Cooperative

Cooperative (or Coop, Co-op) is one of the two supertypes of Missions in ShackTac (the other being Adversarial). A Cooperative mission pits the players against an AI-controlled enemy force. The players are typically grouped up as a single force, but even if split up into multiple Sides they would still be cooperating to complete a shared goal.

The size of the friendly (player-controlled) force in a Cooperative mission can exceed 100 people in some videos (particularly during the ArmA 2 era). Company-level units are not uncommon. Players are significantly more likely to have access to heavy vehicles (IFVs, Tanks, Attack Helicopters and Jets) in Cooperative missions, with the Armored Battalion missions being the extreme case. The AI-controlled enemy force may number in the hundreds (up to a maximum of around 1,000 enemy combatants, in particularly large or difficult missions).

Cooperative missions require a lot of design and forethought. In many Coop missions, a Game Master must work throughout the mission to maintain the level of challenge for the players by tweaking the behavior of the opposing force and the assets in their disposal. Uniquely to Cooperative missions, players may occasionally be allowed to REJIP into the game after having already been killed, typically as a new unit of Reinforcements. Cooperative missions are not always winnable by design, and there is no requirement to kill all opponents in order to win the mission.

In 2017, Cooperative missions became increasingly more common (as Adversarial missions became rarer and rarer), to the point where they currently make up 100% of all Dslyecxi videos.

Concept Overview
In any multiplayer game, there are really only three ways to organize players into teams: Every man for himself; Player group versus player group; Or player group versus AI-controlled opponents. "Cooperative" is the term used to describe the latter, where a group of players attempts to complete a shared goal in the face of AI-controlled opposition.

ShackTac has been running Cooperative missions since its inception. They are typically called "Co-op" or "Coop" for short. During its first decade, ShackTac alternated between Cooperative and Adversarial (Players vs. Players) missions on a regular basis, but the difficulty of designing balanced Adversarials eventually led to a much-increased emphasis on Cooperative missions.

To execute a Cooperative mission that is both interesting and enjoyable, the mission has to be designed from the ground up before it is ever played. The mission designer must select objectives, determine the size of the opposition and their avenues of movement, and tailor the player assets to achieve a balance (although not all Cooperative missions are necessarily balanced by design). This takes a lot of work, with several ShackTac players designing such missions in their spare time - enough to have at least one mission ready for every play session. On occasion, certain missions can be replayed over and over again with only minor tweaking while remaining interesting - but the majority of Cooperative missions are entirely unique.

Cooperative play has several advantages and disadvantages over Adversarial play, as it does in any multiplayer game. In ArmA particularly, the soft limit on the number of human players that can simultaneously participate in a game can lead to sparse battlefields in Adversarial mode; whereas in Cooperative mode the players are lumped together on one side and pitted against a vast number of network-cheap AI-controlled opponents. Thus, the players can form a fairly large combat unit (upwards of 100 players in ArmA 2) and play against a Battalion-sized AI opposing force of over 1000. The resulting battlefield is dense with opportunities for combat on both a large and small scale.

Another advantage of Cooperative play is the easier balance it provides. In ShackTac, although players will always strive to win their objectives if at all possible, winning is not always an option nor is it to be expected. Therefore, if the opposing force turns out to be too powerful and overwhelms the players, the mission will likely still be enjoyed by all. This is in stark contrast to Adversarial missions, where both sides expect a relatively fair fight and an equal chance of winning - and therefore must be very carefully balanced. Reportedly, this is the primary reason why Adversarial missions had been phased out in 2017, pending a way to rebalance them properly for ArmA 3.

Friendly Force Composition
Cooperative missions feature the full range of possible Force Compositions in ShackTac, from the smallest to the largest, and may include any type of supporting weapons or vehicles. The largest Cooperative missions have included over 100 players, particularly during the ArmA 2 era when technical conditions allowed those numbers.

The most common force seen in Cooperative missions is either an Infantry Platoon or (in the ArmA 2 era) an Infantry Company, with light Close Air Support and/or Transport Helicopters. Additional units - particularly Armor - may occasionally be used in support of the infantry. Logistics units are not uncommon, particularly when vehicles are involved, though helicopters have more recently replaced Trucks as the primary means to resupply infantry.

Mechanized Infantry units (of either Platoon or Company size) are pretty much exclusive to Cooperative missions, given that such heavy vehicle support would normally be too powerful for Adversarial missions. Motorized Infantry is also not uncommon, given that many Cooperative missions begin with insertion into the combat zone over significant distances.

