Author Topic: Couple of multiplayer missions  (Read 4974 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Couple of multiplayer missions
Here's a couple of multiplayer missions i've made.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ymmmtmzdotw

I didn't  try to incorporate them in the actual B5 timeline, just wanted to make a decent excuse for blowing up stuff in multiplayer :D They are both co-op, about an Earth Alliance Narn Regime skirmish.

I've played them with a friend a while trying to debug etc,at the moment i think they are complete and i hope you'll enjoy. If you spot any bugs i'd be happy to try and fix them. These two are my first attempts in making missions so please point out anything that you dont like as i'm trying to learn in the process.

I also have a third mission which you can find here

http://www.mediafire.com/?jggzdowz2dk

I already know it's bugged, extra players except the host crash halfway through the mission. I've gone over it a lot and i can't spot what's wrong, any help fixing it would be appreciated.

I made them using 3.6.10INF build

I hope i'll hear from you guys soon.
AN S&M VERSION OF STAR TREK: BEAT ME UP SCOTTY!

 

Offline FUBAR-BDHR

  • Self-Propelled Trouble Magnet
  • Moderator
  • 212
  • Master Drunk
    • 165th Beer Drinking Hell Raisers
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
I'll try and see if I notice anything later tonight.  One thing to do when you run into a crash like that is to run a debug build and see if it tells you why.  If you can't figure it out you can always post a log here if it's TBP specific or in the FRED forum if it's FRED related. 
No-one ever listens to Zathras. Quite mad, they say. It is good that Zathras does not mind. He's even grown to like it. Oh yes. -Zathras

 

Offline FUBAR-BDHR

  • Self-Propelled Trouble Magnet
  • Moderator
  • 212
  • Master Drunk
    • 165th Beer Drinking Hell Raisers
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
Taking a quick look at Survivors.  I see a couple of things that could cause issues.  First is the events without a when.  Not a good practice.  Add a conditional even if it's just a when true. 

Second is the distance-ship-subsystem in badguy-aggro.  There is a know bug when using distance sexps on a ship that isn't in mission.  So if Alpha 1 or Green is dead or respawning  it will probably crash.  Also I believe you are either using the wrong sexp or have it backwards.  No idea why you would want to know if Alpha 1's engine is close to Green.  There is a distance sexp that just does 2 objects or wings.  I'm guessing you want to check Alpha and Green wings.   Couple of other events with the same issue.  Not sure if the distance bug has been fixed yet or not. 

Event all-down has an unnecessary true in it.  Shouldn't cause an issue but might as well delete it.

Event 50% use of <any wingman> will not work if you have 8 actual players so you might want to come up with a different message source. 

Couple of unnamed events.  Also a few of those like the cap-waypoint-speed events could be combined into one start event along with the remove sun.  Speaking of the remove sun you can always pick an ambient source in the background editor instead of a sun. 



No-one ever listens to Zathras. Quite mad, they say. It is good that Zathras does not mind. He's even grown to like it. Oh yes. -Zathras

 
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
Thnx for all the info, never even thought events without "when" might create problems. I've fixed pretty much everything you pointed out, now i'll only have to find some time and testers to try out if one of those things was the problem.

Thing was, even on debug mode i wasnt having any problems, but players would crash as soon as decoy wing appeared. I'm guessing it was because of all the sexps without a "when" i was using for the warping and giving new AI orders.

Also thnx for the remove-sun info, with all the stuff i'm trying to learn at the same time i never saw i could replace suns with ambient light sources.

Other than that i'm anxious to hear your input on the two "working" mission, although i'm guessing you'll probably find stuff i didnt notice there too.
AN S&M VERSION OF STAR TREK: BEAT ME UP SCOTTY!

 

Offline karajorma

  • King Louie - Jungle VIP
  • Administrator
  • 214
    • Karajorma's Freespace FAQ
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
There is a know bug when using distance sexps on a ship that isn't in mission.  So if Alpha 1 or Green is dead or respawning  it will probably crash.  Also I believe you are either using the wrong sexp or have it backwards.  No idea why you would want to know if Alpha 1's engine is close to Green.  There is a distance sexp that just does 2 objects or wings.  I'm guessing you want to check Alpha and Green wings.   Couple of other events with the same issue.  Not sure if the distance bug has been fixed yet or not. 

I thought I had fixed this one already actually.
Karajorma's Freespace FAQ. It's almost like asking me yourself.

