The Masterminds [Mission series]

[Jimmy_Leppard]

MISSION SERIES STATUS: FINISHED

 

DOWNLOAD LINK: https://www.mediafire.com/file/8d8ygvp2p2c05gh/TheMasterminds.zip/file

 

 

Play the missions and don't forget to give me feedback about them.

 

Hi, guys! It's been quite a while, but I'm back with a new mission pack. You read that right. 

 

'The Masterminds' is the sequel to 'Edge of High Life' and 'Sweep Squad', the third and final mission pack of the trilogy, the culmination of everything that started all the way back in 2015. That is why, like with any sequel, it is ESSENTIAL for you to play ''Edge of High Life'' and ''Sweep Squad'' (in that order) first to be able to understand the story of this mission pack.

 

Link to Edge of High LIfe - https://gtaforums.com/topic/758489-edge-of-high-life-mission-series/ 

Link to Sweep Squad - https://gtaforums.com/topic/916894-sweep-squad-mission-series/

 

The Masterminds mission pack is finished and it consists of 24 missions. All of 'The Masterminds' missions are connected to each other, so I suggest you play them in order which you are able to follow in this topic. This mission pack requires you to install a lot of plugins and mods to be able to play it. I've done something like this before with my previous mission pack called 'The Shadow Ring', although on a much larger scale. This mission pack doesn't require you to install many mods. I HIGHLY recommend you to install the mods on a freshly installed vanilla GTA San Andreas. Otherwise, your game, as well as the missions, could get screwed up depending on which other mods you may already have installed prior to the ones needed here. All of the plugins, support files and mods are included in a ZIP archive along with the missions and a Readme instruction manual. It explains how/where to install the stuff you need to be able to play the mission pack (in case you've never done it before). Just a heads up, things you'll need to install are the following:

 

1) DYOM IX v5.5 - This is not included in the archive, so you will have to download that separately. You HAVE TO install DYOM IX v.5.5 because regular DYOM v8.1 and other versions of DYOM do not support these mission files as the missions were made in DYOM IX v5.5. You can download DYOM IX v5.5 here - https://gtaforums.com/topic/981899-dyom-ix-modification-for-dyom/

 

2) Plugins and mod support files - Used to prevent your game from crashing. This is also the most important part of this whole process. In the ZIP archive, I've included all the plugins and mod support files that I use in my game. You need to install them to have the best chance of avoiding crashes. Prioritize using the plugins and mod support files that come with DYOM IX v5.5 instead of the ones I included in the ZIP archive as I've noticed some of the plugins used there are more recent than the ones I've included in the ZIP archive!

 

3) Modloader - It makes installing and deleting mods super easy and keeps your mods organized.

 

4) Skin mods - There are only 3 skin mods that you need to install.

 

5) Map mods - Right off the bat, no, these are neither graphics mods such as ENB nor some texture mods, nothing like that. You HAVE TO install these mods because without them, you can't play the missions.

 

Summary:

 

The story takes place 24 hours after the events of ''Sweep Squad''. After successfully taking care of business in Los Santos, Brian Hendrix and his crew are approached by Scott Blake and the rest of the famous Take Team about doing a big job in Las Venturas. Their operation is set in motion a few days later. However, what they don't know is that someone else had already set their operation in motion, someone who will set them on a path they didn't count on.

 

Character list:

 

Character name: Scott Blake
Character photo:

 

Character name: Brian Hendrix
Character photo:

 

Character name: Nate Foyle
Character photo:

 

Character name: Billy Johnson
Character photo:

 

Character name: Ricky Baker
Character photo:

 

Character name: Ross Reed
Character photo:

 

Character name: Jerome ''J.T.'' Thompson
Character photo:

 

Character name: Tyrus Crawford
Character photo:

 

Mission list:

(Yes, I'm aware that DYOM IX offers extra mission slots, but I decided to keep it at regular 8 mission chapters as I've always done. So you don't have to worry, no missions are missing)

 

Chapter 1.

 

1. Introduction
2. All eyes on Las Venturas
3. Baiting the hook
4. Gambling venture, part 1
5. Gambling venture, part 2
6. Face off, part 1
7. Face off, part 2
8. Ordeal of the unfortunate

 

Chapter 2.

 

9. A matter of perspective
10. Phantom solace
11. Rise from the ashes
12. Quarry quarrel
13. Right on schedule
14. Smile for the camera
15. Dress code
16. Release the Spymaster

 

Chapter 3.

 

17. The plan
18. The casino heist, prelude
19. The casino heist
20. Exit strategy, part 1
21. Exit strategy, part 2
22. A wish upon Las Venturas
23. All for one...
24. ...One for all

 

Credits:

 

Credits for the map mods and the skin mods included in this mission pack go to their creators.

Edited July 23, 2022 by Jimmy_Leppard

[Jack Muller]

I played EoHL, an amazing story. Haven't played Sweep Squad, guess I have to play it before giving this a shot whenever it's released. Not gonna read the summary though to avoid spoilers. Pretty hyped, by the way. 

[Jimmy_Leppard]

1 minute ago, Jack Muller said:

I played EoHL, an amazing story. Haven't played Sweep Squad, guess I have to play it before giving this a shot whenever it's released. Not gonna read the summary though to avoid spoilers. Pretty hyped, by the way. 

