CNTO Conquest: Persistent Coop Campaign

Arma Lounge
1

Hello, hello! I’m looking for some feedback about a CNTO persistent campaign. It would have features that resemble painting the map blue akin to antistasi and feature things such as logistics, hearts and minds of the local civilians, and rooting out an extremist militia. Some initial feedback on TS was positive, so I’d like to extend the discussion onto the forums. But there are many questions still left open that I would like this thread to be a point of discussion.

The year is 2013. Local extremist groups have banded together in the North West of Iraq under Sunni control, rejecting the regional, Shia government. You are a part of the newly formed Golden Division, sporting little less than a basic uniform, an AKM, and maybe a helmet. It is your job to secure the local countryside and villages, not just by shooting terrorists, but also by bolstering the civilian population. The more goodwill you achieve, the better off you will be in the eyes of the NATO coalition currently backing the Iraqi government, who will in turn support your efforts even more.

This persistent campaign is currently shaped not like antistasi where anyone can hop on without a zeus, but would require a game master to be present. Your gear and stats would be saved (until you die), although this can be recovered by friendlies. The main idea is that you are the beginning of a new military unit within the region, officially supported by NATO and the regional governmnet but starting out with next to nothing. It’ll take goodwill to secure new equipment as the local extremists have the same or worse gear than you.

The main, open questions are:

  • Would you guys be interested in running this on sundays as a mini op?
  • Should roles such as a commander be permanent (i.e. once a commander, always a commander, or be able to change upon death)
  • Would you be interested in character progression? (Starting as a rifleman, but specialising into an autorifleman, then into a machine gunner etc.)
  • If yes to the above, do you think there should be two currencies, one personal and one global, or a single global "supply" currency? In the event of two, one would be for the commander to secure things such as aid, vehicles, aircraft, fortifications, and friendly AI garrisons, while your own personal currency would be used to buy yourself better equipment. In the event of one, the commander decides ALL equipment to be purchased with said single currency.
  • What map? Currently the thought is Anizay, but suggestions are welcome.

Here is an example of what my previous unit used to track player items and gear:

With any luck, all or most of this can be automated.

This idea has been suggested again and again over the past 6 months, especially once Jash rejoined (unfortunately he has dropped off the radar) but thanks to some help from our scripting god [user avatar=“https://assets-cloud.enjin.com/users/13633351/avatar/small.1434890353.jpeg” name=“Freghar”]13633351[/user] and me possibly badgering R&D for some more help, I would like to make this a reality very soon™. Any and all feedback would be much appreciated!

2

Good Morning Baegel,

I just would like to start off by saying I’m a massive advocate for this idea, this sounds absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to find out where this goes and I hope all goes well. Also if you do require any testing help and or ideas I’m always free :slight_smile:

[quote name=“Baegel”]Would you guys be interested in running this on Sundays as a mini op?[/quote] Definitely Sundays as I think that not every active member of CNTO would be as keen on the idea and would prefer a "conventional op" as we normally run Tuesdays and Fridays.

[quote name=“Baegel”]Should roles such as a commander be permanent (i.e. once a commander, always a commander, or be able to change upon death)[/quote] I think limiting the commander role to one person would be pretty counter-intuitive as it would either have to be someone who is going to play without fail every time and for a Sunday I just don’t think that would be realistically viable.

[quote name=“Baegel”]Would you be interested in character progression? (Starting as a rifleman, but specialising into an autorifleman, then into a machine gunner etc.)[/quote] I personally think that would be complicating it for the sake of complication. I think selecting a role at the start and sticking with it but having the commander role be something that can be passed on on a game-by-game basis would be a decent course of action.

