We need your ideas

[Stanhope]

Hello everyone,

We've recently added a new priority mission and a new side mission.  Now however we're more or less out of ideas for new side and priority missions.  

So that's where we need your help.  
If you have any ideas, however crazy they are, for a new side mission or priority mission or even a sub objective for the AO post them down below.  Don't worry about whether or not it's possible to transform your idea into script.  Just give us your craziest wildest ideas (and of course normal ideas are welcomed too ).

We don't guarantee that all ideas will be used to make new side missions but yours just might.

Stan

[Chutnut]

I'm no creative type, But maybe something like 'Eliminate the viper team' Pretty much a small defended garrison filled with 6 or so vipers who are fully skilled and difficult to kill, Along with that maybe some standard ground troops patrolling but keep it balanced. Vehicles could also have a play but I would keep it to APC's and Cars.

[Aegis_RVIR]

Maybe bonus objectives that reward certain types of blacklisted or unused gear like Clear the AO under X amount of minutes, Clear the AO without entering the AO, kill the engineer and the factory within 10 seconds from eachother. Small things that reward things like VIPER helmets (those are pretty neat), a sabotage (reduced amount of troops in next AO), etc.

 

the nice thing about it is that you can add pretty much anything as a mission and anything as a reward. Maybe a tier system (harder mission, better reward?)

[Eagle-Eye]

Some basic ideas for side missions, unless indicated otherwise.

 

- Disable enemy FOB / FARP

The enemy is using a small- to medium-sized settlement to enhance their combat capabilities in the region. Destroy X vital infrastructure(s) (e.g. ammo cache, fuel depot, watchtower, vehicles, ...), so that their effectiveness is reduced.

 

- CSAR (timed; I'd say not more than 10 - 15 minutes; could be an AO sub-objective as well)

A fighter pilot had to eject over hostile territories. We have received signals to indicate he's alive, his current estimated location and which pre-planned location he is headed to. As he will be surrounded by enemy units, he has to move cautiously so his ETA at the pickup area is unknown. Locate and rescue our pilot before the enemy is able to capture him.

 

- Kill HVT (could be an AO sub-objective as well)

An enemy HVT is reported to be arriving in X for a meeting with local resistance groups. This meeting will most likely take place away from prying eyes, but civilians may be in close vicinity. PID your targets as civilian casualties are not allowed under any circumstances !!

 

- Camp defence (delayed activation; timed)

(Mission only activated once at least 1 player is in the camp; enemy assault begins a few minutes later, in 1 - n waves)

With indications that an assault on our camp in X may be imminent, we needs extra men to help set up and man defensive positions.

 

- PoW camp defence (delayed activation; timed)

(Same as Camp defence, basically, but now you also have enemy PoW's that need to survive.)

Coming nowhere close to an agreement on the release of PoW's any time soon, the enemy is reportedly forming up to rescue their men from camp X. If rescue is deemed impossible, it is assumed that the enemy may attempt to kill the PoW's instead.

 

- Retrieve intel (could be an AO sub-objective as well)

(Similar to the current intel mission, except that it's a static object, not a mobile unit)

Some documents are so highly sensitive they are only available in hard-copy. Spies have confirmed the presence of one of those documents in X, but are unable to grab it without compromising their cover.

[Stanhope]

I've already read a bunch of great ideas, keep them coming! 

I've got a family thing today so i won't be at my PC for most of the day but i should have some time tomorrow.  So i hope to make at least one mission tomorrow.  

Stan

[Wolfe]

counter attack: Csat could counter attack against previous AO/ Fob so the playerbase should react to this new threat.

 

Also have you considered making a Csat A&I server?

[AnimeOwl]

CheckPoint: Hold a Certain Place for an amount of time while defending, attacks can be provided by CSAT or INDEPENDENT forces

[Tales]

Staging Point: (Priority Target)

 

A large OPFOR force is gathering 3-4km from the current AO consisting of heavy armour, IFV and transports/ammo/fuel with the intention of reinforcing the AO. If left unopposed for ?20 minutes they will begin to move towards the AO until they arrive and reinforce the position.