Thanks, buddy I made Sweep Squad back in 2018, so it's also a somewhat older mission pack. It's pretty short, but still, its story is essential for this mission pack also. Hope you like it and hope you like this one as well

[Alan Eastwood]

Looks like is time to pop up the old chair and start open up that good old GTA San Andreas.

 

[Jimmy_Leppard]

3 minutes ago, Alan Eastwood said:

Looks like is time to pop up the old chair and start open up that good old GTA San Andreas.

 

Now that made me laugh Good to see you're still around, man. Hopefully you like the mission pack!

[Jimmy_Leppard]

Update: Download link added! I hope you enjoy playing the missions. Don't forget to give a feedback later!

Edited July 21, 2022 by Jimmy_Leppard

[ZERO34]

siiiiiiiiiiiii volviste sabias que ibas hacer otro MP lo voy a probar de una wiiiiiiiiii

yesiiiiiiiiiiii you came back you knew you were going to make another PM I'm going to try it once wiiiiiiiiii

[Jimmy_Leppard]

Just now, ZERO34 said:

siiiiiiiiiiiii volviste sabias que ibas hacer otro MP lo voy a probar de una wiiiiiiiiii

yesiiiiiiiiiiii you came back you knew you were going to make another PM I'm going to try it once wiiiiiiiiii

Thanks! Be sure to play Edge of High Life and Sweep Squad first because it is pointless to play this mission pack without playing those first.

[Guest]

Eyyy Jimmy's back. This is the first time since i've stopped recording DYOM i think i'll play it in my own time. You should also try looking-up Mission Maker too if you want to venture into new programs, it's releatively new and buggy but you can make missions in a Rockstar-level in this program. You can do if you want to ofc next mission pack if the MM next versions will be stable  

[Jimmy_Leppard]

21 minutes ago, Horus Publishing said:

Eyyy Jimmy's back. This is the first time since i've stopped recording DYOM i think i'll play it in my own time. You should also try looking-up Mission Maker too if you want to venture into new programs, it's releatively new and buggy but you can make missions in a Rockstar-level in this program. You can do if you want to ofc next mission pack if the MM next versions will be stable  

Hey man! I'm glad to hear that. I've seen a video demonstration of mission maker when I came back a few weeks ago or so. To be perfectly honest, when I came back and saw all the new versions of DYOM and DYOM-like mods, it was pretty overwhelming. I tried testing DYOM Remastered for a short while first and I was really happy with it, but then I noticed that the same person made DYOM IX and I tried that too even though people have stated that it's not stable. I can say that I'm really positively surprised with it because I've had next to no issues with it throughout making this mission pack. What made me decide to go with IX (apart from the fact that it offered much more than DYOM Remastered) was the fact that someone told me that the author stated how it won't be updated anymore which basically means that v5.5 is the final version. I'm happy with using a final product. Also DYOM Remastered and DYOM IX work through the same interface as regular DYOM 8.1, so the learning process is skipped.

 

I haven't tried testing Mission Maker, but it looked promising. If I make another mission pack in the future (you never know), perhaps I will try Mission Maker. While it's a work in progress, I prefer postponing using something like that in this case because the mission pack suffers otherwise in a sense where you always wish you had the newest version to work with because some missions would've seen great improvement due to the new features. That's why I prefer using the final product. I remember every time Patrick and Dutchy notified us of an upcoming version of DYOM, I always postponed my mission pack plans because of the new features the new version would offer. For the ''older'' folks here, I'm sure they know how much of a difference it was to make a mission pack in DYOM V5 and in DYOMV6.1/7 for example.

 

Honestly, not many features are missing in DYOM IX, at least in my opinion. I would've been beyond happy if it contained a built in NPC routepoint recording mod (carrec) and the stealth slider (like in the mission where you steal stuff from an old guy with Ryder Beyond that, I don't even know what else is there to add.

Edited July 21, 2022 by Jimmy_Leppard

[Guest]

36 minutes ago, Jimmy_Leppard said:

Hey man! I'm glad to hear that. I've seen a video demonstration of mission maker when I came back a few weeks ago or so. To be perfectly honest, when I came back and saw all the new versions of DYOM and DYOM-like mods, it was pretty overwhelming. I tried testing DYOM Remastered for a short while first and I was really happy with it, but then I noticed that the same person made DYOM IX and I tried that too even though people have stated that it's not stable. I can say that I'm really positively surprised with it because I've had next to no issues with it throughout making this mission pack. What made me decide to go with IX (apart from the fact that it offered much more than DYOM Remastered) was the fact that someone told me that the author stated how it won't be updated anymore which basically means that v5.5 is the final version. I'm happy with using a final product. Also DYOM Remastered and DYOM IX work through the same interface as regular DYOM 8.1, so the learning process is skipped.

 

I haven't tried testing Mission Maker, but it looked promising. If I make another mission pack in the future (you never know), perhaps I will try Mission Maker. While it's a work in progress, I prefer postponing using something like that in this case because the mission pack suffers otherwise in a sense where you always wish you had the newest version to work with because some missions would've seen great improvement due to the new features. That's why I prefer using the final product. I remember every time Patrick and Dutchy notified us of an upcoming version of DYOM, I always postponed my mission pack plans because of the new features the new version would offer. For the ''older'' folks here, I'm sure they know how much of a difference it was to make a mission pack in DYOM V5 and in DYOMV6.1/7 for example.

