Hello, Kaptain.
The cuestion is very interesting, but in my opinion is very hard to do.
I´m finishing a short 5-mission campaign (hope on sunday) and all the missions are in the same area map.
There was a time (about between the 2nd and 3rd missions) were I considered seriosly to make a "single-long-mission" despite a 5 short missions campaign.
But after a time considering I get this points:
- The playing time. This is not SHIII and we can't accelerate 4.000 times the game, so, if I make a commando deployment, then going to attack a harbour 20 miles down, then going 80 miles to open sea to join an AOR and reload missiles and torpedoes, then run to intercept a convoy...
You, and maybe others (me included, I like hardcore missions) would like that "waste of time" navigating without no many threats, but I´m sure that a lot of players would like more action times than "dead times".
- Complexity. Making a variated long mission involves many variants, "what if's", creating and deleting civil traffic and warships... one mistake or you forgot something, the whole mission goes to the trash and you have to start again.
- Unable to test and finish it completely. There will be allways somebody who will find a way to "break" the rules.
Attack a civil ship -> make a trigger forbidding this, but maybe later the things change and we will have to sink her -> make a ROE change.. attack a non-hostile sub -> make a trigger to forbidding this, but maybe later...
one player discovers that sometimes a ship you are waiting for, stacks on the shore... and so on, and so on... this will add a LOT of triggers and scripts that would be easily avoided making a campaign.
The above are considerations about the campaign I'm making and other similar long missions.
It's possible to make simple long missions, with few and simple goals and elements, but remains the problem of the long time navigating.
That's what I think. Hope not boring anyone and I have explained well.