 

Reward: NATO/AAF Armour (Light/heavy)

 

Naval Gunfire Observatory: (Priority Target)

 

CSAT Naval forces have deployed a forward observation team to a high point in the area for the purpose of directing devastating naval gunfire, locate the observatory and destroy it.

 

(Effectively Prio target artillery however using MLRS Salvo/155mm Howitzer and gun&missile strikes to represent an enemy naval force striking land based targets at the observatories orders, giving the artillery a different twist. Could be in a fortification or building or simply hidden somewhere.)

 

Reward: Helicopter Gunship?

 

Convoy Ambush:  (Side Mission)

 

A NATO/AAF convoy has been attacked, proceed to the area and investigate if there are any survivors.

 

(Several unarmed/armed NATO/AAF vehicles on a road with dead bodies around them - surrounding area full of statics/armour/troops representing ambush force. Friendly vehicles unlocked but with low/nil ammo and fuel meaning they need resupply to be used)

 

Reward: The vehicles (If refueled & rearmed)

 

Rebel Camp: (Side mission)

 

Abusing the chaos of war a militia has established a base of operations and beginning to expand its influence into the local area, wipe them out.

 

(Lightly armed independents & technicals in a small compound - reward light vehicles & weapon cache)

 

Power Station/Water Filtration Plant/Refinery: (Side mission)

 

The enemy has seized the main power station, robbing the area of electricity and causing major civil strife. Seize the station undamaged.

 

(Upon spawning all lights on the map turn off - Water filtration affect nil - Refinery causes all fuel stations to not be able to refuel)

[Stanhope]

On 19-8-2017 at 8:39 PM, Chutnut said:

I'm no creative type, But maybe something like 'Eliminate the viper team' Pretty much a small defended garrison filled with 6 or so vipers who are fully skilled and difficult to kill, Along with that maybe some standard ground troops patrolling but keep it balanced. Vehicles could also have a play but I would keep it to APC's and Cars.

 

On 20-8-2017 at 0:17 AM, Eagle-Eye said:

- Retrieve intel (could be an AO sub-objective as well)

(Similar to the current intel mission, except that it's a static object, not a mobile unit)

Some documents are so highly sensitive they are only available in hard-copy. Spies have confirmed the presence of one of those documents in X, but are unable to grab it without compromising their cover.

I've combined these 2 ideas into one.  The new side mission i made will have a viper team defending some intel with force protection of CSAT.  Both of you have been credited for the idea in the mission code.

Either later today or somewhere this week i want to make some more side missions so keep the ideas coming!

 

Stan

[GamerbugUK]

Some sort of mission that involve close quarters combat would be great, assaulting a compound, or a town.

 

Things that would make this better: No points for marksmen to pop everyone from 800+ metres, no way for tanks or vehicles to roll in and waste everything, and vice versa no heavy vehicle threats that require the use of titans.

 

Literally a street by steet, building by building assault. An AO in Georgetown on Tanoa ended up like this, rooftop enemies, light vehicles in the streets, advancing up roads and down alleys, was once of the best missions I played. I helps that big urban areas do not help snipers kill everything as the combat id often centred on the ground out of sight.

 

Problem is that Altis is too geared up for long range encounters, making those marksmen/snipers/vehicle assaults just too easy.

[Stanhope]

17 minutes ago, GamerbugUK said:

Some sort of mission that involve close quarters combat would be great, assaulting a compound, or a town.

We currently already have 1 side mission that's close quarters, the Destroy Weapons Shipment mission.  But it wouldn't be bad to have another one.

[Eagle-Eye]

With the upcoming DLC, maybe one of these is feasible, depending on how they adapt game mechanics:

 

Clear minefield (timed as side mission; could be used un-timed as an AO sub-objective as well)

Our enemy has placed a minefield near X. Aside from bringing our push forward to a halt, it's also a major hazard to the local population. It's your job to clear it as soon as possible, but note that we don't want you to take unnecessary risks. It is believed the enemy has at least a few squads protecting this defensive barrier.

