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Damn! I want to help out here, but at the mo I seriously lack enough skill in any of those areas to be of serious help to be honest. Maybe I'll have a go at the mission photographer on the side of things, but not as the main photographer right now - once I get up to speed on the "how to" I would be more than willing to help out there, even when I am flying myself or FPS-ing it.

what exactly are our current games??? let's designate those games before going any further. too many and it is not going to work. might i suggest 2 flight and 2 ground as a limit.

Well, I'll take on the role of a story developer. You guys just e-mail me and let me know what you need. I should be able to crank out some background info, mission plotlines, scenarios, whatever you need.

Well i think Steel is right on the ball here.

We need to get his organised and the best way to do it is to Choose which Sims/Games we are going to use that way anyone with a particular Skill in that Game can immediatley put their name in the hat for mission building or Commands status.

As far as limiting the amount of games is concerned i think this is also a good idea since if we tried to make missions and story lines for all the FPS games we play it could get real messy real fast.

I think we could handle 3 Flight and 3 FPS/Ground assault though.

My Suggestions for Flight Sims are the Usual suspects: Falcon 4: Lomac and Janes F/A18.

As for Ground assault, i can only put OFP in as that is the only ground assault/FPS game i have and it would be up to the players of the other FPS games to pitch in and decide which to include.

i concur with Nemisis on all the games and would add GR and AS if possible. I can write Jane's F/A-18 missions. I have written several OFP missions but it has been over a year and i dont have time to update myself in OFP. I dont know if it is even possible to write an AS mission in a short time, either.

Flight sims:

Falcon 4 SP4. ??
LO-MAC
Not sure where I sit as far as mission type (A2A or A2G) at the moment for me but that is something I will let you know in good time as I get up to speed again with these. Hammer I have heard nothing from the other guy who wanted Jane's F/A-18, so I guess it is yours, as long as he doesn't shout up before I put it in the post! Okay?

Ground Work:

RvS
G-R
OFP / OFP2
Joint Operations
RvS - should be kept for purely specialist mission stuff like hostage or aircrew rescue and the like, played only seldom (hope that makes sense!)
G-R - I have been blasting through all the recent mods, and they are aplenty, also found some nice maps, different stuff that most of us probably haven't played. But there is potential if OFP becomes a pain in the arse. (A very good reserve!) may necessitate a weapons mod to accomodate everyones' tastes in weaponry. Gator?
Joint Operations - New unknown quantity to most of us at the moment, but worthy of consideration to replace OFP if it turns out to be a peach, and of course most of us buy it (it's a new title and and has potential more time left in it. But OFP 2 is out in December.
Splinter Cell Pandora's Box - A healthy alternative to RvS in some situations, worthy of thought for the realism factor, can be played online but there are limitations (Gator we have to get this one running me and you see what potential it has.

I'll happily take command, not necessarily of a wings, but definitely a flight. I'm also happy to take on the role of a Combat Photographer.

Grif-I'll gladly help with coming up with the storylines. Do you still have ICQ-I can't seem to pick you up. If you get it again, We could get together some time and discuss some ideas.

Based on all that Raptor said, I have one more thing to add--rank.

What ranks do you lot think we should start as?

Hack it out from 2nd Lt, or do we have some guys as Capt. or Maj?

Any ideas?

I know that you used to go by rank, have taken a little look at the Enduring Freedom forum. I have to say though, I would like rank added.

I have to disagree, rank shouldn't play a part, I find it irrelevant - someone who has position within the squad has the respect afforded them, and that should suffice - we're all big boys, and to be honest with some people I think it could end up in an argument when things don't come-off properly and people blame each other, then people say things like - you can't tell me what happened I'm the squadron Colonel, and all that bullshit! Nah, Hammer, rank is a bad thing - we've lived without it until now and we can live without it now. Position within the squad is more important to respect and we will all be a little more disciplined in our actions within the teamwork for the mission at hand i.e. no loose cannon stuff, listening in to team fireorders, individual instructions. So that's my stance on that anyway.
I'm happy to take control of a squad in G-R or whatever in the groundwork side of things, if that is of any help.

