Picture the world before there was OFP. Gasp! Terrible thought! Actually, it wasn't so bad. That's because there was the original OFP demo. The demo's files were taken apart and scrutinized by a group of devoted players who became the first mission editors.
They figured out how to enable many of OFP's soldier, weapon and vehicle units that were incorporated into the demo, yet were disabled for use. They custom built CONFIG.BIN files to let everyone get as much (and there was so much) gameplay out of the demo as possible. They produced the first mission editing sites and tutorials. Those were pioneering times!
Boxing Day, by Phalanx, was one of the mission produced in those days of old. At a time when many of OFP's standard units were still unfamiliar, it offered some of the earliest glimpses of the T72, mines, the Carl Gustav and the RPG. Handling these weapons for the first time was sheer excitement.
Another thing that Boxing Day showed was how relevant OFP's date, time and weather control can be to a mission's ambiance, as well as to both the player's and the AI abilities to discern opposing forces. The mission takes place on Malden Island, on December 26 (hence the mission's name, Boxing Day), after 4PM. There is a heavy fog rolling down the hills from Sainte Marie to Cancon. Visibility is poor to the extreme.
You're out there in the cold, commanding an AT squad. Your goal is to search and destroy all enemy armored forces southeast of Chapoi, to allow the 48th tank platoon to link up to the 52nd platoon in the east.
The mission is relatively easy, if you handle your squad correctly. It's designed to be a short tank killing training mission. Veteran players should have no problems winning against the Soviets the first time, and it won't take long. Nevertheless, I've found that the mission has more replay value than simple missions like these usually offer.
The one hint I will give you about the mission is that you should be prepared for action the moment the mission begins. You start off in the thick of things. Enough said.
The only things I modified from the original copy of the mission were the briefing and overview, which needed some minor formatting improvements and small adjustments to the mission end trigger. Other than that, the units, their positions and skill settings are the same as in Phalanx's original version. The mission should work with any OFP version, from 1.00 onward.
If you would like to experience more of these first generation missions, why not take a look at my Original OFP Demo Mission Nostalgia Pack.