and only saved 1. Sadface.

 

 

And yes, Moebius is the ultimate princess in the tower.

 

 

EDIT: Awwh, spoilertags don't work. Oh well, I can't leave clues to deal with the tricky bits here then

[Nyerguds]

lol, is that a barbwire "pipeline" from the lab up the cliffs? Nifty idea

[nariac]

lol, is that a barbwire "pipeline" from the lab up the cliffs? Nifty idea

 

Sort of! I wanted to give the impression it's like a super heavy-duty power cable. This one goes up the cliff into a power plant that's under the shroud, but all the bio-research labs have a linked power plant nearby. An early version had that as an integral part of the mission - the power plants were linked to the bio-labs with triggers for some kind of objective, but that never worked properly so I axed it, but kept the "power lines" because it was visually pleasing.

[Nyerguds]

well, you can't put triggers on destroying barbwire, if that's what you mean.

[nariac]

well, you can't put triggers on destroying barbwire, if that's what you mean.

 

Nah, it wasn't that. I think it was something along the lines of a Bio Lab having an XXXX trigger attached to it, and if the player blew up the correct power plant, that would destroy trigger XXXX, for whatever purpose. Can't remember what it was supposed to do. The idea being that players could work out which power plant to destroy by following the "power cable" from the bio lab to the power plant.

 

The main issue I had with destroying anything that isn't a SAM site, is that for some reason units set to "guard" anywhere on the map will come looking for you. Even if a Commando C4s a power plant which doesn't have a "all to hunt" trigger attached - which I'm pretty sure you had to do in the Covert Ops mission Blackout - just makes things look for you.

 

In the original version of this map you had to destroy all the bio labs, but I just got so annoyed with random stuff starting to roam around trying to kill you after that, that i changed the objectives to just destroying the tech centre at the end. I needed to have a few things set to guard so I could do stuff with them like making patrols, otherwise I'd have set them all to area guard or something. Oh well.

[MattAttack]

The main issue I had with destroying anything that isn't a SAM site, is that for some reason units set to "guard" anywhere on the map will come looking for you. Even if a Commando C4s a power plant which doesn't have a "all to hunt" trigger attached - which I'm pretty sure you had to do in the Covert Ops mission Blackout - just makes things look for you.

 

Uncanny.... This is exactly what I was going to cover in my next video.  To prevent a unit from reacting to base destruction or even a harvester being attacked, recruit it into a team of 1 unit with a U1 of 20 or higher and set it to guard.  It'll just sit there if you start blowing stuff up yet still be recruitable as long as the team it's being recruited into has a U1 that's higher.  I've been looking into manipulating this system to it's full potential, but I'm still trying to figure a way to articulate it properly without being too confusing.  Not sure how they did it on blackout, though... possibly something to do with the build level.  I know in the original campaigns, the AI won't react to harvesters being attacked until about level 4 or so.  Not due to the build-level, mind you, but something probably hardcoded into the game itself.

 

well, you can't put triggers on destroying barbwire, if that's what you mean.

 

Interestingly enough, I've been meaning to experiment with this.  In one of LKO's missions here (forget which one)  He had actually gotten pre-placed overlay like sandbags, etc. listed under the "structures" part of the .ini and you can actually build off of it.  I always wondered if you could then attach a trigger to it.  I personally then got the idea of putting it in the "base" section to try and get the AI to build a wall, although for some reason, they'd only build 1 sandbag and then quit.  strange......

[Jacko]

 

Interestingly enough, I've been meaning to experiment with this.  In one of LKO's missions here (forget which one)  He had actually gotten pre-placed overlay like sandbags, etc. listed under the "structures" part of the .ini and you can actually build off of it.  I always wondered if you could then attach a trigger to it.  I personally then got the idea of putting it in the "base" section to try and get the AI to build a wall, although for some reason, they'd only build 1 sandbag and then quit.  strange......

 

Maybe becayse they'd build the wall, which then converts to overlay, and try to build it again (because theres no structure there), but find it occupied by the original wall piece.

[MattAttack]

That sounds pretty plausible, actually

[Jacko]

I wish there was a way to force the [base] Section to jump to next line if structure placement is occupied.

Would make life much easier when plotting AI base deployment.

[AchromicWhite]

Dude. I just played this mission.

It's totally sweet!

Nice use of triggers and lovely map layout, really had the feel of sneaking around a Nod base with the scary prospect of accidentally having the alarm sounded! Nice work!

 

I do have to ask, is there a reason for the green flame tanks, or is that just a clever use of team colours to give the idea that these are being upgraded by new tech?

 

The only other thing was the engineers that turned up. They were an interesting mechanic, but it just seemed strange that they randomly arrived, even though there was no mention about this in the briefing and I'd not yet scouted why I was going to need them. (In other works, story wise, why the engis turned up). But that's pretty minor.

 

I see some other people had trouble getting them to survive... I managed to save all 5 of them, once I knew that the APC turned up... just grab it as soon as it comes in and click over to the left, then when it pops, grab the engis and RUN! xD

 

Really cool map, though. I liked it, challenging, but not insanely so. In saying that, being a commando mission, you basically just have to micro one guys really really well, hehe.

 

  -Liam

[nariac]

 

I do have to ask, is there a reason for the green flame tanks, or is that just a clever use of team colours to give the idea that these are being upgraded by new tech?

 

The only other thing was the engineers that turned up. They were an interesting mechanic, but it just seemed strange that they randomly arrived, even though there was no mention about this in the briefing and I'd not yet scouted why I was going to need them. (In other works, story wise, why the engis turned up). But that's pretty minor.

 

 

MISSION SPOILERS AHEAD

 

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

 

And you're right, the green flame tanks are supposed to be "chem tanks" which is why they're parked next to a tiberium silo which is beside a bio lab. To give the impression they're being loaded up. And then in the lower half of the parking lot there's the "old tech", a bunch of parked light tanks and a gas station.

