I saw the amount of work you put in Warzone and I feel this campaign could need some polishing too:
I'll just write down my thinking while playing through it (for the first time). As I was lazy I played through it on "Very Easy", but I thought that would need some playtesting too for balancing.
- First of all:
Where am I? Where in time and space, what is the context? A bit background information would be really nice.
- First mission:
Okay a normal defend those transports mission.
Nice was the addition of the SC Sciva, but unnice was:
I put out both beam cannons via trebuchets as soon as it arrived. It still made much damage to the GTC. (hull from 100% down to 18%) And afterwards the GTC was killed by the Flak and lasers of the SC, before we could come even close to putting it down 50%.
That felt "unfair". I dunno if that was because I was playing on "Very Easy", but I really dunno how I can save the GTC.
Else I have found no apparent errors and that debriefing though its quite short is quite okay.
It also felt "strange" to have the bonus objective secured, but not the secondary one.
On another more general note regarding convoy protection:
It again feels strange that no bomber wings have stillettos on board. One hit and you have a ship with engines disabled, which then is an easy target, because either the whole convoy needs to stop and have one ship repair the broken one or its left behind its escort. It might be very unfair to have bombers with stillettos from a playpoint point-of-view, but it was something I ever wondered about.
- 2nd mission:
I lost the GTVI Installation to the bombers and the beam cannons of the SC Sciva, I dunno if you can save it, but the briefing was a failure, but I could still "Accept". That felt strange too.
When that mining vessels arrived and I defended them, I suddenly got a "objective accomplished", but they were still in transit. That also felt strange. Could they jump out perhaps? Or have some other ship arrive that defends them and only them ...
But that also feels strange as there is a much more huge fight taking place and I can't see why command so much worries about some vessels when there is risk to have an installation destroyed.
- Last mission:
Now that one was weird. We destroyed all enemy craft in no time and there was no resistance whatsover. Then all goals unless the one to protect the GTD Blair were true, even though there was still one watchdog left.
And I was like, WTF. Should I leave now?
Then a shivan armada jumped in 10 clicks away, and then after some time the GTD Blair jumped in heavily damaged. It didn't make too much sense to me. Especially with the goal always present to protect a ship, that is not present at all ...
The timing just seemed wrong ... (though I haven't looked into the mission file, yet).
I was told not to engage the cruisers, but then they came nearer and nearer and they screamed that the cruiser come nearer, but no order to engage them.
I finally thought: Well, I could use the time and use those trebuchets to put out the beam cannons ...
But then the "friends" together with all vulnerable freighters arrived and were put into pieces by the beam cannons ... Especially the lower hull transports.
That did not make any sense at all to me ... I mean its okay that they arrive to help and that they could not just leave the transports behind, but anyway a huge risk of all goals of the first mission.
Perhaps have them arrive after all beam cannons are destroyed.
In the debriefing was nothing about the destroyed "friends". If I had gotten this order earlier to put out the beam cannons they might have lived.
Another thing: There are enough bomber wings to take out those three cruisers, but when Gemini jumps in, they especially destroy the fighters.
It makes no sense at all to have the bomber wings sitting there like sitting ducks and have them not even protected by the other fighter wings or let them attack if you want to suicide them.
Either return them to the destroyer or assign the fighter wings to protect the bomber wings instead of assigning all to defend the GTD Blair.
Also all debriefings are very short and miss some "feeling" ...
Overall the campaign is a nice short enjoyable campaign, but if you want to do some restoration, I think it could also get some serious restoration
.
cu
Fabian