 

Honestly, not many features are missing in DYOM IX, at least in my opinion. I would've been beyond happy if it contained a built in NPC routepoint recording mod (carrec) and the stealth slider (like in the mission where you steal stuff from an old guy with Ryder Beyond that, I don't even know what else is there to add.

 

Nice, looking forward for you to doing MP on Mission Maker sometime soon. It's still buggy, Naloger recently added storylines and in v 1.6 object system will completely be revamped and pasted from DYOM - also DYOM'ers aren't that very interested of trying Mission Maker out, they rather stay out (for some reason) from other softwares and they don't want to report bugs or generally join to the community (if some well known DYOM'ers would do that bug troubleshooting & general suggestions would be much more easier to consider). Ah I need to ask Naloger for that stealth-slider, for now he re-added also Spook-O-Meter which you can re-name the bar to anything you want, same with healthbars.

[Stardust101]

As someone who played both EoHL and Sweep Squad and enjoyed them a lot, this is amazing! You made our days better Jimmy!

[Jimmy_Leppard]

Just now, Stardust101 said:

As someone who played both EoHL and Sweep Squad and enjoyed them a lot, this is amazing! You made our days better Jimmy!

Thank you very much for that, man. I'm happy if that's the case. Hopefully the fact that DYOM IX is required to play this instead of the DYOM v8.1 won't turn a lot of people away from it. Either way, if you liked Edge of High Life and Sweep Squad, I hope you like this too 

[ZERO34]

hello jimmy how are you I want to tell you that Edge of High Life and sweep squad have passed and I also just finished your recent MP and I really liked this MP a lot it was incredible some missions others made me sad and the ending was re epic I hope in the future not now hehehehe that you do other projects like the one of the invisible system or the shadow ring or a new one greetings and successes

[Jimmy_Leppard]

8 hours ago, ZERO34 said:

hello jimmy how are you I want to tell you that Edge of High Life and sweep squad have passed and I also just finished your recent MP and I really liked this MP a lot it was incredible some missions others made me sad and the ending was re epic I hope in the future not now hehehehe that you do other projects like the one of the invisible system or the shadow ring or a new one greetings and successes

Thanks a lot

[Guest]

I've played the first chapter - and let me tell you.. This sh*t is so good that I didn't regret coming back to playing DYOM IX and these missions - masterpiece. Wondering how good it would be if theoretically that mission pack would be done on Mission Maker - I've saw that you needed to split the missions between parts because of objectives limit, on Mission Maker the limit is raised to 200 so it would be interesting how you would play it out. The zooms are on point and sometimes you can feel that you're in the movie or some sh*t - outrageous. Gonna play other chapters really soon. I'm hoping that you've put the turret mode atleast 

[Jimmy_Leppard]

Just now, Horus Publishing said:

I've played the first chapter - and let me tell you.. This sh*t is so good that I didn't regret coming back to playing DYOM IX and these missions - masterpiece. Wondering how good it would be if theoretically that mission pack would be done on Mission Maker - I've saw that you needed to split the missions between parts because of objectives limit, on Mission Maker the limit is raised to 200 so it would be interesting how you would play it out. The zooms are on point and sometimes you can feel that you're in the movie or some sh*t - outrageous. Gonna play other chapters really soon. I'm hoping that you've put the turret mode atleast 

Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it so far.  True, the 100 objective limit in this case wasn't enough. I tried to make it fit like I always do, but I saw almost instantly that it wasn't gonna be enough and cutting the dialogue wasn't an option, so I said to myself, you know what, I'll split some of the missions in 3 or 4 parts if I have to. 100 objective limit was more than enough back in the day when we had DYOM v5, 6, even 7. But the more features are added, the more you start to notice that 100 objectives sometimes just aren't enough for a sequence.

 

The zooms took a little bit to get used to because the camera angles are different from where you place the camera in edit mode when the mission plays out so I had to test the mission out every so often to see if the angles are good or not. But it's worth it, the zooms are a great feature.

 

Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to disappoint you, but turret mode isn't used in this. It's also a great addition, but I simply didn't need it for this mission pack. Hopefully that doesn't diminish the rest of the experience for you.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Jimmy_Leppard said:

Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it so far.  True, the 100 objective limit in this case wasn't enough. I tried to make it fit like I always do, but I saw almost instantly that it wasn't gonna be enough and cutting the dialogue wasn't an option, so I said to myself, you know what, I'll split some of the missions in 3 or 4 parts if I have to. 100 objective limit was more than enough back in the day when we had DYOM v5, 6, even 7. But the more features are added, the more you start to notice that 100 objectives sometimes just aren't enough for a sequence.

 

The zooms took a little bit to get used to because the camera angles are different from where you place the camera in edit mode when the mission plays out so I had to test the mission out every so often to see if the angles are good or not. But it's worth it, the zooms are a great feature.

 

Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to disappoint you, but turret mode isn't used in this. It's also a great addition, but I simply didn't need it for this mission pack. Hopefully that doesn't diminish the rest of the experience for you.

 

It's pretty fine, it also would be very painful to program it without proper car paths (like carrec paths) so i totally understand. This is the first time somebody kinda "mastered the zooms" - that's very cool.