 

The engineers are weird, sadly. They're a throwback to a much earlier version of the map where I was making a big deal over the whole "Commando infiltrates NOD base, finds captives of all sorts, has to make decisions about how to save them, or even if they should be saved." His mission takes priority.

 

To that end in an early version there was another location which had civilians and a firing squad, and if you saved them they'd run away and trip the alarm, causing the base to go on alert and you to fail, so you had to let them die. (This then evolved into the new version where they get fried by the Obelisks to alert the player that while turrets are mostly offline, obelisks are not)

 

The engineers were originally also captives, and you'd save them and they'd join you to help you out. Sadly that didn't really work out because they would start visible and there were issues with them randomly being killed etc, so I replaced it with them arriving as a sort of last ditch help thing. Originally you would have passed the power plants by then, so it would be like the Commando had radioed for help, but the problem is power plants are so attractive to C4 as soon as you see them, which made the base randomly go hunting for you, which would be really annoying for players. >.< So I had to deliver the engineers before you needed them, which as you said, seems a bit weird.

 

If you guys have any ideas how I could replace the APC engineers section with another "concentration camp where you free engineers" section that would be cool and I'd change the map to put it back in. I just couldn't get it to work well.

 

Maaaaaaybe ... if I put a sort of "backless" concentration camp where the engineers reinforce. So it looks like the prison camp extends off the side of the map. When you save the civilians there, a group of engineers "reinforces" into the compound, suggesting they were captive there as well. Would that seem better? It would also solve the problem of there being one turret which randomly still has its crew inside. Although I like to think that maybe they're staying up late having all all-night Twilight marathon in their turret on some guy's laptop, and one of them is all like "Edward's kinda hot, isn't he?" and the others just give him an odd look and he feels kinda awkward and yells "HOLY SHIT AN APC!" to distract them, and by pure coincidence there is an APC coming and they're then ready to shoot it. Story can explain these little oddities.

[Chimas]

I'm having a look in these last published missions. I'll try this mission again in a few days, haven't finished yet.

 

The only thing I disliked so far is the fact that you have only one resource and eventually you cross with obelisks.

I know ppl wants the hardest missions possible, but this is not cool. Much better would be if you have to get in a place and the obelisks are down and after you destroy something, they "turn on".

 

I know traps fit in a commando mission, but take the example of Nod buggies: You can't beat them, but you can do something before dying, it's not insta-kill.

[nariac]

I'm having a look in these last published missions. I'll try this mission again in a few days, haven't finished yet.

 

The only thing I disliked so far is the fact that you have only one resource and eventually you cross with obelisks.

I know ppl wants the hardest missions possible, but this is not cool. Much better would be if you have to get in a place and the obelisks are down and after you destroy something, they "turn on".

 

I know traps fit in a commando mission, but take the example of Nod buggies: You can't beat them, but you can do something before dying, it's not insta-kill.

 

Most of the obelisks are revealed by various means before you get too close to be fried by them.

[Darkstar387]

Finally got around to playing some of your missions! This is definitely a neat little map. You nailed the the look and feel on the head. The patrols, bio-lab pipelines, prison camps and the helicopter overhead really added to the aesthetic. At first, I wasn't sure if the civilians served any other purpose besides being cannon fodder for the obelisks. I tried making a run past the first one with my commando while the obelisk barbecued the civilians but he wasn't quick enough XD. I'll be completely blunt, it took me 3 tries before I decided the commando wasn't getting through. Then it took me another run to spot all your traps. All in all, this is a commando mission done right! Ditto on Matt's remark about the Sam Site, they definitely trolled me in the end. I had to restart a 5th time and use the Apache's as decoys so Mobius could make it home.

 

Map Design: 5/5

Mission Structure: 5/5

Functionality: 5/5

Originality = 5/5

Challenge: 4/5

Final Grade: 96/100 (A+)

[nariac]

Finally got around to playing some of your missions! This is definitely a neat little map. You nailed the the look and feel on the head. The patrols, bio-lab pipelines, prison camps and the helicopter overhead really added to the aesthetic. At first, I wasn't sure if the civilians served any other purpose besides being cannon fodder for the obelisks. I tried making a run past the first one with my commando while the obelisk barbecued the civilians but he wasn't quick enough XD. I'll be completely blunt, it took me 3 tries before I decided the commando wasn't getting through. Then it took me another run to spot all your traps. All in all, this is a commando mission done right! Ditto on Matt's remark about the Sam Site, they definitely trolled me in the end. I had to restart a 5th time and use the Apache's as decoys so Mobius could make it home.

 

Map Design: 5/5

Mission Structure: 5/5

Functionality: 5/5

Originality = 5/5

Challenge: 4/5

Final Grade: 96/100 (A+)

 

Glad you enjoyed it. And yes, the civilians are just cannon fodder, but not for the sake of cruelty - they alert the player to where some of the dangers are so the commando can have a better chance of not wandering into a laser beam.

[MattAttack]

And yes, the civilians are just cannon fodder, but not for the sake of cruelty - they alert the player to where some of the dangers are so the commando can have a better chance of not wandering into a laser beam.

 

My favorite part of this map was using the civilians as a human shield to run past the obelisks-- with a little luck, the obelisk would zap them instead of me! 

IIRC, it's been a minute.

[nariac]

 

 

My favorite part of this map was using the civilians as a human shield to run past the obelisks-- with a little luck, the obelisk would zap them instead of me! 

IIRC, it's been a minute.

 

I think you're remembering the part where you use civilians as a distraction to sneak past a flame tank

I don't think there's enough civilians running by the obelisks for the commando to get past! Darkstar tried that and got zapped ...