Suggestions for HS Missions

Here are some suggestions I have in order to make a great mission using the Hand Signals Command System. Most of these suggestions could apply to any OFP mission, but these are especially pertinent to HS missions:

Don't use a lot of drivable vehicles

The HS system is designed to simulate modern INFANTRY command tactics. Vehicles are supported of course, but should be used sparingly. I only recommend letting the player use transports (trucks, cars, etc) or static weapons. Tanks, APCs and other combat vehicles aren't very realistic to be controlled with this system (how could the driver hear or see commands?), and aircraft would obviously be completely unrealistic and impossible to control.

Use high-dispersion weapons

"High dispersion" (HD) is a term applied to weapons that are generally harder to hit with than the default OFP weapons. Many addons and mods include HD variants, or else the JAM2 addon contains HD versions of the BIS weapons (and more; plus with better sounds). HD weapons means that more bullets will be shot, and less hits/kills will be scored. This makes firefights longer, more intense, and more realistic.

Getting close to the enemy becomes much more important to be able to hit them effectively, which makes the "rush" menuever useful. This is true in real warfare because of the massive amount of cover available in most environments. In OFP there is almost no cover, save for a bush every dozen meters or so, which makes for very unrealistic battles--where kills are extremely easy to make at very long ranges (try to even SEE a prone, camo'd man at 200+ meters in a natural environment). HD weapons help compensate for the lack of realistic terrain in this way.

A HD alternative

There is also an addon-free way to make units fire more erratically. By using the "setdammage" command to put them at negative life, their aim will wobble as though they were injured. For example, setting a unit to -0.8 damage will make him wobble as though he were at -0.8 damage. Best yet, this has no weird side-effects: the units don't get 'extra' or 'less' life. Once a unit gets hit, he will first return to 0 damage, and then the hit damage will be applied. I recommend setting a unit to -1 damage for 0% skill, up to 0 damage for 100% skill. You can also then increase the AI's real skill to 100%, giving them maximum view distance.

If a unit uses a medic or is healed, he will be set to 0 life. So don't use this on the player's squad, since they can be healed.

Remember the imprecision

Although the HS scripts introduce a much more realistic command system to OFP, there is a certain amount of control that the player loses over his squad. Remember that he can't order his squad to do actions such as picking up weapons and ammo, so be sure to give his units as much as possible at mission start, and don't make missions that have an unrealistic amount of objectives. Also, in certain narrow areas such as city streets, the player might not be able to control his squad properly if it is too large. Last, it is more difficult to get units to stand where the player wants them, so defensive missions are not usually suitable to the HS system.

Fortify, fortify, fortify!

Dirt is a soldier's best friend! It protects him better than anything else. Use lots of sandbags around bases, towns, defensive positions, and anywhere else a force of units are supposed to hold. Place sandbags in front of units that are standing guard along the perimeter. Line the walls with sandbags on any building that units are in--it will help protect them from artillery strikes, in addition to making things look more realistic. Stack sandbag walls on top of each other to make them taller. See the simple cover script (below) for some more examples and tips.

Suggested scripts

Here are some scripts that I highly recommend you at least consider using in your mission. Many of them were made by me specifically for my first HS mission:

Easy AI artillery (http://ofpec.com/editors/resource_view.php?id=684)

An extremely easy way to let the AI call artillery down on their enemies (the player's squad that is). Artillery is used extensively in modern warfare, and should be a part of nearly every OFP mission. It also makes the mission much more tense and exciting for the player, yet it isn't as deadly as you might think.

AI information sharing (http://ofpec.com/editors/resource_view.php?id=608)

A simple script that fixes one of the major AI flaws in the way OFP handles groups. A modified version of this script is used by the HS system to allow the player's squad to act like a single group in terms of spotting enemies.

Custom formation script pack (http://ofpec.com/editors/resource_view.php?id=433)

If the player has much larger and more realistic formations, then shouldn't the enemy have them too? Otherwise it could look a little weird at times. This script lets you do just that, and it comes with the pre-made formations you would likely want.

AI surrender script (http://ofpec.com/editors/resource_view.php?id=679)

Having the enemy surrender makes the mission that much more immersive, and capturing POWs can be an optional objective for any mission.

Simple cover script (http://ofpec.com/editors/resource_view.php?id=639)

This script can help you make much more effective defensive positions, meaning less enemies can be used to make a challenging defense.

Squad rush/squad retreat (http://ofpec.com/editors/resource_view.php?id=683)

A modified version of this script is included as a command option in the HS system. If you want the AI to use this tactic, then this script is for you.

Blanco's groupchain (http://ofpec.com/editors/resource_view.php?id=686)

Works similar, but differently than my AI info sharing script. Covers some areas that info sharing does not, specifically camcreated artillery.

Bremmer's improved AI script (http://ofpec.com/editors/resource_view.php?id=480)

A great script that does what it says. Great if you have lots of enemies spread out across multiple objectives.

Thobson's join up infantry groups (http://ofpec.com/editors/resource_view.php?id=788)

As groups take casulties in missions, they can often become very small and behave ineffectively. If tanks are hit, their ejected crews often turn into retards. This script fixes this and more.