[Stardust101]

Hey Jimmy! Guess what, I finished the MP today and I'm ready to give a in-depth review about it. Here it is:

 

SPOILER ALERT!

 

First of all, I want to talk about your use of DYOM IX. You made great use of it. I liked the way you used the new animations and the new features. You managed to make them fit into the story flawlessly, without it being forced or out of place. You were always a god when it comes to designing.

 

The gameplay was hella fun. The shootouts were simple but effectively fun and challenging. I loved the stealth part that came with stealing the head of security's keycard, it was really well made, I liked how you made the dishes fall to the floor. I think my favorite part was the casino heist itself, it was really great. Every gameplay segment in this project was a blast from beginning to end. You did a great job.

 

Now to the story. I'm not a storytelling expert by any means, but I'd say you did a great job with the story and characters. I liked Ross, he felt like a comic relief character, and he was definitely funny. Brian, JT, Billy and Ricky weren't so standout, but their dialogue was well-written and they served their purpose in the story I'd say. Scott was surely the most developed character in this project, we all know about his relationship with Tanya and the others and we all know his traits. Scott was a well-written character for sure. I'd say my favorite character is Nate. There's something about him that makes me like him so much, which is why his death was very impactful, much more than Ricky's. And I gotta say, I absolutely loved Tyrus as the villain. First of all, he's actually smart and knows how to get the upper hand on every situtation (that is until we get the upper hand on him, of course). I liked the skin you chose for him too. He may be a cruel and overall evil man, but I felt sympathy for him due to his abusive upbringing and how much he cared about Lance. He was a great antagonist for sure.

 

In conclusion, I have nothing to complain about this MP. The story was great and the gameplay was fun. I had a blast from beginning to end while playing this. This was a fantastic ending to your MP trilogy you started way back in 2015. Ending it with a bang, as they say. You did it Jimmy. You earned this rating: 5 stars. 10/10. This MP is a gem.

 

Have a nice day, Jimmy!

[Jimmy_Leppard]

7 minutes ago, Stardust101 said:

Hey Jimmy! Guess what, I finished the MP today and I'm ready to give a in-depth review about it. Here it is:

 

SPOILER ALERT!

 

First of all, I want to talk about your use of DYOM IX. You made great use of it. I liked the way you used the new animations and the new features. You managed to make them fit into the story flawlessly, without it being forced or out of place. You were always a god when it comes to designing.

 

The gameplay was hella fun. The shootouts were simple but effectively fun and challenging. I loved the stealth part that came with stealing the head of security's keycard, it was really well made, I liked how you made the dishes fall to the floor. I think my favorite part was the casino heist itself, it was really great. Every gameplay segment in this project was a blast from beginning to end. You did a great job.

 

Now to the story. I'm not a storytelling expert by any means, but I'd say you did a great job with the story and characters. I liked Ross, he felt like a comic relief character, and he was definitely funny. Brian, JT, Billy and Ricky weren't so standout, but their dialogue was well-written and they served their purpose in the story I'd say. Scott was surely the most developed character in this project, we all know about his relationship with Tanya and the others and we all know his traits. Scott was a well-written character for sure. I'd say my favorite character is Nate. There's something about him that makes me like him so much, which is why his death was very impactful, much more than Ricky's. And I gotta say, I absolutely loved Tyrus as the villain. First of all, he's actually smart and knows how to get the upper hand on every situtation (that is until we get the upper hand on him, of course). I liked the skin you chose for him too. He may be a cruel and overall evil man, but I felt sympathy for him due to his abusive upbringing and how much he cared about Lance. He was a great antagonist for sure.

 

In conclusion, I have nothing to complain about this MP. The story was great and the gameplay was fun. I had a blast from beginning to end while playing this. This was a fantastic ending to your MP trilogy you started way back in 2015. Ending it with a bang, as they say. You did it Jimmy. You earned this rating: 5 stars. 10/10. This MP is a gem.

 

Have a nice day, Jimmy!

Hey man! Thank you for the very detailed review! I'd just like to ask you to put the third paragraph into the spoiler brackets to hide it from people accidentally reading it before playing!  But then again, I guess the spoiler alert works too.

 

As far as your review goes, I'm very happy that you liked the mission pack. I'm actually surprised about your pick when it comes to the favorite character, but I like it The two missions you pointed out, they were the ones that took the most time to make. I had some trouble with the casino heist mission because I kept getting a mission failed sign after a certain objective for an unknown reason, so I had to remake the whole first part of the mission again and then the problem was resolved.  I also forgot to say that I'm very happy with what you said about Tyrus because that's exactly what I was going for.

 

All in all, I'm grateful for you taking the time to play it. Glad you had fun and hopefully others will too.

Edited July 22, 2022 by Jimmy_Leppard

[The John David]

Wow, this looks great to try this out! Welcome back for designing @Jimmy_Leppard 

[Jimmy_Leppard]

3 hours ago, The John David said:

Wow, this looks great to try this out! Welcome back for designing @Jimmy_Leppard 

Hey, buddy Thanks a lot. Hopefully you like it if you find time to try it out. Just be sure to play Edge of High Life and Sweep Squad before doing so because you won't understand this mission pack at all.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Jimmy_Leppard

[zeko]

cool review

 

 

Spoiler

Here we go.