Purely Armored forced are also pretty much exclusive to Cooperative missions, with the largest armored force ever seen in ShackTac being an Armored Battalion with Attack Helicopter support. Such a force nevertheless has a similar player-count to an Infantry Platoon.

Infantry Platoon
The Infantry Platoon is the most common Force Composition seen in any ShackTac mission, and has become the most common in Cooperative missions as of the ArmA 3 era. It has replaced the Infantry Company (below) as the most common force, due to the lower player-count limitations imposed by the ArmA 3 engine.

An Infantry Platoon contains approximately 45 players, not including any additional assets attached to the platoon for support. Most infantrymen in the Platoon are Riflemen or Automatic Riflemen, who will carry out the bulk of the fighting. Infantry Platoons are typically split into 3 Squads. If there is a shortage of players (e.g. near the end of the play session), a partial platoon of only 2 Squads may be fielded instead.

Larger Infantry Platoons may contain 4 squads, or instead contain one or more Weapons elements for support. In Cooperative missions, Infantry Platoons typically have some sort of Close Air Support (usu. a Littlebird) to scout ahead and provide some protection from the air. Additionally, the platoon may have some method of getting into and out of the battlefield, whether by Transport Helicopters or Trucks.

Infantry Company
During the ArmA 2 era, the most common force seen in ShackTac missions was the Infantry Company, which contains 2 Infantry Platoons under a unified command structure. This was possible due to the higher player-count limitation, which allowed over 100 players simultaneously.

Infantry Companies are large enough to allow their Platoons to operate either close together (several hundred meters apart) or separately (kilometers apart), though the latter is rarer due to the difficulty in coordinating such large-scale maneuvers.

It is not uncommon for the Infantry Platoons in such a company to have either Weapons units and/or support vehicles attached directly to them. A Mortar Team may also be present. Infantry Companies are often supported by multiple vehicles, predominantly APCs and/or IFVs. Depending on the configuration of the vehicles and their coordination with the infantry, this may be classified as a Motorized Company or Mechanized Company as appropriate. Tanks may also be present, either instead of a second Infantry Platoon or as close support.

Air support for an Infantry Company is usually substantial, and may include Attack Helicopters and/or Jets. Logistics is typically carried out by a sizable ground unit or by heavy Transport Helicopters. If many ground vehicles are present, an Engineers unit may also be present, with or without a Repair Vehicle.

Mechanized Infantry
Whether Platoon-sized or Company-sized, the Cooperative player force may be equipped with one or more fire-support vehicles. The larger the ground force, the more likely those vehicles are to appear. These vehicles may or may not be required (or even be capable) of transporting the infantry from place to place, but are heavily relied upon for defense against enemy Armor and/or large concentrations of enemy infantry.

In the classic Mechanized Infantry setup, the vehicles (whether APCs or IFVs) are separated into their own command structure as Vehicle Platoons or Vehicle Sections. In this setup the vehicles coordinate with one another more closely than they do with the infantry, and receive their orders directly from the highest commander in the field.

Alternatively, the vehicles may be set to coordinate closely with the infantry Squads themselves. This allows much closer support, and is usually more suitable when the vehicles are lighter (especially APCs) and can transport the infantry whenever required.

Mechanized Infantry forces are less likely to have (or require) Weapon Teams, due to the firepower provided by the vehicles themselves. Logistics is more likely to appear, however, due to the repair and resupply required by the vehicles. Air Support is also more likely for such units, as spotting threats well in advance is crucial for the vehicles to reposition themselves to counter them effectively.

Armored Units
Though much more rare than any infantry-based force, full Armored Company or even Armored Battalion forces have been seen in Cooperative missions (and much more rarely in Adversarial missions) during the ArmA 3 era. This force is comprised almost entirely of Tanks or a combination of Tanks and IFVs. Air Support is pretty much always present, and is accordingly very heavy.

Vehicles are split into Tank Platoons, with four vehicles in each. Since the typical player-count of such a platoon is around 12 people - about the size of a Squad of Infantry - Armored forces are typically much larger than Infantry forces, allowing up to a Battalion-sized force even in ArmA 3. An Armored Battalion includes roughly as many players as 2 Infantry Platoons, including support vehicles.

Due to its fast movement speed and the heavy opposition it will likely encounter, an armored force is nearly always supported by heavy aircraft, up to and including Attack Helicopters and Jets. A Logistics unit with Engineers is also pretty much a requirement, as vehicles tend to get disabled often during combat and require constant ammunition resupply.