[quote name=“Baegel”]If yes to the above, do you think there should be two currencies, one personal and one global, or a single global "supply" currency? In the event of two, one would be for the commander to secure things such as aid, vehicles, aircraft, fortifications, and friendly AI garrisons, while your own personal currency would be used to buy yourself better equipment. In the event of one, the commander decides ALL equipment to be purchased with said single currency.[/quote] I am 100% in agreement with you on this, this sounds like such a great playing point and will give the whole playthrough some substance that Antistasi doesn’t really have. What are you thinking we could buy with our personal currency equipment wise?

Anizay all the way mate, without a doubt. Judging by your mini-story you put up there It would be the best fit, especially looking at previous similar conflicts and where they took place It would be the best fit.

3

+1 on everything, love the idea and could be a lot of fun. Maybe have a changing commander? Not sure about this but either way works in my opinion. And having a logistics side of everything or logistics missions (like antistasi) would be a lot of fun.

4

The idea is that you start off with pretty minimal gear. The current starting gear is limited 2x tourniquets, 4x basic bandages, a helmet, a slash bandolier with 5x AKM mags and an AKM.

My idea is that everyone who plays on sundays is awarded a certain amount of "credits" that they can then spend to upgrade their gear or specialise into a role such as a Medic, Engineer, Crewman, Pilot, etc.

So for instance, you might want to invest in better body armour. This would be "vest upgrade I" (as an example) and would give your character a better vest, but still in line with your uniform. This ensures that everyone wears a similar uniform thats recognisable.

Some gear would be limited to certain roles. This is why I would want to add "roles" such as autorifleman so that not everyone simply buys an RPK because it has more ammo. Medics for instance would be limited to quite short range guns such as PDWs and short rifles.

5

I think limiting what guns people are going to be forced to be used would ruin the fun a bit. Sure they’d need to discuss with the commander what to get etc (so the pilots don’t buy sniper rifles etc) but I think the restrictions on kits should be put out by the commander what his troops are allowed to use rather than making ‘‘classes’’.

6

I love the idea. I wish more people will join this project and help out, even with tiny bits. If you don’t know how to code, you can write the user guide, or test it. There are always ways to help.

7

Would it be possible to have a king of the hill kind of system where you gain cash dollah for suff like completing missions, which you can then spend on unlocking weapons, equipment, and so on? Either for yourself or the team as a whole.

Would it be possible to add missions that have pre-requests? Like having to infiltrate a place during night time to get to a server or shit like that.

8

Sounds good, but Sunday :frowning:

9

[quote user_id=“319225” avatar=“https://assets-cloud.enjin.com/users/319225/avatar/medium.1399937338.png” name=“Aether”]Would it be possible to have a king of the hill kind of system where you gain cash dollah for suff like completing missions, which you can then spend on unlocking weapons, equipment, and so on? Either for yourself or the team as a whole.

Would it be possible to add missions that have pre-requests? Like having to infiltrate a place during night time to get to a server or shit like that.[/quote]

That’s the general idea. The currency would be something like "NATO renown" thats then used to equip you bois

10

I think you already know my thoughts on this, but I’ll mention them here as well.

I would imagine it being the exact opposite of choose-what-you-want-Arsenal; put a strong emphasis that all the resources - gear, renown, credits, etc. belong to the company. Purchases don’t have to necessarily all go though the commander, but there has to be that communal (eh) feeling of that LMG not being yours, but just lent to you for use. It’s an asset, not personal property.

As such, I would probably keep the personal stuff only to "experience", "rank" or something like that, possibly specializing into roles like medic, sharpshooter, etc. which could get you special abilities (stitching, using kestrel/atragmx) that others wouldn’t have, but also give you a first pick for related equipment (weapons/accessories/etc.), kind of like CNTO trained people have first pick for helicopter/SL/etc. slots.
I would really keep it as a privilege for the specialized, not as limitation for others - I’d definitely not limit a medic to short-range weapons (that doesn’t make any sense + the medic is already trading his/her ability of doing cooler stuff for helping others).

