Tiberian Dawn - Extended Operations *SEPTEMBER UPDATE*

[Darkstar387]

Don't forget to publish the rest of the missions, we are waiting ...

You have not been forgotten! I'm still working on them, I've finished sprucing up 14 or so GDI missions, now I just have to go through and playtest 8 or so Nod missions and iron out any wrinkles or bugs. This process has been slow due to my work schedule this month, but I will get them done!

[Chimas]

This process has been slow due to my work schedule this month, but I will get them done!

 

Glad to know, take your time ...

[Darkstar387]

The missions have been uploaded, these should keep you guys busy for a while. I had them play-tested by two other players, most of the bugs are hopefully ironed out. Let me know what you think.

[MattAttack]

super fuckin awesome!!  Missions for days!!  Looks promising, and if the previous endeavors are any indication, we're all in for one hell of a ride!

[Chimas]

Whoahh!!

I'll take some time for the feedbacks, thanks for the games ! ...

[Chimas]

Hi,

A tip, once you're making new missions. Some time ago, one coleague here created 2 or 3 THEATERS - Jungle, Barren and a third one I don't remember.

Anyway, you could have a try with those theaters. If anyone can help, I don't remember where are the threads, does anyone have the links?

[MattAttack]

Some time ago, one coleague here created 2 or 3 THEATERS - Jungle, Barren and a third one I don't remember.

 

Although I think there was a jungle theater in the works for TD, I'm pretty sure those were for RA.

[Darkstar387]

Hi,

A tip, once you're making new missions. Some time ago, one coleague here created 2 or 3 THEATERS - Jungle, Barren and a third one I don't remember.

Anyway, you could have a try with those theaters. If anyone can help, I don't remember where are the threads, does anyone have the links?

 

The third one was a cave tileset. I remember, I was very excited to see somebody expanding the theater options but alas, they don't work with the original C&C. Matt right, they were either for RA or one of the rebuilt versions of C&C 95. I believe Westwood attempted to create a Jungle theme in the original game  because Nyerguds said there were already jungle .mix files in the base game, but the trees don't load in the map. I've tried it and verified that it does not work at this time, but I would love for somebody to fix it for C&C. I think it involved editing the core game files.

[Jacko]

I'd suggest making some snow maps. We don't see enough of those in C&C1 right now.

[Darkstar387]

I'd suggest making some snow maps. We don't see enough of those in C&C1 right now.

 

Lol have you guys even played the missions? There are a few of them sprinkled in there. Frozen Assets, Overlooked, Sabotage, Heartbreak Ridge, Phantom Strike, that's a few off the top of my head. I'm still making more, there will be more snow maps to come. If somebody gets the new custom theaters working I'll certainly start working with those too.

[Jacko]

oh yeah.

I should check those out

[Chimas]

Making the homework properly:

 

Jungle theater

 

Barren theater

 

Author: Tschoskky ... (if you wanna contact him for support)

 

Patcher: Nyerguds ... (to make it viable in C&C95)

 

 

Lol have you guys even played the missions? There are a few of them sprinkled in there. Frozen Assets, Overlooked, Sabotage, Heartbreak Ridge, Phantom Strike, that's a few off the top of my head. I'm still making more, there will be more snow maps to come. If somebody gets the new custom theaters working I'll certainly start working with those too.

Easy, I'm getting there. Spending some time updating my project, have to wait ...

[Nyerguds]

I don't think I've added support for custom theaters in C&C, so far... :-\

[Chimas]

So, the C&C community is solely inviting your highness to add support for custom theaters in your next patch ...  :roll:

(don't forget more flares too, like "DZ at Y" and "DZ at X", an old request).

[Nyerguds]

lol

[Darkstar387]

All kidding aside, I am curious: is Chimas's request doable? I don't plan on slowing down anytime soon, and I'd love to make some maps in a new theater. I've got 0 experience programming in assembly, but how hard would it be to add in support for new theaters?

[Nyerguds]

Theaters? Yea, but I've been planning to instead just make ini files out of it... has the advantage it's easier to modify, and the disadvantage that it becomes more of an external mod than the official extra theater that Snow is now. But hey, it can always be officially supported by cncnet.

[Darkstar387]

Does that mean we'd have to load the mod through the the CCconfig tool?

Would it still be possible to make single player missions with the new theater by developing in a theater supported by the XCC editor and then switching out the theater by modifying the missions .ini file?

[Nyerguds]

Uhh. I mean "mod" as in, added through editing the rules ini files. Currently the only such supported file is themes.ini, which has the game music. It's fairly unrelated to the mod system in the config tool; that is just a handy way to load packed mods, allowing you to have mods in the game folder that aren't activated. You can of course simply have modified versions of those internal inis either as bare files in your game folder, or actually replaced in the mix files. Y'know. Permanent mods.

 

Well. The mod loading system is necessary for overriding some things, like the mouse cursor for example, since that's loaded really early in the game startup, but for the normal data? Nah, shouldn't be necessary.

[Chimas]

... Would it still be possible to make single player missions with the new theater by developing in a theater supported by the XCC editor and then switching out the theater by modifying the missions .ini file?

As far as I remember, it worked that way when I tested the Jungle theater.