Note that IFVs may or may not be present within the Tank Platoons as support for the tanks. A mixture of tanks and IFVs is more versatile, and can handle Infantry threats better than tanks on their own. There is no real functional difference between Armored Platoons containing a different mixture of Tanks and IFVs, other than their exact capabilities on the battlefield.

Special Forces
More rarely, Cooperative missions feature a separate unit of players (possibly even belonging to a different Side) operating independently or semi-independently from the main force. It is often a small group of infantry (a single Squad or even just one Fireteam) that has its own objective and command structure. Nevertheless, as this is a Cooperative mission, the second force's objectives always overlaps to some extent with the objectives of the main force.

Special Forces may be used for a variety of purposes, such as attacking a separate objective. However, in most missions featuring such a unit, the objective will actually be the rescue of the unit itself. The main force will attempt to link up with the Special Forces and Extract them, or simply link up in order to complete another objective together.

The Special Forces may be of a completely different nationality than the main force, and are usually equipped differently. In most cases, the command chain of the Special Forces is separate, and while they may coordinate with the main force to some extent, they will not take direct orders from the main force commander. This can lead to all sorts of situations, such as the Special Forces abandoning the main force partway through the mission to save themselves. Again, however, this is a Cooperative mission, so outright betrayal is unlikely if not forbidden.

Enemy Force
Cooperative missions pit the players against an AI-controlled enemy force. The composition of the enemy force may vary, but it will most often be a Mechanized Infantry force with some Tank support arriving later on.

The size of the enemy force is significantly larger than the player force, typically about 10 times larger. Some missions have featured close to 1,000 enemy combatants. The disparity between the player and AI force sizes is due to the relatively low skill of the AI compared to a player, whether in combat or in tactical decision-making.

The enemy force is not encountered all at once; Enemy units will trickle into the battlefield over time, or occupy specific positions on the map in anticipation of the players' approach. Most commonly, player units will only need to tackle an enemy force twice their size at any given time (e.g. a Squad fighting two enemy Squads, give or take).

Enemy strength - particularly in terms of the Vehicles they bring up - tends to escalate slowly during the mission. Early on, the players will be contending against enemy Infantry; later on APCs will begin to show up alongside the infantry, followed by IFVs; and finally enemy Tanks will attempt to overrun the players. Enemy Close Air Support may show up at some point as well. Artillery may shell the players at any given time, as a way to keep them on their toes and to urge them to advance if necessary.

The Game Master controls the arrival of new enemy units on the battlefield to some extent, though the methods and decision-making process involved is purposefully obfuscated by ShackTac, and little information is available. The Game Master may or may not be able to take direct control of enemy combatants in specific situations - this too has been kept a secret from the public.

Note that in some missions, the size of the enemy force is unlimited; They will keep coming as long as the players are in the Area of Operations. This makes some missions unwinnable by design (e.g. Last Stand, Conventional Warfare). There is typically no need (or way) to kill them all to end the mission, though some missions do require clearing all enemy presence from a specific location.

Insertion
Cooperative missions typically take place within a very large area, and getting to the objective often requires quite a bit of traveling. This begins with an insertion - moving the players from their safe Briefing area to the combat zone or its outskirts - whether by Trucks, Aircraft, on foot, or by any other method. After inserting, the players will then make their way to the objective (see next chapter).

Not every Cooperative mission begins with an insertion - especially when the mission objective is to hold a position, or in Defense in Depth scenarios. In such cases, the players will likely be teleported directly to the objective before the fighting starts, and the mission will begin right there.

Objectives and Win Conditions
Whereas most Adversarial missions end when one Side has been completely wiped out or routed, Cooperative missions cannot easily use that win-condition mainly due to the huge number of enemy combatants involved. In fact, most Cooperative missions end while there are still enemies on the map.

Instead, Cooperative missions require giving the players a more specific objective (or set of objectives). This objective is used to determine whether a mission has ended, and also to what degree the mission was successful. The specific objectives vary from mission to mission.

