H&D Deluxe; the ultimate mod; Mission overhauls

[Myron]

I apologize, my night guard duty snuck back on me.

I must keep the retirement home safe, you see.

I must resume again tonight, so I sleep during the day.

Please, don't lose your hope in me, as I haven't lost it in you.

I am having fun; we are working together to make "the ultimate mod". But my work must have it's way.

[p.jakub88]

I edited the Prague 1 mission once again.

Beside my already implemented changes i also added 1 enemy sniper. See picture below.

The instructor actually mentioned about enemy snipers in Prague in the pre-mission briefing: "...we have to bear in mind, that a number of undiscovered snipers operate in the town, that is why you have to keep your eyes open."

[p.jakub88]

You asked me once, why the game developers removed the tramway from the stock Danube 2 mission in H&D Deluxe.

Well, i found out by chance when viewing this mission in HD editor, that the tramway still exist. See the picture below.

However, it travels along inaccessible street for the player. You cannot go there, because you will encounter an impassable "invisible wall" (a collision was placed there). I could create a possibility to actually go there and encounter this tramway on the streets.

This vehicle is marked as a "KillAnim" in the HD editor - that means, that it will kill the player, his squad and probably Germans too when colliding.

[p.jakub88]

OK, i edited the Danube 2 mission once more.

Now, you have access to the street where you could encounter the tramway - i don't take responsibility for possible human casualties .

Now, you could also go further on the city streets, because i moved forward some of the "invisible walls". The yellow vertical rectangle marks the spot where one of the "invisible walls" was placed in this mission.

See pictures below.

Below i uploaded the modified Danube 2 mission once again, please download it.

[Myron]

Wow thanks for making that street accessible.
Did you really not know about how the trolley still existed in the next street over?

Anyway, near the spawn-point, when I look down the trolley tracks of where a trolley used to come from, I think I see the lights of that trolley. Is it not there in the Editor?

BTW, I looked it up; this town DOES exist. You should visit it.

As for Prague, ah man, you beat me to it, I was trying to think up a use for that hidden balcony; I was hoping there could be some way to have partisans try to save their brethren. Also, would you consider that officer there realistic?

P.S. Congratulations on your promotion. You are now a General. (See right below your name)

[p.jakub88]

Wow thanks for making that street accessible.
Did you really not know about how the trolley still existed in the next street over?

Anyway, near the spawn-point, when I look down the trolley tracks of where a trolley used to come from, I think I see the lights of that trolley. Is it not there in the Editor?

BTW, I looked it up; this town DOES exist. You should visit it.

As for Prague, ah man, you beat me to it, I was trying to think up a use for that hidden balcony; I was hoping there could be some way to have partisans try to save their brethren. Also, would you consider that officer there realistic?

P.S. Congratulations on your promotion. You are now a General. (See right below your name)

Well, now i remember about the trolley. I just always completed this mission as fast as possible to avoid being identified. Staying too long on the city streets could be dangerous.

Those 2 lights come from a street lantern, there were somehow placed on the ground - i removed them. In the H&D Deluxe version of Danube 2 the tramway is placed on another street. In fact, there is actually a second tramway spawning in this mission at the same time. See the picture below (notice the yellow rectangle collision - "invisible wall"). This particular street is not accessible by default. However, going there you will notice that the street has open space and no buildings on both sides, lol. See picture below.

This city was constructed in a funny way in H&D Deluxe - some of the streets end with an empty space with no buildings or surface. So the game developers decided to put those "invisible walls" to hide this fact from the player's eyes. See picture below (notice 2 tramway parallel to each other).


About those 2 snipers in Prague: i was thinking very hard to find suitable spots for placing additional enemy snipers. The one on the building's roof could get there via existing ladder (not seen in the picture). The second one maybe jumped over the fence, or climbed up to his sniper's position. All others suitable spots for placing an enemy snipers are already used.

Promotions don't matter much for me, but it is nice anyway.

[p.jakub88]

OK, i edited the Germany 5 mission once more.

Beside already implemented changes i added 2 enemy snipers - one is located in the camp and one is located in the village. See pictures below.

Below i uploaded also the modified Germany 5 mission, please download and test it.

[p.jakub88]

OK, i edited the Norway 1 mission once more.

Beside already implemented changes, i changed the behavior of some enemy soldiers, so now they will guard assigned areas.
In addition, soldiers that are using MG on the guard towers are now equipped with Luger pistols for self-defense at close range.

Below i uploaded the modified Norway 1 mission. Please download and test it.


Unfortunatelly, i found a small bug in my newest version of the data.dta archive - a missing sound of Lee Enfield sniper rifle in classic H&D 1 missions.

I managed to fix this bug. Please download the data.dta archive again. I apologize for that.

[p.jakub88]

I decided to edit again my modified Prague 1 mission posted on 08.10.2017.

