I created my first mission for Arma 3 yesterday. It took me quite a while to get used to the editor, but once I got a handle on the basics it took me no time to make a full mission. I don't know how well it's going to be received yet, but I hope people will like it! It takes the situation with ISIS in northern Iraq as inspiration where an oil refinery just north of Baghdad has been taken. The Iraqi army, unable to stop the string of successful capturing of multiple key installations, has repeatedly requested assistance from the United States. While a small Marine force has been in the country for months, they're only acting as consultants. Until now.
Direct intervention has been granted, and a USMC platoon will move on the captured oil refinery, neutralize all enemy threats inside, and retake the refinery while avoiding critical damage to any of the sensitive infrastructure.
At least, that's the plan. It's yet to play out. Although in just a few minutes, we're going to do recon on the area and try to gather some information about the location and forces that we'll have to deal with once the official operation begins. It's a new thing Phantactical is doing, recon before an operation, and has some interesting effects on how the actual mission plays out. For instance, if the recon element is spotted, the enemies present may be reinforced, or they may shift their positions. All of this is done by the mission creator, not organically, of course, but it's still a cool function. If the recon element is successful, the operation proceeds with a host of intel that wasn't there before, giving a huge advantage to the main operation.
I've been really enjoying Arma lately, more than I ever have before - and I already loved this game! I can't wait to see what else is to come! I've got an idea for a DnD-esque game using Arma 3. We'll see how it goes though.