 

After recently playing Edge of High Life and Sweep Squad, mission-packs that actually have a proper story to engage with - had led to the final of the trilogy: The Masterminds.

 

The Masterminds, story-wise, feels like the Far Cry 3 of the trilogy. Just like Vaas in that game, Tyrus in this mission-pack is what holds it really.

Don't get me wrong - the story of this mission-pack is good. But, the only real characters that I've got to invest into about are Scott and Tyrus. To be fair, the others had their share of character development in the previous two MPs, meaning that they only felt like additional guys to make up the heist. Which they were.

 

Let's start off with Tyrus - the villain and albeit the best character in this MP. Here's why.

Unlike other DYOM MPs that I've played (that includes yours!) the villain in The Masterminds stands out as the best written villain I've seen so far in a DYOM MP. The reason being that he has set motives already from the start and we get to hate him in the very first missions. The Masterminds does not shy away to make its lead men (Nate and Scott) to be underpowered in many situations - that being, only because of Tyrus Crawford himself.

I already knew that things will go south with the heist as you're robbing the richest man in Las Venturas and stealing 200 million off a casino and under the chase of a megalomaniac. Here's why: even if 200 million are stolen, which it were - what stops from Tyrus, already knowing who will do it, sending the information about the team who robbed the casino and getting a big "steal" to say. Second, even if they robbed the casino (which they did) - Tyrus could have just killed them one by one and not even need to torture them. But the latter is for us wanting to hate Tyrus so bad that we want to kill him off at this point.

 

Using both situations, Tyrus does make it with the upper hand at the end (Exit Strategy, part 1 & 2) - but then underestimates what Scott and his leftovers of the team can do. Brian Hendrix had already proven himself capable by killing Gallacher along with the rest of his now-fallen-crew back in Sweep Squad. Scott Blake and Take Team managed to eliminate Garry Gold, the boss-of-all-bosses in Los Santos. Nate took part in everything and I would say he is the true Mastermind of all; Scott and the others from the crew are nothing more than mere muscle. While Scott did make part in the planning, he did not do it as high as what Foyle did. And we will move to him just right away.

 

Nate Foyle; you'd expect him to be the planner of everything there is and "talking" your way out of the situation. And that is what happens - until he met Tyrus, who killed him in the end and set the revenge plot. 

During the premise of the entire MP, Nate basically had to talk or even play the parts out as smoothly as it can get. He negotiated the deal for the specialized weapons and the trucks necessary to pull of the biggest heist "the city has ever seen". All goes well, until very "charismatic" Ross Reed blasts the deal and causes chaos at Quarry Quarrel which made me dislike him even more at this point. Not only he risked death of his crew, but Nate's one very well as cops were heading there right away due to Tyrus being the biggest asshole he can be. He recorded every single piece of what happened and could just hand it over to the cops because if the deal failed, the casino robbery would never have took place.

 

There's nothing else to say about the crew rather than them being underpowered until they get the upper hand themselves. I felt sense of opportunity by doing the "irony element" with the money blowing off Tyrus himself, but then you'd not feel reward for accomplishing the heist. However, you do feel the reward of Tyrus being killed by the very own thing he wanted - money. He killed Ricky, which was already predictable in the first part, then Nate. Those two are more value than 200 million itself, let alone the rest of the crew being at such near death situations and barely even making it out.

 

Let's talk about the gameplay - it was simple. Stealth and massive gunfights make up this MP. The latter as actually tedious as you have to shoot hordes of agents coming your way at the vault, draining your health as they have high health (500-1000 HP, I assume) while with 50-75 accuracy. Safe to say I had to use human shields to survive. 

 

The head of the security part was well done. Using SIZZZ's security camera addons makes it better. It wasn't easy nor that hard to get through. There were no frustrations, and Thank God for that.

That's all about the gameplay really. As the MP is heavy story-focused, leaving gameplay behind - I did not have an issue. Because I felt invested into watching the events unfold, Tyrus being the main reason why. You could watch him babble all day and not give a single f*ck about him doing so. Yes, he had an abusive childhood an teenage life - but why should we care when he exactly reflects that abuse he suffered upon others? Especially with J.T, a part of the crew and even more so by killing Nate?

 

That's all I got to say, cheers.

 

Edited August 28, 2022 by zeko

[Jimmy_Leppard]

13 minutes ago, zeko said:

cool review

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Here we go.

 

After recently playing Edge of High Life and Sweep Squad, mission-packs that actually have a proper story to engage with - had led to the final of the trilogy: The Masterminds.

 

The Masterminds, story-wise, feels like the Far Cry 3 of the trilogy. Just like Vaas in that game, Tyrus in this mission-pack is what holds it really.

Don't get me wrong - the story of this mission-pack is good. But, the only real characters that I've got to invest into about are Scott and Tyrus. To be fair, the others had their share of character development in the previous two MPs, meaning that they only felt like additional guys to make up the heist. Which they were.

 

Let's start off with Tyrus - the villain and albeit the best character in this MP. Here's why.