The most common objectives are:
 * 1) Destroy a specific target, usually a stationary object such as a weapons cache or artillery piece.
 * 2) Combat patrol; moving from one waypoint to the next and defeating any enemy force encountered there.
 * 3) Hold an objective against incoming attacks.
 * 4) Capture an objective and hold it against one or more counter-attack waves.
 * 5) Rescue a friendly unit from deep inside enemy-controlled territory.
 * 6) Evade & Escape (E&E): Starting in enemy territory, make your way out alive.
 * 7) Many missions also end with an Extract objective: removing any surviving players from the battlefield by some mode of transport, usually a Transport Helicopter. Some missions have a successful Extraction as their only objective. Some missions have no requirement to extract at all.

Once the mission is over, success is graded by the Game Master based on how many objectives were completed. The number of players extracting from the combat zone alive may also factor into this, though some missions (e.g. Conventional Warfare) can be declared successful even if the entire force perishes in the completion of the objectives.

Furthermore, a handful of Cooperative missions in the past have featured Unwinnable Scenarios. For example, the Last Stand mission is pretty much unwinnable, with enemy assaults becoming more and more powerful until every player is killed. Victory in such missions is measurable to some extent by the amount of time the players managed to stay alive.

As such, ShackTac players in a Cooperative mission have no reason to expect that they will manage to complete the objectives nor make it out alive. This may or may not even be possible to begin with. The outcome of the mission - whether positive or negative - has no bearing on the standing of any player, and can only be seen as a personal accomplishment. Failure is nothing more than a lesson for the future.

Destroy Target
The "Destroy Target" objective requires the players to make their way to a designated location, search it for a given target (described in the Briefing Text), and destroy it with Explosive Charges or other heavy weapons. Due to possible bugs with the explosion, the objective may be considered completed if the explosion went off, regardless of whether it managed to destroy the in-game object or not.

Targets for this mission are often weapons caches (a large stack of boxes), Artillery/Anti-Air guns, an Aircraft on the ground, a SCUD launcher, et cetera. A downed friendly aircraft may also be such a target. Weapon caches are harder to locate within the target area, but are more reliably destroyed. Some targets (esp. SCUD launchers and aircraft) may need to be destroyed before they can fire / get away, adding a time-pressure element to the mission.

Some missions involve multiple objectives to be destroyed, in which case the Side's commander may decide to hit the objectives one-by-one, or split his forces and hit two or more objectives simultaneously. One-by-one is typically the safer option, but not always.

In "Destroy Target" missions, the infantry is equipped with Explosive Charges - typically two charges per Fireteam - carried by Riflemen and/or team leaders. Timers or Clackers will also be provided. The troops need to be very careful not to detonate the charges before friendlies have moved away from the blast zone - otherwise casualties are likely.

In the absence of explosive charges, any heavy weapon might be used to destroy the target, such as AT Launchers or even Tank cannons - whatever the players can get their hands on. This may be necessary in cases where the soldiers carrying the explosives have all been killed and their bodies are unreachable, or when all explosives have been used on previous targets in the mission.

Combat Patrol
The "Combat Patrol" mission requires the players to move from one waypoint to the next, clearing the waypoint of any opposition and typically withstanding a counter-attack of some magnitude. Combat Patrol missions do not require any special equipment or tactics - they are tests of endurance on the move.

A Combat Patrol usually involves visiting at least three such objectives. It is up to the Game Master to determine at which point each waypoint is considered "cleared". There is no need to keep the objective cleared of enemies after the friendlies have left that position - only to clear each successive objective properly before moving on.

The mission may end when the last objective is cleared, or the players will need to Extract either back in the direction they came from or onwards out of the combat zone.

Capture Objective
One of the most common objectives is simply for the force to reach a designated area, clear it of opponents, and then withstand a powerful counter-attack by the enemy. As with Combat Patrol (above), the Game Master determines whether the target area has been cleared, and will then usually notify the players to prepare for a counter-attack. Once the GM determines that the counter-attack has petered out, the mission will usually end.

The mission as a whole will typically be a slog towards the objective that will slowly whittle down the player force. Reaching the objective with enough people to hold it securely is the primary challenge. There may or may not be a Resupply available before the final battle.

Although Extract is unlikely to be required at the end of the mission, it may still occur - especially if the player force is not strong enough to hold the objective.

Hold Objective
"Hold Objective" is a purely-defensive objective, whereby the players are tasked with defending their position against waves of enemy attacks. The "Last Stand" mission is a pure example of this objective, where players must fortify their position beforehand and then attempt to last as long as possible while the enemy attacks become ever stronger and relentless.

"Hold Objective" may be combined with other objectives into a more complex mission, where one part of the player force has to defend their position while waiting for another (typically larger) player force attempts to reach them and Extract or hold the position against a much larger enemy counter-attack.