I will help with mission design in OFP. That's the only game I have experience with as far as designing missions. You tell me what you want(Location, situation, forces involved, scope of campaign/missions, etc..), and I'll get started on it. Anything except in-door missions OFP can do, even some Urban combat with the Tonal maps.

Of course this will only apply to the people who have and play OFP with our current WOF install.

no rank...

i can design F4 missions...

OFP and RvS, maybe GR

F4 sp4.1 and LOMAC

Consider JO after enough folks have it and have enough experience with it.

So it sounds like we can agree on a few sims. LOMAC, F4, RVS/AS, and OFP, Possibly GR. Of course, these may change as necessary or as new games are released, such as GR2. I expect our campaign may take that long. Do we have a starting point? Do we have a basis prologue to give the mission makers some meat to work with? Anyone want to give us story writers a spring board to start? Any ideas? Or should I just get typing with CNN on in the background as usual?

Hammer, I have ICQ, but most of us here hardly ever use it. The best way to confer with one another would be through the PM option here on the forums. If you'd like to help that's great! We could split the work load.

Yeah - a very relevant springboard right now would be the report in the Korean press as to thier dislike for the tasteless and inappropriate choice of theatre of operations by Red Storm Entertainment for the upcoming release of Ghost Recon 2 on the various formats.
This sort of thing always has political wranglings and I'm sure we could make it spill over into a skirmish or two, started by interceptions of aircraft into S. Korean airspace which eventually fire at us and then followed closely by us being shot at by ground defences which have moved up to the border with ground troops, and with that - we're off the starting blocks. Of course somewhere before that we could have the inevitable kidnapping of some personnel - say the consulate general and his staff from the US and/or British Embassies. We could attempt a rescue, and that may prompt the Koreans into having a stab at us in the inevitable facing-off in the border intrusions in the air by firing first at us.

Starting to sound good-only getting a bit fed up of Korea. 3 of my sims focus there-MiG Alley, F4, and F/A-18 Korea. Why do people make so many sims about Korea? Surely the same thing could happed in Vietnam?

You mean now? Nope. Vietnam is one country, communist nose to tail. There's nothing to fight over there anymore. (Technically there wasn't in the first place, it was a proxy war of idealogies as resources and territory sure as hell weren't motivators)

There's the Taiwan angle, but anything other than an air/naval conflict is pretty difficult to imagine.

An India/Pakistan conflict could be good, and I remember a flight sim from a while back that let you fight around there, can't remember though.
Anyway, I think the issue is that those are both nominally friendly with us, with Pakistan having bought US equipment (as well as Chinese!) while India has bought British and French equipment (as well as Russian!). So, the issue of "good guy" and "bad guy" is too muddled for a game publisher to back it.

While GR2's choice of theatres may add fuel to the fire, I don't believe it will be the impetus for war, not alone anyway. The N. Koreans are'nt dumb, and they'll want to start a war over something far more tangible. Vietnam is no longer an enemy really. They are communist country with capitalist ideals. A great deal of trading with small, growing businesses has occurred with the newer generations of Vietnamese that have slowly taken financial and political power in the country. Why Korea? Pick a reason. Nukes are on the top of my list.

That is the worst threat they could possibly use on anyone - they would leave absolutely NO choice of action. Having said that, their little ace they try to play would be to entice China into the fray, how far China would back them when they are holding others to ransom with a nuclear threat is anyone's guess. But I believe even China understand the stance the rest of the World would take if that were to happen. And they know that USA, UK and anyone else with them like Australia, Canada etc., would stand firm and if forced could unleash a much more precise and deadly strike - nuclear or conventional - than they could cope with, even China wouldn't really want to risk that.