[Three Niner]

Some of you may remember the other thread about this from a few days ago(also by me ) but things have come a long way, so without further ado:

6 months in coming, I'm pleased to announce that the entire branching, 20 mission long McCarthy campaign has been completely upgraded and renovated.

That is to say, all the major upgrades and changes have been made; testing hasn't even begun yet, which is why this isn't a release thread. So, I'll keep watch over this thread to fix any bugs, quirks, and game play issues in the campaign. Feedback is also welcome, as this hasn't been finalized yet.

On a final note, the campaign requires FSPort 3.1.1 and a recent SCP build.

P.S. apologies for the horrendous picture quality, I haven't had time to find an image host

EDIT: download updated 4/15/09

[attachment deleted by evil Tolwyn]

[Vrets]

Just finished Tides of Darkness and Warzone, so I'll start playing this tonight.

[Vrets]

I'm sorry to say that I didn't find this campaign very enjoyable. Although the missions are playable, the plot misinterpretes some basic FreeSpace canon. HOL fighters did not actually work with the Shivans (IE cooperatively escorting the Taranis in mission 5) McCarthy stole the Avenger prototype deliberately and from the Vasudan depot in the original Fs1 campaign, "Capricorn" etc designations are only applied to Vasudan fighters by the GTA (Vasudans have their own wing names), McCarthy did not successfully pass on the avenger to the Vasudans, etc etc. The actual missions themselves range from interesting to diabolically painful.

One in particular stands out...the player (all alone) is forced to scan dozens of widely spaced cargo containers in an unshielded, afterburner-less Anubis fighter while under constant attack by three other respawning Anubis fighters. And then there's the mission in which the player must fend off hordes of untargetable Shivan manticores and basilisks with nothing but 3 unshielded Apollo wingmen and (???!) five amazon drones armed with the avenger prototype (okay, actually that mission was hillarious and surprisingly enjoyable, but still too long...forced to watch those transports shuttle back and forth between every single container in the entire depot!).

I see what you're trying to do, but this campaign needs a complete redesign in my opinon. It could easily get the job done in 4-6 missions. Some missions just don't make any sense and aren't very much fun to play.

[Three Niner]

All right, when you mention how the campaign misinterprets cannon, your absolutely right. But this isn't all my work, this is an upgrade of an original campaign, and it's not my prerogative to remove a major plot point, or as you suggest, do a complete redesign.

Now, on your second point, perhaps you didn't find it enjoyable, but that's what playtesting is for. Give suggestions on how to make it more enjoyable. (You did, just making a point ). And yes, after reading your post I've looked at both missions one and four, and reduced the number of enemies; mission 4 was a bit overkill, now instead of 3 waves of 3 ships, they come in 3 waves of 2 ships.

EDIT: first post updated

[Aardwolf]

My cannon is offended that you misinterpreted it. It only wanted to vaporize stuff, but instead it's being treated as part of the established FreeSpace universe.

Pet peeve: how are there still people using cannon in place of canon, or vice versa? It's a different word, it has a different meaning!

[Admiral Nelson]

I actually gave up on the original McCarthy conversion, as mission after mission required extensive changes.  Three Niner, I do think you have the right approach, but do feel free to deviate from the original if it makes the missions better.

[Three Niner]

So... has anyone actually played through the entire campaign?

If not, I'll just have to test it myself. (not that I'm complaining )

[Macfie]

I'm working on playing through the campaign.  I've gotten through the first 8 missions with no significant problems.

[sigtau]

Can someone re-upload this?

[Macfie]

Sure,  Here it is.

[attachment deleted by Tolwyn]

[sigtau]

Thanks, works like a charm!

[Sushi]

Might as well dump it to FSMods while you're at it...

[sigtau]

http://www.freespacemods.net/download.php?view.576

 

[Solatar]

Definitely a fairly interesting campaign, but it could use a ST:R-esque facelift methinks.

[sigtau]

Yes, yes, it very well could.  Once I've played through it completely I might look into the canonical information in the McCarthy Campaign continuity.

Maybe.

[Solatar]

I think it would take a fairly drastic rewrite to make it viable, as some things are just not right. I don't think the Zods would just "accept" the Terrans into their ranks like in the campaign. It's not like a German fighting for the Brits, it's two different species. Now, a campaign based on McCarthy's experiences could very well be interesting.