The objectives are typically highly defensible, whether heavily fortified or simply offering few access points for the enemy. The situation can easily devolve into CQC. If there is any hope of Extraction, the players will usually be notified in their Briefing how long they must hold out. This doesn't necessarily mean that Extract will actually arrive, however.

As the players are likely to get surrounded, it is very common to see Resupply crates already available at the target position so that the players can hold out for longer than they normally would.

Rescue
The "Rescue" objective involves two separate teams of players, possibly even playing two friendly Sides. One group is inside enemy territory, possibly surrounded by enemies on all sides. The other group will attempt to make its way to link up with the first group, and then lead them out to an Extract.

The rescue team will often be equipped with a Scout Helicopter or other aircraft to help locate the second group. Things may be complicated by a lack of communications between the two groups, whether due to lack of 148/152 long-range radios or due to simply being too far away to converse. The aircraft (if available) may need to spot the rescuees visually, or the rescuees themselves will need to signal their position somehow (e.g. with Flares).

The objective is only considered completed if the rescuee team (or part of it) makes it out of the combat zone, one way or another. The degree of success is measured depending on how many of them make it out alive. In many cases, it may be preferable to sacrifice some rescuers to save some rescuees!

Extract
This objective is typically the final objective of any mission: the safe removal of all friendly forces from the combat zone. This is usually done by reaching a Pickup Zone and mounting up on vehicles that will take the players back to a safe area outside the AO. This objective is only completed once all surviving friendlies have reached this area (or all friendlies in the AO are dead).

While most missions have an Extract objective at the end, it is not always required. Some missions simply end. Naturally, if all players have been killed, the Extract objective will not be issued at all.

Alternatively, the Extract objective may be the only objective in the mission. Such mission typically begin with the players already inside the combat zone, instructed only to leave it in any way they possibly can. This is called Escape & Evade (E&E), and is a fairly rare mission type. Escape is typically complicated by a complete lack of Radios and/or Maps, by players being scattered over a large area, and by large enemy forces actively hunting them down.

The number of players who manage to Extract from the combat zone alive determines the level of success in accomplishing it, and may impact the final "judgment" given by the Game Master.

Other Objectives
As with everything else in ShackTac, a mission designer's / Game Master's ingenuity may occasionally result in completely unique or rare objectives that have not been described here. Exceptions should be listed below whenever encountered.

Extraction
A large portion of Cooperative missions end with an Extraction - the removal of players from the Area of Operations to a safe location by way of Transport Helicopters or ground vehicles. Such a mission will only end when all players have either been successfully removed or killed in the attempt.

Extraction may or may not be required, depending on many parameters. Some missions simply end once the players have captured a location and held off an enemy counter-attack; or when the mission objective was for players to remove themselves from the Area of Operations by any means they can find. Naturally, if all players on the ground have been killed, there is no need to extract them.

Extraction is usually done with helicopters, as they have the best chance of quickly removing a portion of troops from the battlefield. If the players have troop-carrying ground vehicles with them, they may instead be required to use those to extract themselves. On rare occasions, players who have already extracted (or have REJIPped for this explicit purpose) may be organized to fight its way to the survivors and extract them, whether with helicopters or ground vehicles.

If an extraction is authorized, the success of the mission may depend to some extent on the number of players who make it out alive.

Notable Cooperative Missions
There have been literally thousands of Cooperative missions played in ShackTac over the years. Each is, in its own way, completely unique.

Nevertheless, there are some missions that have been repeated - with different parameters - due to their unique design. They are listed below.

Additionally, some Cooperative missions have been so unique in their concept that they merit a mention.

If you know of any other notable missions, please add them to this list.


 * Last Stand / Last Breath: In this repeated mission, the players are allowed to deploy defenses around a specific location before the game starts. Then, wave after wave of enemies will assault their defenses until all players are dead. These are unwinnable missions, where the objective is to survive for as long as possible.
 * Conventional Warfare: Designed by Awoihjaweohr, this mission requires the player force to travel through a forest to destroy a tank depot. Once again, the AI-controlled opposition is unlimited, and will become stronger and stronger as the players advance. This mission is winnable - but just barely. Conventional Warfare takes place (always?) on the Celle 2 map.
 * : An interesting one-shot mission featuring BLUFOR cooperating with a small INDFOR - but using a unique voice manipulation software to ensure that the two sides cannot easily converse with one another.