[RELEASED] Uncle Mark's Tutorials - 1 - NATO Surface Group vs. Soviet Forces, 1985

[Mgellis]

This one is an experiment. I was trying to write a scenario that was fun to play but was also set up to help people practice the basics, including some advice, commentary, etc. As people go through it, I'm particularly interested in how well it works as a tutorial. My goal is that someone who is learning the game will play this scenario and walk away feeling they know at least a bit more about how to play Command, etc. So, is it fun and challenging, but not too hard, something a person just getting used to the game could play and win and feel they accomplished something? Are the advice, instructions, etc. clear? Any other observations, suggestions, etc.?

Thanks in advance!

Version 2 uploaded at 11:00 PM EST 6/5/2015

[Coiler12]

Played it. Pretty good, although I'm obviously not the target audience.

[ojms]

Yeah it works well.

[Primarchx]

I had a devil of a time against the Victor. Sucker was fast and deep once the first torp hit the water, difficult to get good firing parameters on.

[Mgellis]

Any recommendations, suggestions, etc. on what I could add (pop-up messages, etc.) that would make it more helpful to new players? Am I providing enough information?

[chrisol]

I've only just started it (will have to get back to it later), but so far the pop-ups etc. seem great. Some common sense advice about the interface (not all of which I had considered) and explanation of some basic military/naval terminology. (Though I'm now intrigued to know the difference between AO and AOR... but I'm sure I can look that up). It might crop up later, but given it's starting at a fairly basic level you might want to mention how the coordinates work (Long/Lat) (?) - they often crop up in other scenarios.

Thanks and will try to feedback a bit more when I've got further through it

Chris

[Gunner98]

AO= Area of Operations - tactical or operational
AOR= Area of Responsibility - more strategic or high operational
 
You can probably write a masters theses on the various permutations of these and other related terms but in general:  You operate within an AO (very well defined with boundaries etc.) and you or your boss is responsible for the AOR (larger less well defined). 
 
I'll give this a try tomorrow if I get a chance.
 
B

[Gunner98]

Mark
 
Some quick observations:  The 'Blue' text looks good on the pop up message but is unreadable if you have messages going to a separate window, which is a black background.  Ideal would be yellow on black but then the pop up would suck with a white background.
 
'Chopped' is slang, not an official term.  I believe the origin is US Army WW2 meaning 'Change of Posture', not 100% sure on that.  Used to give students an ear-full if they use it though [:D]
 
There is a method in Lua to give a course & speed.  CK was helping me with some the other night.  I think this will work:
 
ScenEdit_GetUnit({side='XXXX', name=XXXXX'}).course = {xxx}
ScenEdit_GetUnit({side='XXXX', name=XXXXX'}).speed = {xx} 
 
Haven't tested it but interpreting from CK's help for a similar problem.
 
Just started, will finish it up in the AM.
 
B

[Gunner98]

Nice little scenario, could not localize the Vic3, sank the Sov SAG and scenario terminated.  Did not find any SSGN. As a tutorial you may want to put in pop ups triggered on detection of various elements.  Ideas:
 
-hints on localizing a Sub contact triggered on detecting the SSN
-a quick one on what and why Biologics are used on detecting that
-A mention of how to localize air contacts and some weapon/sensor issues when the first Helix is detected
-Weapon selection and how to sink ships while not being sunk yourself when the SAG is detected
-Defense against missile attack, including the passive spoofers & decoys (that's how the Kortenaer survived when I ran it)
-Perhaps one on damage and what it represents
 
This is a good idea as a tutorial.
 
Tx
 
B

[Mgellis]

Just uploaded version 2. I made a few changes--mostly editing messages and adding extra messages. I also updated the scenario to the most recent version of the database. Please let me know what you think. Again, I'm mostly interested in how well it helps new players get used to Command, but that it also works well as an actual scenario where people can learn and employ some basic tactics. Thanks!

[Noldofinwe]

Awesome! Once I get back to my pc I'll give it a swing

[Rory Noonan]

I played through your scenario, and I love it. I'm not new to Command, but it was still an enjoyable scenario. The pop-ups were relevant and helpful, and the flow of the scenario was excellent. The pace progressively quickens but is not too much for a beginner, demanding a little multi-tasking but also forgiving of minor mistakes.

As someone else mentioned, I didn't run across an SSGN, just a Victor that took 4 torpedos (3 hits!) to destroy. The SAG didn't put up much of a fight, which is not really a problem for me as I understand the idea of the scenario is to get the player familiar with Command rather than provide a hard fought battle.