 

Free-fall leaflets (timed; could be used as an AO sub-objective as well)

For the past few days, the enemy has been using drones to spread propaganda leaflets among the population. So far, by the time we've arrived on scene, the drop had already been completed and the drone long out of sight, so we were unable to locate the drone operator(s). Just a few minutes ago, a drone was seen heading to X. We finally got a real shot at finding them before the drop is complete. While we don't know the location of the operator(s), we do know the drones have a maximum range of 2km.

 

Hostage rescue (timed)

To coerce us into backing off, the enemy has taken an entire native village population (roughly 25 - 50 people) hostage, claiming they'll kill someone every 5 hours as long as there is an allied presence in the region. Because of the enemy's propaganda efforts against us, we're losing the hearts and minds of the local population rapidly, but rescuing these hostages could definitely be a favourable turning point. We're on a clock here, so better get moving!!

[Amentes]

18 minutes ago, Eagle-Eye said:

As non-signatory of the mine ban treaty

 

Just gonna point out that the US is not a signatory of the 1997 Ottawa treaty. Given that most players wear kit with obvious US markings, it would seem odd to call out CSAT for not being a signatory

[Eagle-Eye]

14 minutes ago, Amentes said:

 

Just gonna point out that the US is not a signatory of the 1997 Ottawa treaty. Given that most players wear kit with obvious US markings, it would seem odd to call out CSAT for not being a signatory

You're right. Corrected.

[Stanhope]

On 20-8-2017 at 10:57 PM, Tales said:

Rebel Camp: (Side mission)

 

Abusing the chaos of war a militia has established a base of operations and beginning to expand its influence into the local area, wipe them out.

This side mission has been made and added to I&A 3.2.6.  You've been credited for the idea in the mission code.

[TheScar]

First of all imo there s no real current need for (even) more side missions - aside from the fact that we got

• Search & Rescue
• Destroy Prototype Tank
• Destroy Weapon Shipment

added not to long ago and for the fact side misions are not ment to attract a great percentage of the playerbase in the first place.

Then dont forget several new AO prioritys got added not so long ago,too

• Anti Air battery
• Factory

so i really dont see any lack of workload in the mission at all.

ofc most people appreciate a new attraction by the addition of a few more side missions,but like i began to lay down  side missions were never ment/intended to occupy a high amount of players and are in the first place ment to enable coop on small levels (Squad/Group sized and even for the usual lonewolf) and therefor i d appreciate to not add necessarily (generic) ideas that have no value to the mission.

Quality > Quantity

Thats what the focus should be on.

Speaking of quality,let me get offtopic shortly to give you a example for my before done statement:

Quote

Destroy Weapons Shipment

tltr: its a close quarter combat mission back from days of I+A 2.x and was great play for anyone that gave it 2 try´s

It didnt require any AT or CAS support to complete,its as basic as it gets - house clearing,locate a cache,rigg it - job done

Now Stan gave it go and redone it for the I+A3.2.5 release,but thougt to gave it a update/twist ...

which to me ruined the mission completly - and i ll lay you down why:

AAF forces now got addtional vehicle support,so the no AT requirement is out of the window now and while in the old mission the estimated cache location was signaled by the mission marker @map this was updated too to have it bit more randomized - but it turns out that now each time i see a team go for this mission about 75% of their mission time is wasted on searchign house to house for that cache,there s no hint or similar indicating what (object of cache) or where you may have a chance to find the cache.

Also,while the old mission was limited to only 2 (great) city locations (Kavalala and Pygros) the new updated version now uses the whole Altis map to pick a random city to spawn the mission on.

I mean,there was a reason they chose those 2 cities to have this kind of mission play out well.amirite?

Its a bit like my CoCa CoLa argument,they tried introducing a new flavor and therefor make a new generation of CoCa CoLa but most customers prefered the original flavor and therefor the new Generation  Coke was dropped.

Get my point?

Newer isnt necessarily better.

 

I ll leave it at this for the moment,i may add/update later more - if i feel the need to.

But yea,my suggestion is pretty obvious:

 

No more new side missions just to raise the count of said,quality > quantity

And if you feel the need to have a hostage/rebel/doomsday scenario for your pers. kicks and enraisement,call a ZEUS to make a mission.

