How do I start a campaign????

[Ludeman]

Hi all, I just picked up ToS today and am quite frustrated as I can't seem to to find how to start a campaign. Do I have to download them? Please help the newbie

[LarkinVB]

Solitary game -> Start new game -> Load team from file -> Select map -> Load campaign

To play a campaign with your own squad you should build one in the HQ. Read the manual. There is a free 3 map campaign in the map section of the forum which is for complete newbies. Some call it too easy, others like it.

[Invinsenile_196]

I finally tried the campaign and found it really hard to play. I keep getting slaughtered. What can I do to change the campaign difficulty? I can change the skill difficulty in the hotseat game but can't seem to do that in the campaigns. I don't see a difficulty setting in the options either. Help please.

[Intruder]

I finally tried the campaign and found it really hard to play. I keep getting slaughtered. What can I do to change the campaign difficulty? I can change the skill difficulty in the hotseat game but can't seem to do that in the campaigns. I don't see a difficulty setting in the options either. Help please.

Try not to jump straight into the Campaign. Build up your squad by doing random missions. You will gain XP and money by doing this, which you can use to upgrade your squad. Also check out the Map Room and download the Deep Core Campaign. It is a bit easier and will allow you to gain vital XP. I too tried the Savannah campaign multiple times before I had any success, and only after upgrading my squad. Hope this helps.

[Thorgrim]

The only way to change the difficulty of campaign maps is by editing the maps
Seriously, you *can* start the campaign with a newly created squad, that's what c1 was created for. Some people seem to find it hard to play. Well, it can't be any harder than a random battle with even odds, since it was built in the following manner:


SLIGHT SPOILER


The campaigns are, in order (buying some time here, in case you want to rethink the spoiler warning)

c1 : Savannah
c2 : Android Rebellion
c3 : The Metaborator

Each map has a difficulty level, shown right after the map's name in the map selection screen. That tells you which player squad average rank the map was designed to be played with.

The map editor allows to either set individual AI jocks to a specific rank or to make the AI's average rank match the player squad's average rank.
The campaign maps were designed combining these 2 options, setting the mandatory AI titans of each map to the map's difficulty level, and any others to match the player. So, for example, c1m1 (map 1 of campaign 1) has say 2 or 3 AI titans set to rookie recons and the other 5 or 6 set to random - this allows you to play this map with your rookie squad but also with any squad of any rank, in which case the 'random' AI titans will match the player's rank.

Now, if you start c1m1 with 3 rookie recons, the AI will face you with 3 rookie recons. So all you have in c1m1 is the same as in a random battle with the AI set to the same rank and with the same tonnage. If you can beat the AI in a random battle, why not in c1m1?!

About making c1 easier, how? The AI is already set to easiest level (there's nothing below rookie...). Unless balance was set to give the player a weight advantage, or editing the AI's titans to make them crummy (it is possible to do both with the map editor, and Eric did the latter in his Deep Core campaign), it is already as easy as it gets.
Plus, the terrain in c1m1 is all in the player's favor. The river is there for a reason. So are the hills.


My advice is the following. Get confortable with the game first (tutorial, random battles). When you are, start a squad of 3 jocks. Start c1 (Savannah). Do not recruit a 4th jock until at least c1m5, or later if things are not going too good - this is assuming a "playing it safe" approach. c1 does have some "room" for 1 or 2 random battles played before or in between the first 4 maps or so, if you want. After finishing c1, play some random maps until your squad gets to c2's required rank. Same for c3.
Remember, keep your eyes on the map's objective. Some maps do not require you to disable all opposition, but rather use speed and/or cunning.

As to the mission maps, they are loose maps, which you can play whenever you feel like it (between campaigns), and the squad matches their required rank. They may or may not have the same AI definition style as the campaign maps - meaning, an elite map may have all 8 AI titans set to elite or only a few and the others set to random for balancing purposes in case you use a squad with a rank different from the required.


Now, the problem may also be one of strategy, or tactics. There are a few threads in this forum that address these.


Just as a finishing note, it's perfectly possible to recruit a 4th jock for c1m4, and not worry about money. A veteran player can do this. A rookie player may not, but let's remember that veteran players will also want to play the campaigns. And rookie players will eventually become vets. IMO it's better campaigns being a little difficult than being too easy - in this case, their replay value is greatly diminished.


Comments/oppinions? Sorry for the long post.

[Invinsenile_196]

Try not to jump straight into the Campaign. Build up your squad by doing random missions. You will gain XP and money by doing this, which you can use to upgrade your squad. Also check out the Map Room and download the Deep Core Campaign. It is a bit easier and will allow you to gain vital XP. I too tried the Savannah campaign multiple times before I had any success, and only after upgrading my squad. Hope this helps.

Thank you, That helped a lot. The degree of pissedoff I was at was scaring the local livestock. I was so excited about the game and then wham it was like a brick wall. That map room is great. I downloaded that campaign and it helped. Like a big light bulb went off in my brain. I didn't even notice that section earlier. The good strating strategies thread was helpful to. Thanks Intruder.

[Intruder]

Thank you, That helped a lot. The degree of pissedoff I was at was scaring the local livestock. I was so excited about the game and then wham it was like a brick wall. That map room is great. I downloaded that campaign and it helped. Like a big light bulb went off in my brain. I didn't even notice that section earlier. The good strating strategies thread was helpful to. Thanks Intruder.

Glad to be of service. Welcome to the addiction that is WS. Another thing that you might find helpful is when playing random battles, set the balance in you favor by setting the tonnage to 100% more than the opponent. After you start kicking but, tone it down to 50%, then finally set it to even. Also if you are worried about losing your squads while learning the game, go into your data/squads folder and make a backup of your squad save file. After you have gotten your feet wet in the random battles go back to the c1m1. As mentioned earlier the enemies scale to your squad, but the knowledge you gain in the randoms will help you out alot. BTW if you are looking for any Netgames, my ICQ is 8180414. Feel free to add me and contact me. Always willing for a friendly! Good luck and enjoy!

[mateo]

phew I was getting a bit frustrated, so bump this big time