[MattAttack]

Finally got around to playing some missions.  So far, they all seem well thought out and the maps are detailed and interesting.  They aren't without a few minor flaws, but overall they have good solid concepts behind them.

 

SCB200EA - NES: Phantom Strike

The first half of the mission involves some stealth tanks clearing the way for your MCV.  I really like this part as it depends on the player utilizing the benefits of the stealths and deploying them wisely to advance.  I've come to really appreciate missions that revolve around 1 unit and using its strengths to the fullest.  Once the base was established, I do seem to remember thinking the AI should attack more frequently, but the teams were good combinations of units and came from multiple angles.  1 or 2 teams of infantry got stuck on the map, but other than that, no issues to report

 

SCG108EA - NES: Trail of Tears

Build a base and destroy the enemy.  This map was cool because the placement of the tiberium forced me to expand my base and evolve outwards.  I also appreciate the relatively low tech level adding another dimension of challenge-- it doesn't all have to be ions and commandos.. lol   Some teams did seem to "stall" in the middle of their orders-- particularly around river crossings.  I saw no indication of this being on purpose in the .ini file but the flaw almost worked in making the mission tougher as the teams seemed to stop right where my harvesters needed to get through to get to the distant tiberium. 

 

I'm going back to try to beat "Heartbreak Ridge" next, but off the bat, I'd just criticize on that one that there aren't enough spaces in the border of all of the reinforcing hovercraft to come through.  If you let your initial units stay where they land on the beach, the player MCV will never arrive.  And last time I tried this one, there didn't seem to be enough tiberium on the map to finish, but that's why I'm going to give it a go again to see if this is the case.  Either way, it was impressive what narrow gaps you got the AI to traverse through.

 

So overall, great job!! now everybody download, play and comment!!

[Jacko]

I've played a large chunk of these missions (lets say about 60%) and the majority of these missions are quite well designed and tend to work fairly well.

I'd say your mapmaking skills are pretty good.

 

 

Extra Comments:

 

I get crashes about 3-4 minutes in on "Freedom Fighters" (I think its that one) - might be a borked trigger.

Teamtypes seem well designed and actually test you at times. Only negative is your obsession with unloading vehicles out of helicopters (that just annoys me)

I actually found the Airstrike ability on Phantom Strike to make it way too easy, and managed to blow up the GDI conyard before they'd even built any buildings.

The enemy AI seems to stack an enormous amount of infantry/vehicles outside their Barracks/Weap/Airstrip - I've had this problem in RA but I don't know if you can limit infantry in TD like you can in RA. If you can, do this.

 

Some of the missions (especially the Nod ones) are really damn hard. I seem to be going through phases of repeatedly restarting just to get map knowledge (or that awkward moment on Unscheduled acquisition where I only had 1 engi, whoops)

 

 

 

[Darkstar387]

Glad to finally see some feedback from you guys! You're all pretty much the elders of map making in my opinion, so your input is very valuable to me.

 

1. I will take a look at Freedom Fighters and review the trigger logic

 

2. The teamtypes in Trail of Tears have always given me trouble. I realized a little too late that the AI does not navigate bridges well and had to tweak the map a bit, but they still get locked up around the first river crossing. I'm going to revisit the teams and possibly make them smaller so they can manage the terrain easier.

 

3. I agree with Matt on Phantom Strike, tke teams don't attack enough. I think the AI only attacks with the autocreate teams which in my opinion, don't spawn frequently enough. I'll add some more in there. There are a few other missions I think need this treatment.

 

4. Good catch on Heartbreak ridge. I will expand the beachhead and look into possibly adding more resources.

 

5. Phantom Strike starts out with most of the structures being built, the refinery is the only thing they have to build. Did you actually locate the construction yard before you bombed it or did you bomb it through the shroud off of memory?

 

These changes will be implemented in the second map release. As it stands, I've created 6 more missions that are ready for release. I hope to finish 6 more before the second release.

 

So until then,

Keep em comin!

 

 

[Jacko]

 

5. Phantom Strike starts out with most of the structures being built, the refinery is the only thing they have to build. Did you actually locate the construction yard before you bombed it or did you bomb it through the shroud off of memory?

 

I located it with the stealth tanks and then just dropped the airstrike on it, before they'd even built a Refinery.

Then I airstriked the Weapons factory and its was gg.

[MattAttack]

2. The teamtypes in Trail of Tears have always given me trouble. I realized a little too late that the AI does not navigate bridges well and had to tweak the map a bit, but they still get locked up around the first river crossing. I'm going to revisit the teams and possibly make them smaller so they can manage the terrain easier.

I avoid river crossings as much as possible-- in fact I'm struggling to think of when I've even used them-- just for the complications they cause.  Too bad, because I really like the teamtypes you put together.

 

3. I agree with Matt on Phantom Strike, tke teams don't attack enough. I think the AI only attacks with the autocreate teams which in my opinion, don't spawn frequently enough. I'll add some more in there. There are a few other missions I think need this treatment.

Yeah that's the real bummer about autocreate not being frequent enough.  It's a great supplement, but I definitely rely more on time or built-it triggers for the meat of the attacks.

 

Keep in mind though, that these missions are no more buggy than the original campaigns and I still thoroughly enjoyed them.  Don't change too much!