[ Diaspora ] - [ Seeds Of Rebellion ] - [ Mind Games ]

 
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
I wouldnt know tbh, Green and Alpha are the first to make contact so there was no chance of one of them respawning or being dead before they close distance. Still fixed it so any player getting close will prompt the narn to react.
AN S&M VERSION OF STAR TREK: BEAT ME UP SCOTTY!

 

Offline FUBAR-BDHR

  • Self-Propelled Trouble Magnet
  • Moderator
  • 212
  • Master Drunk
    • 165th Beer Drinking Hell Raisers
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
There is a know bug when using distance sexps on a ship that isn't in mission.  So if Alpha 1 or Green is dead or respawning  it will probably crash.  Also I believe you are either using the wrong sexp or have it backwards.  No idea why you would want to know if Alpha 1's engine is close to Green.  There is a distance sexp that just does 2 objects or wings.  I'm guessing you want to check Alpha and Green wings.   Couple of other events with the same issue.  Not sure if the distance bug has been fixed yet or not. 

I thought I had fixed this one already actually.

I think you might have but I don't think it was before 3.6.10. 
No-one ever listens to Zathras. Quite mad, they say. It is good that Zathras does not mind. He's even grown to like it. Oh yes. -Zathras

 
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
soo......  :rolleyes: anybody tried the mission yet? I'd really appreciate some feedback if you guys like them or not etc.
AN S&M VERSION OF STAR TREK: BEAT ME UP SCOTTY!

 

Offline Slasher

  • 29
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
Multiplayer missions are naturally a little harder to test due to the requisite number of people required.  Can they be played single player?

 
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
I'd be more than happy to host if we manage to set up a time and  i'm always on irc when i'm available to play so i'm not hard to find :)

On the other hand if  you put them on easy difficulty or change the team loadout i doubt you'll have any problem completing them even on your own. That's how i was testing them while i was making them. I've scripted orders for the wingmen so you dont have to worry about spam ordering them around...much.

Besides they're fairly simple missions. Since i'm new in FREDing i thought (and that's as far as i can go) of making small straighforward misison that wont last over 10 minutes. I'm not even sure they'll actually be challenging with 8 human players. Most player i've been able to play them with are 3 including myself and we're all new in the game so we dont excactly have awesome flying skills yet  :P
AN S&M VERSION OF STAR TREK: BEAT ME UP SCOTTY!

 
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
I've have 6 working missions atm.

In this rar you'll find the original two, fixed 3rd and the three new ones

http://www.mediafire.com/?zntv5mytjvd

I've also added a readme with the chronological order. The fifth mission, "Reunion" is a cut-scene of sorts, i dont know if multi supports real cutscenes and i dont know how to make them anyways, so nothing to check there really, except the story :P

Note, they work, still not sure they dont have loops and bugs i can only playtest so much. I'd be happy for any feedback.

I got another couple of misisons for this story arc in mind so when i finish them up i'll tie them all up in a campaign. I hope you like the missions and i hope you like the story.
AN S&M VERSION OF STAR TREK: BEAT ME UP SCOTTY!

 

Offline Mura

  • 27
  • Shadow lurker
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
mura here to report.

They are actually 7 missions now, and i must say i enjoyed it... it did have a few mistakes here and there, and some briefings need further polishing, i think it has potential even for sequels.
We need more people playing this kind of stuff!!!! Xb
Signed, me

 
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
\ο/ thnx again mura for taking the time to go through all the misisons with me. (and for being nice in the post :P )

Hopefully i'll fix the stuff mura noticed over the weekend and i'll upload an updated file including the 7th mission. I still got one mission left to do to finish the story arc, and i'll polish up a single player version too.

I thought over the things we talked about and i think i'll redo mission 6 completely. Less fighters and the chase getaway will add A LOT to it. I'd still like opinions in the form it is now from the rest of you guys.

PS: sequels? /blush   NO I haz a totally new, unused, fresh,groundbreaking, mindblowing , revolutionary idea! i'll make a prequel !! (not)
AN S&M VERSION OF STAR TREK: BEAT ME UP SCOTTY!

 
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
This is the file with all 7 missions so far

http://www.mediafire.com/?rndyntkznwt

i'm still testing mission 6 so it's basically the old one with minimal changes.
AN S&M VERSION OF STAR TREK: BEAT ME UP SCOTTY!

 

Offline Vidmaster

  • Moderator
  • 211
  • Inventor of FS2 bullettime ;-)
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
Leaving when people are testing your missions together with you is not a very polite thing  :doubt:

Anyway, Mission1:
- provide some story context here. "Recent events"? "What is happening here?
- lots and lots of different ships to choose from. Tigers and Thunderbolts, as well as 4 Invanova Starfuries  :lol: ? Where does an Omega destroyer carry all these ships?