Focus on enhancing AO enemy count more,bring back the MBTs to AOs and maybe add Predator/Minotaurus or whatever those truck AA´s are callled to AO

[Stanhope]

2 minutes ago, TheScar said:

AAF forces now got addtional vehicle support,so the no AT requirement is out of the window now

Euhm for starters the mission can spawn with the following factions: normal CSAT, greenbacks (AAF) and paramilitary forces (from the apex DLC).  
3/4 times it will select an independent factions (AAF or paramilitary) and if indep is selected 2/3 times it'll select paramilitary.
The missions spawns with exactly 1 armed offroad.  Which you don't need AT for to take out, you just shoot the gunner that is standing completely open and exposed.  
 

6 minutes ago, TheScar said:

Now Stan gave it go and redone it for the I+A3.2.5 release,but thougt to gave it a update/twist ...

Well yes, the mission highly relied on functions that were build into I&A 2.  We don't have those anymore in I&A 3.  This because they weren't necessary because BI made native functions for it.  So i basically had to rewrite the mission core. And while i was doing that i decided to at once rewrite basically the entire thing.
 

8 minutes ago, TheScar said:

in the old mission the estimated cache location was signaled by the mission marker @map this was updated too to have it bit more randomized - but it turns out that now each time i see a team go for this mission about 75% of their mission time is wasted on searchign house to house for that cache,there s no hint or similar indicating what (object of cache) or where you may have a chance to find the cache.

I have been considering to add an additional smaller circle to the side mission circle to make it easier to find the cache.  I've just been waiting for more feedback from more people.  I've also played the mission multiple times myself.  What i've noticed is that most of the time the reason that it takes so long to find the cache is because people just walk from building to building.  If one marked the buildings that are cleared on the map with a green dot 5 people can complete that mission in less than 10 minutes.
But i'll look into that smaller circle or an alternative way of giving some more hints.
 

11 minutes ago, TheScar said:

Also,while the old mission was limited to only 2 (great) city locations (Kavalala and Pygros) the new updated version now uses the whole Altis map to pick a random city to spawn the mission on.

For several reasons, for starters there are multiple nice cities on Alits.  Second the old system relied on map markers to spawn those missions in.  Map markers are very reliable if done correctly but can cause things to bug out from even the smallest typo (that's why AOs bug out).  On top of this i would have to edit the mission separately for each map.  Selecting a random city or capital city doesn't require me to edit the missions when porting over to another map at all.  This means that i can do updates 3 times as fast.
 

15 minutes ago, TheScar said:

Quality > Quantity

Thats what the focus should be on.

Without feedback i can only go on my personal experience with missions.  
Not so long ago i played the protect UN police forces mission.  The day after i had some spare time and i spend that tweaking the mission.  Now instead of always being UN police forces the to protect units can also be FIA.  On top of this instead of always being greenback that are attacking they can now also be CSAT, urban CSAT and paramilitary.

I also took a look into the prototype tank mission not so long ago and streamlined the code a bit making it spawn in better and faster.

In version 3.2.5 i did a general tweak to all missions (side, prio, main, sub) to fix the fact that missions spawned in completed or failed.  The week before that i updated all side mission to not spawn on FOBs.

I try to regularly look into those side missions because a lot of the code in there is not really up to date.  

But as i said earlier, without feedback i don't really know what people want.  I often ask you scar what you think about it and i've done a lot of the things you suggested.  Yes i left that off-road in that side mission but i've done multiple things you requested almost exactly the same as you requested them.

Making a side mission takes me about 2 hours depending on how awake i am and how difficult the concept is.  Updating takes me about the half the time of making a new one for the very simple reason that i did not write those missions.  So i basically have to figure out what exactly what does before i can actually start tweaking.

If you have more feedback on any side mission, i'd love to see it in the I&A 3.2 feedback thread that can be found here:

 

[TheScar]

cheer up,youngling

there was no intention to critic your efforts in any way from my side,be assured

I´m in general unhappy about expanding that certain mission as it was perfecto as it was (even with outdated markers/code system)

Still,i prefer a (exact/close as possible) remake of the mission if at all or rename the mission differently.

Its also a kind of respect thing,partly.

I repeat myself here,the mission was perfect as it was and there´s no need to enhance it in any way.