Great work overall, I would love to see more similar scenarios.

[Gunner98]

Great work overall, I would love to see more similar scenarios.

Have just tried jmarso's 'Russian Civil War' scenarios: tm.asp?m=3861970&mpage=1&key=

They make great 'tutorial' type scenarios for Carrier Ops.

B

[Gunner98]

Just ran it again.  I line the new messages 'Oh dear' [;)]
 
Thanks for another good one
 
B

[Mgellis]

ORIGINAL: apache85

I played through your scenario, and I love it. I'm not new to Command, but it was still an enjoyable scenario. The pop-ups were relevant and helpful, and the flow of the scenario was excellent. The pace progressively quickens but is not too much for a beginner, demanding a little multi-tasking but also forgiving of minor mistakes.

As someone else mentioned, I didn't run across an SSGN, just a Victor that took 4 torpedos (3 hits!) to destroy. The SAG didn't put up much of a fight, which is not really a problem for me as I understand the idea of the scenario is to get the player familiar with Command rather than provide a hard fought battle.

Great work overall, I would love to see more similar scenarios.

In fact, the SSGN is a "red herring." It isn't there. (I started off with a Charlie in the scenario, but it kept killing at least one ship and I wanted to give people a fair chance to get a Triumph, so I swapped it out for the Victor.) The only sub is the Victor. To make things a little less confusing, though, I added this paragraph to the orders file...

By the way, intelligence reports are not always 100% accurate. For example, "one or two SSNs or SSGNs" simply means the people providing you with intelligence think these submarines are in your area. But they could be wrong. Maybe there aren't any submarines in your area. Maybe there are six. Part of the game is figuring out what is really out there.

In fact, the report is accurate. It says "one or two." There is one submarine in the player's AO. I'm not lying!

[Mgellis]

Is there anything else that needs to be done with this one? Or is it ready for the Community Scenario Pack?

[Noldofinwe]

Heya, I gave it a spin, all in all a great scenario to start with. It's also very well and clearly written, and not to easy I even lost a ship as my ships ran into the sub. Great job!

[dox44]

gave this a spin too. no problems understanding.

nice thanks for posting. if you could build one for air base(s) to air base(s)
got a 440.

SIDE: NATO
===========================================================

LOSSES:
-------------------------------


EXPENDITURES:
------------------
2x AN/SSQ-62E DICASS
2x AN/SSQ-53F DIFAR
1x Mk46 LWT Mod 2
2x Mk46 NEARTIP Mod 5A(SW)
1x Sea Dart Mod 1
8x RGM-84D Harpoon IC
8x RGM-84A Harpoon IP



SIDE: Soviet Union
===========================================================

LOSSES:
-------------------------------
1x PLA-671RTM Victor III [Shchuka]
2x Ka-25BSh Hormone A
1x SKR Krivak II [Pr.1135M Burevestnik-M]
1x BPK Kresta II [Pr.1134A Berkut A]
1x BPK Kashin Mod [Pr.61M]


EXPENDITURES:
------------------
12x RGB-1 [NATO BM-1, Search, Passive Omni]
2x Generic Acoustic Decoy
4x AK-100 100mm/70 Frag
2x SA-N-4b Gecko [9M33M3]
4x PK-16 Chaff [TSP-60U]
8x PK-2 Chaff [TSP-47]
8x SA-N-1b Goa [M-1M/P Volna-M/P, 4K91 / V-601]
6x AK-630 30mm/65 Gatling Burst [400 rnds]



SIDE: Neutrals
===========================================================

LOSSES:
-------------------------------


EXPENDITURES:
------------------



SIDE: Nature
===========================================================

LOSSES:
-------------------------------


EXPENDITURES:
------------------

[Mgellis]

ORIGINAL: casebier

if you could build one for air base(s) to air base(s)

I'm working on one right now. I'll probably have it ready to post in about a week. The U.K. goes after Uganda in 1973, so you'll get Lightnings and Buccaneers vs. MiGs and some ancient but still potentially deadly WWII-era Soviet export AAA. I'm also adding in some photo recon missions to make things a little more challenging.

[HowieWowie]

I'm running v1.07 build 678 and when I attempt to load the scenario I get a dialog saying that I have attempted to load a database that does not exist on the DB folder.......

Any ideas?