The mission itself is kinda medicore. To fix that, think about the following recommendations:
- All ships share the same z-axis. How about rotating them by a few degrees, to make it look more interesting?
- How many fighters ARE THERE? You should probably limit their number to a realistic three waves or something.
- Fighters appear ouf of nowhere. The Goriths even appear right next to your Omega destroyer. Launch fighters from the capships, I recommend launching the Goriths from the smaller support vessel, which gives the players some extra time to intercept them.
- Why does said support vessel never engage? Why does the Orion never engage said vessel?
- Some messages seem to appear as training-msg as well, those are the white ones above your reticle
- How about some fancy events instead of throwing wave after wave of enemies at the player? Ships repositioning, bomber waves, reinforcements, anything?
- more dialouge! Tell the player when he or she is doing well! Comment on the destruction and damage of ships.
Also, we got the "we are damaged, need to pull out of here" message. The Orion never pulled out, never moved. We even won the battle no problem, why the panic attack?

Functional mission but not as good as it could be.
Devoted member of the Official Karajorma Fan Club (Founded and Led by Mobius).

Does crazy Software Engineering for a living, until he finally musters the courage to start building games for real. Might never happen.

 
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
First of all, thnx for checking the mission out.

Now lets see things one by one.

-fighters&backstory: I didnt try to make an awesome backstory/context mission, just something that'll be fun in multiplayer. That's why i let all the fighters in so players can choose the one they most like. If people generally would like to see it more "realistic" no problem taking them out. It's only a tick afterall.
If i get a good backstory in mind, be sure you'll see it in the next update.

-Z-axis easy to fix :)

-fighters launching from everywhere. Fixable as well.

-support ship never engages: This is the first mission i fredded so there's stuff i was still exploring. I noticed the combined firepower was too much for the Orion.Also the orion doesnt engage cause I still didnt know how to reallign capships using waypoints, and tbh it would just vaporise the support carrier without players doing anything.

-i put the training messages in cause i think they're easier to read while fighting. If you notice  ALL messages also appear as training-msg.

-Fancy events:play the rest of the missions. I will probably revise it at some point. And Again i was just trying to make a fun multiplayer mission with lots of shooting.

-more dialogue. There is dialoge about the destruction of ships. Maybe you missed it. If the orion never pulled it's because it's jump engine got damaged. Dunno why you missed that message. Jump engine getting damaged is when J'Kar is down and Orion hp too low. Or maybe it was a lucky shot by the J'Kar's mines that got the engines. I've seen it happen during my tests.

Overall you've shown me there were things in the mission which i ment to be, but it does not become clear for the players. Waiting for your opinion on the other missions, although i got a good hunch of what you'll say about the next one.
AN S&M VERSION OF STAR TREK: BEAT ME UP SCOTTY!

 

Offline Vidmaster

  • Moderator
  • 211
  • Inventor of FS2 bullettime ;-)
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
-support ship never engages: This is the first mission i fredded so there's stuff i was still exploring. I noticed the combined firepower was too much for the Orion.Also the orion doesnt engage cause I still didnt know how to reallign capships using waypoints, and tbh it would just vaporise the support carrier without players doing anything

A balancing problem versus a believability problem.

-i put the training messages in cause i think they're easier to read while fighting. If you notice  ALL messages also appear as training-msg.
WHICH ONLY WORKS FOR THE HOST ON YOUR CURRENT SETTING.

Also, definitly add the "emptymsg.wav" sound file to all transmissions.
Devoted member of the Official Karajorma Fan Club (Founded and Led by Mobius).

Does crazy Software Engineering for a living, until he finally musters the courage to start building games for real. Might never happen.

 
Re: Couple of multiplayer missions
I'm trying to get around the balancing right now. I think I got it a bit. Got two solutions atm, either put heavy Narn Xrays on J'Kar which will power it up A LOT so i wont need the support carrier (WTF@Heavy Narn Xrays), or i'll have an event that will disable the Orion's Xrays after the J'Kar is down so it wont rape the G'Dor in 0.3 seconds.I'll probably end up with a combination of both.

No the HUD messages should work for everybody unless there's lag. For some reason when the ping is not good enough not all training messages appear.

BTW what's wrong with 5 Ivanova's auroras?
AN S&M VERSION OF STAR TREK: BEAT ME UP SCOTTY!