If you remake it,i prefer to let it play out as similar as it gets to the orginal.

That´s my most important point.

 

And yea,a dedicated group can prop clear the mission in 10min or less.

Still,i m witnes´ing people daily searching for more than 1h+ and 75% of em have the houses marked.

[Stanhope]

1 hour ago, TheScar said:

i prefer to let it play out as similar as it gets to the orginal.

Send me a working remake as close as possible to the original and i'll put it in.  But this is offtopic and should be in that thread i linked.

[Chutnut]

So while I was being boring I thought of an idea for yet another side mission.

 

The idea is that a vehicle, such as a tank or artillery tank etc has been disabled in combat and CSAT have discovered it, they have teams in the area and are trying to get it operational again. The players must take out all CSAT forces and acquire a repair specialist to repair it. When repaired reward would be given to the players.

[Patrik_swe]

I My opinion Sounds great. But IF Would be a scorcher there should be some kind of  limit on who uses it. Seen many morons with a mortar. 

[Chutnut]

9 minutes ago, Patrik_swe said:

I My opinion Sounds great. But IF Would be a scorcher there should be some kind of  limit on who uses it. Seen many morons with a mortar. 

 

Well the reward doesn't necessarily need to be the vehicle you are tasked to repair, it can just be like standard Side Missions.

 

[Patrik_swe]

oook tru that. But still like to se the arty tank as a reward.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Patrik_swe said:

But still like to se the arty tank as a reward.

Only issue I can see with the arty tank is that it can be taken to the corner of the map and abused to hell and back. That can quite literally wipe an entire AO with a few clicks of the mouse. Another issue with it is the blast radius of its shells are ginormous, which will lead to more teamkills, we get enough with the mortars, god only knows what it will be like with a mobile artillery. Not only this, but you can move it just outside of base, fire your shells then drive 500m back into base and rearm. Whilst I personally would like to see an artillery piece get used, I just don't think the public players can be trusted with one. Its too powerful, campy and easy to abuse. Yes, there are probably ways to work around these, but the time, effort and resources to do so would be a lot greater than the outcome. The mission idea is great, one I toyed with in my mind myself. But imo, artillery is way too strong to have as a reward. Then again that's my two cents. Not trying to sound to blunt, but people can find a way to abuse a mortar, I'm frightened to see what they could do with artillery 

[Tales]

Mission Idea: Interrupt submarine replenishment (Naval)(Side mission)

 

Concept: Intel has received reports of a CSAT Submarine surfacing in the area to transfer vital personnel and supplies with a CSAT vessel disguised as a fishing trawler, interrupt the transfer and eliminate both vessels to prevent this going ahead.

 

Execution: Trawler/Submarine spawned close by each other offshore, several diver teams either static underneath the two or on varying patrols at different depths around the ongoing op - 3-4 Assault boats either patrolling or stationary nearby representing CSAT shore based craft and the trawlers own gunboats being deployed to support the transfer. Orca/Kajman on a patrol around the area providing top cover with several static titan AA placements on the two craft (I did some testing in Zeus and found it possible to have 2 on the Trawler and 2 on the submarine without much issue on flat surfaces; some 50'cal emplacements also increase difficulty. On the trawler its natural rocking means they do float a little but not easy to spot from the angles players would see them at and didn't cause problems when testing.

 

Obviously aircraft will always be the biggest problem to this, well used CAS/Gunships pose the biggest threat but they do this on the main AO and sides anyway but the combination of some form of armed aircraft and the statics provided enough of a challenge to GH's, armed ORCAs and the Blackfoot I tested.

 

Difficulty: Challenging but achievable, being offshore it removes frequently used tactics such as hill camping and vehicles to complete (with probably the exception of MBT's due to their range) and has several ways to complete from swimming in and avoiding the surface to a surface based assault or a combination of the two. I think It'd be a nice break from land based missions and their usual tactics.

 

Implementation: I've given the setup testing in Zeus and after a few little things (Figuring out where you can place statics ect) its pretty simple; obviously I've no idea of the difficulty of I&A implementation. Its sea-based setup means the same setup can be used with various orientations and configurations without worrying about clipping with terrain.