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I thought it would be just easier for me and you to keep track of my maps if I do it all in one single thread.

Here is the updated Deep core.

1)made significant changes IMO to maps 1 and 2
3) added a third map. Slightly harder enemies.

The third map does have a bit harder enemies but if you've successfully managed winning map 1 and map2 then you should enjoy it.

Hey, I think I found a bug with those ore collectors. Every so often when you rip a Right Arm off of these things, you'll get a Engine Disabled, Titan Destroyed message. Counts as a kill, and everything. Has happened twice now, once in each of the times I've played through the campaign.

and I found another bug in the third map. the first armor bay seems to repair my titans almost instantly, instead of after 60 seconds.

beyond that, great campaign. that third map, I think I gained like 6k to 7k in MXP's alone.

and the salvage and the bounty money, whee.

(fought that animal in the woods, just because I could. salavaged his titan almost pristine because an Axe to the head, followed by a Tesla. what exactly was his rank, anyway, out of curousity?)

excellent campaign, a great way to start a squad out, and a fair introduction to the game for newbies.
I love the way things tend to come in waves, with a chance to rest and heal afterwards.

keep the campaigns coming, please!

I haven't checked this campaign but excessive xps and/or money rewards do spoil the fun for me. How did you get 6k move xps ?

I do think the rewards (monetary and experience) are a little on the large size for this campaign. Wouldn't bother me at all if they were toned down just a little...

Note that these maps/campaigns are not approved by Vicious Byte and should be played with this grain of salt.

Iskandar wrote:and I found another bug in the third map. the first armor bay seems to repair my titans almost instantly, instead of after 60 seconds.

beyond that, great campaign. that third map, I think I gained like 6k to 7k in MXP's alone.

and the salvage and the bounty money, whee.

(fought that animal in the woods, just because I could. salavaged his titan almost pristine because an Axe to the head, followed by a Tesla. what exactly was his rank, anyway, out of curousity?)

excellent campaign, a great way to start a squad out, and a fair introduction to the game for newbies.
I love the way things tend to come in waves, with a chance to rest and heal afterwards.

keep the campaigns coming, please!

First, I tested the campaign using the new squad 'Vicious Raiders'.
Other squads will have other outcomes.

1) I saw no reason to make the armor bay take longer. You're in a secluded spot with no enemies. Why wait? You really just want the armor so you can move on.
2) Walking and jumping through at least 4 large hazards will do that. You must have fallen a lot though.
3)Salvage money will be gone soon enough. I can reduce that by reducing the number of enemies or giving an arbitrary sum. I don't think new players want to worry about money just yet. They want to worry about fighting and the story. They can always do something else later.
4) Animal is Regular. A tesla bolt to the head would be considered a fluke. I can't change those types of things or when someone saves/loads until they get the hit they want. He's really only there to put fear into rookies in recons. Squads at higher levels shouldn't have a problem with him.

LarkinVB wrote:Note that these maps/campaigns are not approved by Vicious Byte and should be played with this grain of salt.

Don't get me wrong. I'm happy beginners get something a bit easier to learn the game but I wish it would be light in rewards too.

AStott wrote:I do think the rewards (monetary and experience) are a little on the large size for this campaign. Wouldn't bother me at all if they were toned down just a little...

The money and experience will even out in later maps.

Also consider that by having armor bays and repair bays with infinite repairs will negate repair costs for the team, which will compound on the large reward problem.
If there are no money limitations, as soon as your leader gets to green rank, everyone will be piloting lights, and so on.
I tried to set c1 so there was a sense of logical progression in a squad. This kinda defeats that...

Thorgrim wrote:Also consider that by having armor bays and repair bays with infinite repairs will negate repair costs for the team, which will compound on the large reward problem.
If there are no money limitations, as soon as your leader gets to green rank, everyone will be piloting lights, and so on.
I tried to set c1 so there was a sense of logical progression in a squad. This kinda defeats that...

The campaign has 4 maps to go. Anything can happen in that time.

rosary wrote:The campaign has 4 maps to go. Anything can happen in that time.

But players can choose to go to C1 after 3 maps ignoring the rest. So your new campaign C0 should avoid to shell out money.

I haven't played the thing, but only by looking at it - AND NO OFFENSE MEANT - it looks a bit "for morons" (I apologize for this description, but I can't find anything else more suited). I mean, opponents have paper thin armor and internals, all equipment lightly damaged. They're only missing the "shoot me, I'm easy" sign across their chests. How does this teach anyone how to play? How is it different from the tutorial?
Even the concept, it looks extremely similar to c2.
Again, I don't intend to offend anyone, Eric or any player, but I just can't see the point.