If this is not enough, I’d probably consider some system of personal "shares" or "allowance" from the overall budget (renown) where a distinguished member could purchase additional equipment for personal use (or for use by others of choice). This could be tied to rank, so it would possibly make sense given the overall company structure.
The commander would still oversee and allocate the majority of the budget (for vehicles, buildings, as gifts for rebuilding efforts, etc.).

Oh, and yes - I’d have everybody always respawn with the same crappy gear, regardless of what you received as part of your promotion - that was a one-time thing, if you lose it and nobody retrieves it, it’s gone and somebody must purchase it back (or you’ll be stuck with whatever assets are available). Maaaybe you’d get cooler uniform / vest / backpack on respawn, matching your specialization, but those would be empty (or with crappy AK magazines).

Well, those are my opinions, make of them what you will. I’d probably join at least on a few sessions, it sounds interesting. :slight_smile:

11

Agreed, I’d be tempted to say maybe people lose their rank and specialisation upon death too, but thats another thing up for discussion…

12

If you do that, it might be good to just go down a single rank so it isn’t as harsh? I don’t really mind going full ironman though, that seems interesting too.

Speaking of, will there be instant respawning or a wave style respawn? Might be interesting to try the latter.

13

[quote user_id=“319225” avatar=“https://assets-cloud.enjin.com/users/319225/avatar/medium.1399937338.png” name=“Aether”]If you do that, it might be good to just go down a single rank so it isn’t as harsh? I don’t really mind going full ironman though, that seems interesting too.

Speaking of, will there be instant respawning or a wave style respawn? Might be interesting to try the latter.[/quote]

The respawning I’m currently trying to figure out, but once you die you will definitely respawn at "HQ" (thatll be off map)
From there, you can teleport to any friendly outpost that has a flag established.

Alternatively if I can figure out the respawn screen you could directly respawn at an outpost that has one of your flags as long as there are no enemies within a certain radius (100? 200? 500?) around it

14

For those interested in helping out with scripting etc. here’s the Github link to the new repository for this idea: GitHub - CntoDev/cnto-conquest

15

Thanks Clarke!

As an update, Conquest will be discussed further at the upcoming R&D meeting on the 11th.

As for now, check the screenshots below to see what I am thinking about for "progression", in this case a rifleman. The items will be "bought" separately but I’ve grouped them together in the three "tiers" that I am currently working with.

For reference, a scopebox will be present, but the starting AKMs do not have the option for scopes. Only after buying the "weapon upgrade I" would you be able to use it anyhow. The uniform would be changed with the "vest upgrade" as I don’t think anyone would want to spend points on a cosmetic look.

Further, choices will be limited to keep a uniform look and feel and what "role" you chose. For instance, only marksmen would be able to upgrade to a marksman rifle and buy higher powered scopes.

Tier I:

2560×1440 205 KB

Tier II:

2560×1440 207 KB

Tier III:

2560×1440 226 KB

16

An interesting thing in an old FPS game called Dust-514 was that individual units had their loadouts paid for by a benefactor in EVE Online. A similar system could be interesting where the commander chooses the standard gear of the faction, and each respawn therefore costs a number of resources based upon that choice.

I’m also willing to help with the scripting of this but only if you actually formulate a concrete idea of what you want i.e design doc.

17

That is definitely one option, if other people in this thread could weigh in whether they’d want the commander to decide gear or players themselves that would help the discussion.

That’d be awesome. Design doc is in the works and will be presented on the 11th!

18

Another option is to plagiarise Far Cry 3 (afterall, that is what antistasi did) and have specific upgrades unlocked by capturing gear, i.e you capture and permanently sell a BTR you get +1 body armour level. Extremely videogamey but could be fun.

19

Would you like to see this permanently unlocked, or you get X amount, or they become available in general to all factions as an escalation?

20

The current idea is you have what you have until you die. Then you’d take on the role as another "recruit" with base gear. If your gear is recovered from your dead body, that can of course be returned to you.