Unlike other DYOM MPs that I've played (that includes yours!) the villain in The Masterminds stands out as the best written villain I've seen so far in a DYOM MP. The reason being that he has set motives already from the start and we get to hate him in the very first missions. The Masterminds does not shy away to make its lead men (Nate and Scott) to be underpowered in many situations - that being, only because of Tyrus Crawford himself.

I already knew that things will go south with the heist as you're robbing the richest man in Las Venturas and stealing 200 million off a casino and under the chase of a megalomaniac. Here's why: even if 200 million are stolen, which it were - what stops from Tyrus, already knowing who will do it, sending the information about the team who robbed the casino and getting a big "steal" to say. Second, even if they robbed the casino (which they did) - Tyrus could have just killed them one by one and not even need to torture them. But the latter is for us wanting to hate Tyrus so bad that we want to kill him off at this point.

 

Using both situations, Tyrus does make it with the upper hand at the end (Exit Strategy, part 1 & 2) - but then underestimates what Scott and his leftovers of the team can do. Brian Hendrix had already proven himself capable by killing Gallacher along with the rest of his now-fallen-crew back in Sweep Squad. Scott Blake and Take Team managed to eliminate Garry Gold, the boss-of-all-bosses in Los Santos. Nate took part in everything and I would say he is the true Mastermind of all; Scott and the others from the crew are nothing more than mere muscle. While Scott did make part in the planning, he did not do it as high as what Foyle did. And we will move to him just right away.

 

Nate Foyle; you'd expect him to be the planner of everything there is and "talking" your way out of the situation. And that is what happens - until he met Tyrus, who killed him in the end and set the revenge plot. 

During the premise of the entire MP, Nate basically had to talk or even play the parts out as smoothly as it can get. He negotiated the deal for the specialized weapons and the trucks necessary to pull of the biggest heist "the city has ever seen". All goes well, until very "charismatic" Ross Reed blasts the deal and causes chaos at Quarry Quarrel which made me dislike him even more at this point. Not only he risked death of his crew, but Nate's one very well as cops were heading there right away due to Tyrus being the biggest asshole he can be. He recorded every single piece of what happened and could just hand it over to the cops because if the deal failed, the casino robbery would never have took place.

 

There's nothing else to say about the crew rather than them being underpowered until they get the upper hand themselves. I felt sense of opportunity by doing the "irony element" with the money blowing off Tyrus himself, but then you'd not feel reward for accomplishing the heist. However, you do feel the reward of Tyrus being killed by the very own thing he wanted - money. He killed Ricky, which was already predictable in the first part, then Nate. Those two are more value than 200 million itself, let alone the rest of the crew being at such near death situations and barely even making it out.

 

Let's talk about the gameplay - it was simple. Stealth and massive gunfights make up this MP. The latter as actually tedious as you have to shoot hordes of agents coming your way at the vault, draining your health as they have high health (500-1000 HP, I assume) while with 50-75 accuracy. Safe to say I had to use human shields to survive. 

 

The head of the security part was well done. Using SIZZZ's security camera addons makes it better. It wasn't easy nor that hard to get through. There were no frustrations, and Thank God for that.

That's all about the gameplay really. As the MP is heavy story-focused, leaving gameplay behind - I did not have an issue. Because I felt invested into watching the events unfold, Tyrus being the main reason why. You could watch him babble all day and not give a single f*ck about him doing so. Yes, he had an abusive childhood an teenage life - but why should we care when he exactly reflects that abuse he suffered upon others? Especially with J.T, a part of the crew and even more so by killing Nate?

 

That's all I got to say, cheers.

 

Hey man! Nice to hear from you

 

Your review came at the most unexpected time. Thank you for the very detailed review. I'm glad you liked Tyrus as a villain so much and for the exact reasons I had hoped players would! I'm not sure whether or not Tyrus is the best villain I've created, but I sure had a lot of fun creating him. Also, yes, I wanted to make him stand out as much as possible considering he's up against a huge group of well known characters. However, Scott is the character who is in the center of this mission pack, no doubt.

 

One subtle thing I made in regards to Tyrus to show his overconfidence being his downfall was through every single scene where Tyrus visited the Team at the warehouse. If you notice, when Tyrus visits the warehouse the first time, he's accompanied by a lot of his goons. Why? Because he was being overly cautious for the right reason as we could've seen from the very beginning of the mission pack. Had he stayed in that mindset, he would've won. However, he gradually becomes more and more sure of himself and his ''high ground'' to the point where he becomes way overconfident which ends up being his downfall. And the way you can see it progress is during each of the times he visits the Team's warehouse after that initial visit. Every following time he visits the Team, he brings less and less goons with him. That was my subtle way of showing that Tyrus was letting his guard down (which obviously happens when you get overconfident).

 

I'm glad you brought up how much of an asshole Tyrus was throughout the mission pack. Yes, that's absolutely true, but he was an asshole for the best possible reason which is why you can't really tell him anything. It's why the Team never contested what he was saying about Lance. It was true. If we're being honest, anyone in his situation would probably decide to be an asshole because it's the most human of emotions in those circumstances. If you could come face to face with the person (or people) who killed your loved one, the last thing most people would consider is being respectful towards that person. But in the end, obviously, too much is too much for the exact reason you mentioned. In simpler words, an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.

 

I'm very happy you liked the heist mission and heist prep missions because those took the most time to make, especially the heist mission. Without SIZZZ's security camera addon, it wouldn't have been possible to create it. Same goes for the keycard mission.

