Branching could be interesting, but the workload for mission-builders would be at least doubled for a given length of campaign.
Improvements to DGen may be more worthwhile. Apparently the creator, Starshoy, was found and it's being worked on.
Maybe the cross between dynamic and scripted can be achieved some other way. The DGen makes the environments, etc, but the mission builder writes the narrative and briefing, and tweaks the way each mission is generated, or inserts scripted missions into a dynamic campaign.
For instance, the player selects a Stuka Campaign for the North groups. The mission builder has selected a date, a map, and plane with specific loadout. In this case, the mission builder selects:
Date - 23, September, 1941.
Map - Finland
Aircraft - Ju-87
Loadout - SC 1000
Number of planes - 40
He also places a Marat object as a target in Kronstadt harbor.
When the player flies the campaign, starting in 22 June, he proceeds normally. But on the 23rd of September, the scripted mission loads, and he flies that mission.
Regardless of whether or not it was successful, the player loads the next mission and proceeds with the dynamic campaign as normal (such an attack was only carried out once, I think). The next dynamic mission takes the results of the scripted mission into account (the Marat had a target designation, so if sunk, the player gets a congrats in the briefing).
This can add elements of surprise and make missions interesting without having to carefully design each mission leading up to a specific event.
The mission designer can select which maps to use and for what time-frames to make a historical or what-if scenario and incorporate maps in clever ways (Med map can be used for a variety of locations; Guam map makes a decent Malta scenario, even if not totally accurate).
EDIT - another possibility: The designer sets an air-start spawn point for the player's Spitfire over the Channel on the Normandy map. The DGen decides whether the sortie is a combat patrol, or escort of B-25s, A-20s, Mosquitos, or P-47s, and what enemies will be encountered.
Another: The builder indicates dates and times for a mission to start. This would allow players to fly several sorties in a "day" such as in the BoB, or fly rarely, such as when planes were shared among pilots, or incorporate travel-time when being transferred to a new airfield or front.
Last edited by Luno13; 01-21-2012 at 03:02 AM.
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