Nowhere does it say you have to start playing the campaigns right after breaking the box's seal. Start with the tutorial, get the hang of the game with some random battles, then tackle the campaigns.
Playing the campaigns over and over again will get old pretty fast, so you should only try them when you know what you're doing. MO of course.

LarkinVB wrote:But players can choose to go to C1 after 3 maps ignoring the rest. So your new campaign C0 should avoid to shell out money.

If there is absolutely to much money then I can easily tone it down. Most complaints I got earlier were that money was tight so I was a little looser with the reward. But its easily solved.

Any suggestions on money rewards anyone? What do you think you really need per map? That would help a lot so I can make the maps give out an average of these figures. I'm more than happy to do this. Also what you earned while playing this with an absolutely new squad. I'd prefer that you play through without overmuch saving and or retrying.

I want everyone to enjoy this campaign without affecting the other campaigns fun value.

Thorgrim wrote:I haven't played the thing, but only by looking at it - AND NO OFFENSE MEANT - it looks a bit "for morons" (I apologize for this description, but I can't find anything else more suited). I mean, opponents have paper thin armor and internals, all equipment lightly damaged. They're only missing the "shoot me, I'm easy" sign across their chests. How does this teach anyone how to play? How is it different from the tutorial?
Even the concept, it looks extremely similar to c2.
Again, I don't intend to offend anyone, Eric or any player, but I just can't see the point.

Nowhere does it say you have to start playing the campaigns right after breaking the box's seal. Start with the tutorial, get the hang of the game with some random battles, then tackle the campaigns.
Playing the campaigns over and over again will get old pretty fast, so you should only try them when you know what you're doing. MO of course.

For someone who is definitely not new to the game and has been playing it for a long time and knows all the rules, you seem to feel strongly about this. I'd recommend you play rookie vs Hero AI in random battles. This campaign isn't for you.

The point is that it is fun. If it wasn't fun they'd call it work.

First and foremost lets keep this a peacefull place were TOS friends do meet. I have learned that I can disagree AND stay calm and open to suggestions. I have coded this game for 5+ years to have fun and spread it to others who do agree. I have a clear vision on how to handle my code but I'm aware that missions/campaigns are out of my reach. All I do ask for is to keep contributions in the true TOS spirit and don't compromise the games balance. FUN is the word, FUN is the spirit.

Making TOSWS fun for new players is what this whole campaign is all about. I will make changes from the general feedback. If there's to big a reward, I can reduce it, in fact I've already done this and they will be released with map 4.

AStott wrote:I do think the rewards (monetary and experience) are a little on the large size for this campaign. Wouldn't bother me at all if they were toned down just a little...

Well I did just that. I can't really reduce the experience because you earned it by doing skill checks but I can reduce the monetary rewards or make them more interesting to earn.

Here's the updated Deep Core. I hope everyone enjoys it. I'll start work on map 4 and 5 tonight or tommorrow.

yeah, hey, good thing about toning down the money. Coming out at about 900k at the end of the campaign was a bit much.

(on the other hand, knowing what I do about salvage, I was tearing heads and legs off and leaving the rest, and I almost never got shot at...)

As for the 6 - 7k experience thing, that was across 4 jocks. And no, I didn't fall down but 2 or 3 times, per jock. I was just wading across a lot of lava and water. And I made a lot of rolls around the 10% to 20% area, even when I didn't have to. OTOH, I think I made a total of, uh 500 CXP, for all my jocks, and maybe double that for OXP (mostly because my leader damaged her engine, and I succeeded at fixing it needing a 2%!).

Listen, this game can be extremely frustrating if you are new at it. This campaign gives you time to practice in real fights, and get some wins in, before things get harder. The complaints that have been seen about the difficulty of this game, this campaign should serve as a great introduction. After all, I too feel like the whole "well, you should do random battles until you get experienced." line is more or less a cop out.

If you can't just drop down and start the campaign, perhaps this game is too hard?

And now you can do just that.


To top it off, these maps have got a wonderful flow to them. Beginning campaign or not, these maps are extremely well crafted.


On the down side, yeah, the threat level on the first map could be a touch higher. I mean, I not once got shot at, and only once got charged. The only damage I really took was from my own physical attacks. Plus since the enemies come one at a time, you can easily wipe them out, even if they were REAL combat titans. Perhaps, add an extra enemy in each area for every two Titans brought into the map? Or can you do that?

I mean, yes beginning campaign and all, but there is a distinct difference between easy and shooting fish in a barrel. The first two maps have more of a fish in a barrel feel.


(and no, I wasn't complaining about Animal, earlier. And I know what I did to him was luck. I was curious, for future reference. I probably will avoid him, but I was curious if 4 recon Titans could take down a Medium, without getting beat up to badly. I was not expecting the one two punch.)