 

Thanks for taking the time to play the mission pack. I'm glad you liked it!

[zeko]

Ive also noticed that Tyrus' overconfidence let him to where he got. Its that sense of irony you feel appreciative of, because you end up being the big guy in the end.

The subtle touch was very good as well, which makes Tyrus even a better villain.

 

Also, the modding support was a very nice touch as well

 

If its one thing that is left for me to say is that i learned something. Specifically, how to write a villain to write it best.

 

Cheers man, have a nice day

 

 

Edited August 28, 2022 by zeko

[M316]

Well it has been a wild ride huh, you probably remember me from early 2021 when i decided to give the first 2 MPs a go, safe to say i was anticipating the third installment but i didnt know when, so this.... this caught me by surprise. To cap off the trilogy for this here is my review for this MP:

Story

Spoiler

Alright so obviously for this to be sensical people have to play the previous installments so stuff makes sense and nothing feels missing. So it starts where it left off in Sweep Squad and that is the team moving to LV to join the original take team onto the new adventure of the one last heist. It followed the usual patterns of characters prepping for a heist while there is a sudden twist with a new high ground villian coming into play and forcing their hands. Not surprising that it got repeated one final time but dynamic and the events kept fresh and not feeling like deja vu for the third time which i honestly appreciate.

The casualties in this MP is very heavy which is something we dont see alot, losing 2 key members of the take team one being the mastermind of all masterminds Nate Foyle. Not everything is rainbows and sunshine and i love how the Tyrus (we will get to him later) is constantly 2 steps ahead. It was forshadowed when Tyrus said to his guard that maybe underestimating the guys was Lance's mistake and it showed the difference Tyrus and Lance, hell even Gallagher. There is not really much to say about prepping the heist or the heist itself. They were well thought and not just a guns blazing get in get out operation but my favorite part was the constant twists after the heist. Just when you thought our main characters got the upper hand BOOM Tyrus is 5 steps ahead this time with aces up his dirty sleeve. The last 2 missions' names speak for themselves about the ending. All for one and one for all and in the end they were in it one last time to set their lives for good after the sacrifices of not all the characters in this MP but throughout the trilogy like Thomas. Top notch story from you Jimmy as expected.

Characters

Spoiler

Well it is already evident that the best character is the main asshole schmuck Tyrus. Honestly, he might be the best viliian i have encountered. He sets all villians in the entirety of DYOM to shame honestly and he should be used as a number 1 example of how to write a villian. i honestly love how he isnt cliche written meaning that he has one moment of power but otherwise get outsmarted all the way through. Yes he got outsmarted at the end but that's due to Tyrus's greed for power and money which was rise initially but resulted in his fall. He doesnt feel cheesy in some encounters like the regular cliches that people overlook and a bad habit that myself included can sometimes fall on. He is the MVP of this MP.

Others were good too, for example Scott's path of being a leader and leading the team through the times where they were cornered by Tyrus's cunningness. He evolved throughout the trilogy and learned that it is better to live this life with those you love (in his case Tanya, his upcoming child, and his remaining buds) than to get absorbed by all the greed which is opposite of what Tyrus stands for. I loved his scene in the pier where he sort of talked to Thomas, i love these little character moments which gives them some life.

There is not much to say about the others as they are all well established but they didnt stand out as much as Scott and certainly Tyrus but nonetheless they were all well written and didnt feel like fodder characters.

Cutscene & Dialogue

Spoiler

Cutscenes were good. Multiple perfect shots capturing the right moments, characters reactions, and some of the reveals. There is not a whole lot to say except that it was marvelous and didnt feel out of place. Tho very minor con and that's a personal one, i didnt really like how the final cutscene was basically the same as the one in EoHL. I dont mind throwbacks but i expected it to end differently like maybe a small party after the funeral (well not right away since that will be f*cked up) or perhaps a small Epilogue where say Scott gets to witness the birth of his child and others doing stuff they finally wanted to do, again that's just me dreaming so i dont mind how it ended.

Characters were straightforward with their dialogue tho it captured some of the character traits at the right moments like with Scott, Tyrus, and sometimes Billy. It was a breath fresh of air to see the new animations in play. Being the first at something comes with its perks so ig you being the first IX MP (to my knowledge) is gonna give you bonus points by setting an example of how the new features should be used (we are not done with the new features just yet). Like the animations give livelihood to the characters instead of the same 128 animations used in the base DYOM.

Gameplay

Spoiler

Even tho it was nonexistent by the time i reached chapter 2, the gameplay when it appeared it was enteraining and fun. Shootouts were cool, especially in the vault where you jammed every enemy at once to rush at me which is a feature i havent seen from current gen designers so ig it is an old school thing to have enemies rush onto u which gave a new sense of challenge and caught me off guard initially. I really LOVE how in one mission you got to showcase very possible new feature that us players and designers arent familiar with when it comes to dyom. I am talking about the smile for the camera mission where you used spook o meter, the security camera add on by SIZZ which is a long overdue addon. I liked the RC one with the speed limit even if it got a bit annoying sometimes. It was fresh tho it goes without saying, you have to fix its pacing. I know that gameplay isnt a thing you are usually known for but you gotta balance the gameplay with the story just a bit and make it spread out more. I wasnt particularly fond when chapter 2 started and i am yet to even actually play the MP so perhaps make the pacing with the gameplay consistent cos it got from a cinema show to full on loose canon sh*t in the quarry deal mission where you have to kill rushing NPCs with aks and shotguns while u had just the 9mm. Another thing, try to refrain from putting unlimited ammo to the player cos it takes the away the challenge of being conservative and wise with your shots not just the good ol' spray and pray. If the gameplay was more profound and toned right this category would have been almost perfect, but for what it is, it was good when gameplay finally decided to appear.