I removed one of the two enemy snipers added by me previously, because one of them was acted strange sometimes.

I left the one located on the building's roof.

I also removed 4 enemies from area just below the hill with cannon, because they always annoyed me. On the hill with cannon i removed one enemy sniper, because he sometimes got stuck between sandbags (stupid AI). Beside that, the hill has sufficient number of defenders in my opinion. Well, at least to defend the hill from the attack from below. Our Russian friends are preparing a nasty little surprise for them, you will see.

I re-organized both groups of attacking Russians. Now, you actually have a chance to save some Russian soldiers from the group, that is attacking through the stone bridge and is heading towards the cathedral square, but you need to be quick (their attack is delayed by 2 minutes). I won't tell you more - you will need to find out the rest yourself . A small hint: it would be nice to blow up the Tiger tank, that is located on the cathedral square first.

I removed 4 enemy soldiers from the stone bridge, because they had no chance at all to kill those Russians hidden behind sandbags and the whole "encounter" looked like an execution, rather than fair fight. I also removed all vehicle wrecks, because the attacking Russians got sometimes stuck between them (stupid AI).

Please download this mission again. I hope, that you will like those changes.

[Myron]

Germany 5,
did you program those two snipers to NOT move? that second sniper looks like if he takes one step in any direction, he will slip and die.

Prague 1
Ah ok, while at work, I had wondered, the second sniper is going to be quite close to the fighting between the Russians and cannon crew, so he'll likely be distracted by the fighting.

Furthermore, in Prague 1, on the main street, behind the pile of destroyed trucks, there are two Germans kneeling in a rather useless location. Why not move those men on the green part of the hill, to add their support to the snipers hidden in the trees. And then, from where they were before, you could have 6 or 7 partisans spawn from there, and attack the hill themselves. They will all get killed, I think.

[Myron]

Oh, I didn't read close enough; you mean you removed the Germans hiding in the trees below the cannon?

As for the bridge changes, yeah, the fight is rather one-sided, even originally, when the Russians didn't have cover, and they wielded M1 Johnsons.

I will miss those wrecks, but hey, I don't see any AT weapons among the Russians, so the wrecks make no sense.

[p.jakub88]

Germany 5,
did you program those two snipers to NOT move? that second sniper looks like if he takes one step in any direction, he will slip and die.

Yes, those 2 snipers should hold their ground and guard the assigned areas. The one near the big wooden mill has enough space to not fall down in my opinion - as well as the sniper near camp.

[p.jakub88]

Oh, I didn't read close enough; you mean you removed the Germans hiding in the trees below the cannon?

As for the bridge changes, yeah, the fight is rather one-sided, even originally, when the Russians didn't have cover, and they wielded M1 Johnsons.

I will miss those wrecks, but hey, I don't see any AT weapons among the Russians, so the wrecks make no sense.

No, i removed 4 Germans just below the cannon - they were located on the stone "terraces".

I will try to implement a T-34 tank into this mission when i have some free time, but first i will need to figure out how to force the tank to shoot.

[Myron]

Good News, the sniper in Germany 5 holds his position.

I think it would be easier to make a summer skin for the Sherman tank, and then say it's a Lend-Lease tank. But if you prefer the challenge of making a T-34, then you have my blessing. Will it be a T-34/76 or a T-34/85?

Instead of deleting Germans, you should "reposition" them. The Germans are on the retreat, after all. Move the 4 Germans that were guarding the bridge, and have them strengthen the hill's defense. Same with the 4 on the terrace. That would make taking the hill a HARD challenge.

In Prague, there are only 2 real paths-of-retreat the Germans can use, the main road that is the spawn-point and escape point, and the other is the dirt road right behind the cannon. Add one or two more trucks on the dirt road, that the Germans plan to use when they have to retreat.

It would make more sense for partisans to attack from the rear, as there is no way the Soviets got there. Have some Russians spawn from the bridge, and head towards the alley where the 3 civilians come from.
More partisans can spawn from behind the pile of wrecked cars, (the first roadblock), and try to liberate the church, only to be mowed down by the MG42. Or they could get blown up by a Panther or PzIV guarding the escape point. (The tank would be "covering his comrades' retreat.")

The 4 or 5 sentenced civilians and the 3 officers about to execute them should also be moved to either the square, the terrace, or that indent in the road behind the church, as the place they are now is too isolated, and ESPECIALLY too close to the Russian lines.

[Myron]

Ardennes 1 review
Bad News, the BAR 1918 is a "lay-down-to-fire" weapon.

The 4 black mines (AT or AP?) right next to the tripwire are invisible. They ARE there though. I can still see the wire.

Hey, what makes land into a minefield? Yugoslavia 4, Norway 2, Czech 2, and Ardennes 1 all have these "invisible minefields" where it sounds like you are walking on solid concrete instead of snow or grass.