One more thing and that is me again nitpicking so pardon me XD, but i really dont like HD skins like at all. Ik they are cosmetic but they kind of hurt my eyes every time they see them and make the characters look....funny. All i can say is there are people like me in this community who can for you lore friendly skins for your requests, you can ask around and privately request what you want and i am sure they will give you some good stuff for your work.

Overall rating

Spoiler

Well it goes without that saying that the MP follows a simple format of a Jimmy Leppard yet again but it still feels like a whole new experience. It is not complicated like some of the notable MPs by our newer designers whether it is storywise, gameplay wise, or even modloader wise cos trust me stuff gets hectic when it comes to mods nowadays. And that's what i like about your MPs: Simple yet effective enough to deliver the mission and the entertainment needed. In a world with complicated MPs like Katabasis and Rebound (i had to shout myself lmao) we need simple digestable fun MPs like....well most of your stuff. That;s why i respect you sticking to the OG vibes of your MPs. Can it be adapted better nowadays? Sure but you are a veteran enough to know what needs to be done. Small example that everyone will probably note is your lack of SD usage. I was dissappointed to see that you didnt use the SD feature because it would have added a bit of realism like every time they opened the warehouse door or the cars' tires squeled on the move. It is kind of the meta to use SD nowadays and it is actually not that hard, but still it doesnt detirment the MP by much.

So finally after babbling i would like to officially give The Masterminds MP a numerical score of 8/10 which would make me give it the raiting of:
VERY GOOD MISSIONPACK (my 2nd best rating btw)

Truth be told the score is high cos of the fact that the story and characters were superb like they were 11/10 but some of my issues i had with the gameplay pacing among other stuff toned down but still it is a really good scoring and i actually love the MP and i would recommend it alongside its predecessors to any newcomer or hell old veterans looking to get back in the game.

Enjoy the review Jimmy 

Edited September 22, 2022 by M316

[Jimmy_Leppard]

Hey man, thank you for the awesome and huge review! It was a fun read.

 

Most people so far seem to have really liked Tyrus as a character and that's great to hear. I'm glad he left a great impression on you as well. He was definitely really fun to make. I wanted to make a villain who would be in the spotlight, but the challenge was the screen time he had. This mission pack is primarily about the heist, so I had to find a way to make sure Tyrus created an impact each time he appeared on screen. He ended up stealing the show, it seems.

I'm glad you liked the story so much. I wanted to make sure it rounded up everything that Edge of High Life and Sweep Squad created so far, but I also wanted to make sure not to disappoint the players, especially those who got to play EoHL when it first came out a few years ago. I was waiting for the right moment to make this mission pack. If it wasn't for DYOM IX and especially SIZZ's addon (without which the mission pack wouldn't have worked at all), I wouldn't have made it. The features they offer were a blast to work with.

 

I'm sorry to hear you didn't like the ending scene. You're right about me wanting it to be a throwback scene. I wanted it to mirror the ending of EoHL, but obviously in a slightly more 'grandiose' way. I'm glad you mentioned the pier scene as that was actually the first scene I wrote (if we don't count the heist which I had worked out in my head since pretty much when I finished Sweep Squad).

 

As far as the gameplay goes... I was sure that aspect of this mission pack was not going to sit well with many and unfortunately I was right, but I took the risk anyway. You have to have in mind that The Masterminds is a third installment in a trilogy and as such, it should be viewed as a part of a whole, not as a stand alone thing. I decided the most important thing was to wrap things up correctly (especially characters wise). EoHL brings heaps of gameplay in this trilogy, so that's why I thought focus on gameplay in this mission pack wasn't really necessary outside of the four crucial missions which are ''Smile for the camera'', ''The casino heist'', ''''All for one...'' and ''...One for all'' (the last two I see as one big mission). You're right about chapter 1. I think there's maybe a couple minutes of gameplay in it, but it was necessary in order to tell the story in the most organic way possible, without rushing anything and to set up the villain the right way. I mean, the whole Introduction mission is devoted entirely to Tyrus which says a lot. I'm glad it didn't ruin the overall experience for you though.

 

I'm happy you had fun playing the mission pack! Cheers.

[Notna]

COMPLETELY missed that this exists. I have some catching up to do.

[Jimmy_Leppard]

30 minutes ago, Notna said:

COMPLETELY missed that this exists. I have some catching up to do.

Yes, you do. Have you managed to finish The Shadow Ring yet?

[Notna]

1 hour ago, Jimmy_Leppard said:

Yes, you do. Have you managed to finish The Shadow Ring yet?

I had some sort of crash halfway through if I recall correctly, quit it and forgot about it. I'll get back to that too though. Already started with this one! I'm just so happy to see your retirement is never forever