[FlayedOne]

Since I just tried the mission on Hard, it seems impossible on this level as well. It's not a matter of wingmens(or players) lack of skill. It's probably a problem that arose because of better missle tracking abilities in FSPort than Freespace Retail(more of the missles fired by the shivan wings on arrival hit the cargo, and those salvos are impossible to stop).

[MatthTheGeek]

That's true, unless you play on very easy, it's nearly impossible to save all three containers. I managed to save two of them in hard, with and without Fury's AI.

[Solatar]

I'm not an amazing player, but I managed to save all three on Hard last night...I like to have one wing stay and protect a random cargo container (just to keep them close to the convoy) while the other, I use "form on my wing" to keep close when I fly around near the convoy; then c-3-9 when anything hostile shows up. That way I have one defense wing that can get a few ships that I miss and me and my "assault" wing can open up as soon as they jump in.

I don't manage it every time or anything, but you have to be aware of where things are. When the HoL ships jump in, I just have

[TopAce]

It hasn't been.  That could be one player's opinion masquerading as fact

All the responses here prove that the FSPort version *is* harder.

[Goober5000]

That doesn't mean it's the Port's fault.  It could be a code change.

I would be interested to see whether there is a difference in this mission between FSPort running on retail FS2, and FSPort running on FSO.

[TopAce]

I didn't say it was the FSPort's fault.

[General Battuta]

Or only slap it on capital ships you want to be truly fearsome.

[QuantumDelta]

What build are the people who are finding Port harder than Retail FS1 (Please let me know this!)?

I can only really recommend you pick up a very recent nightly to test, as a lot of AI behavioural problems in the builds after Sushi's AI profiles post effected FS1 in missions with Avenger/Shields much more harshly than pretty much any other mod.

As far as I can tell (beyond missiles ...and who cares about missiles?) there is very little/no appreciable differences between Port and Retail because I had a similar complaint when I started playing it, I did however flesh out the problem quite a lot, and came to the conclusion it was some SCP based changes that had effected /everything/ not just Port.

...Most obvious in port? Yes, but not Ports fault.

As for the mission, on insane the only realistic ways to do this mission is to do it the same way as ST:Rs escape pod mission.
You memorise the warpin points of the enemy fighters and have your fighters on c37 while you sit behind said warp in points in order and then hit engage enemy as they come in.
The HoL ships /ARE/ saveable, however you have to be quite trusting in your AI to look after the convoy (can't remember which cargo container it is, but if you order the ai to protect the right one and are burning to the HoL/Vasudans before it arrives then you can manage it, I actually think I remember you having to swap which cargo container your ai are protecting on the way back too).
If you don't want to bother flying all that way and back, you can let the convoy die to no ill effect, - you can also steal a fighter from it (well on retail anyway, I imagine on port too but I haven't checked).

It's very doable and as far as I know only the AI general problems (most, of which have been fixed, seemingly? (I need to confirmness)).

But yea, good luck it's a very tough mission to get a 'perfect' on (note; you don't need to save the Vasudans).

[Scotty]

Also helpful to damage the "friendly" Vasudan ships when they jump in before they turn hostile.  A couple shots should take them down to about 1/3 hull, and then they become really easy pickings even for your wingmen.

[Firartix]

Hello there.
I had no problem playing on Easy mode saving the 3 shield prototypes, but now i'm wondering something else.

is it possible to save the Andromeda ? Is this a bonus objective ?
I mean, it's not self-destructing and warps with a Rho wing as cover. Then it must be defendable.
Also, the distance is crossable in time using a Valkyrie with maxed engines.
But, i can't get to destroy the HoL ships in time... they're targeting it directly, and it dies way too fast <_<
I tried doing it on Medium difficulty (I restarted the campaign to try getting all those bonus objectives)

BTW, What's that Fury's enhanced AI ?

[Scotty]

AFAIK, there is no bonus objective for saving the frieghter.  However, if you kill all the HoL ships, you might get a few friendlies you can order around.

Fury's AI is orders of magnitude better than FS retail AI.  Think better piloting, greater use of craft, dodging, firing faster, and being all around better and more challenging.

[General Battuta]

Blue Planet Presents

An AI Profile Enabled By All The Hard Work of Sushi and Wanderer

The Fury AI Templates!

[FlayedOne]

What build are the people who are finding Port harder than Retail FS1 (Please let me know this!)?

I can only really recommend you pick up a very recent nightly to test, as a lot of AI behavioural problems in the builds after Sushi's AI profiles post effected FS1 in missions with Avenger/Shields much more harshly than pretty much any other mod.

As far as I can tell (beyond missiles ...and who cares about missiles?) there is very little/no appreciable differences between Port and Retail because I had a similar complaint when I started playing it, I did however flesh out the problem quite a lot, and came to the conclusion it was some SCP based changes that had effected /everything/ not just Port.

...Most obvious in port? Yes, but not Ports fault.

Well, I don't know what build it is, but I used Freespace Open Installer to install it, if it helps;). Installed about a week ago - the version is 3.6.10.

The problem seems to be only with missles hitting more often - I also have retail installed, so I tried comparing both. Shivans behaviour is pretty much the same, but they manage to cause more damage to cargo, while freighters seem less damaged in FSport, thus my conclusion of missles hitting better being the cause. In retail they seem to hit freighters instead of cargo more often.

As for the mission, on insane the only realistic ways to do this mission is to do it the same way as ST:Rs escape pod mission.
You memorise the warpin points of the enemy fighters and have your fighters on c37 while you sit behind said warp in points in order and then hit engage enemy as they come in.

I managed to this after 17 trials on hard:P. In retail it took me 2 trials, and I seem to be able to pull it of regularly.

The HoL ships /ARE/ saveable, however you have to be quite trusting in your AI to look after the convoy (can't remember which cargo container it is, but if you order the ai to protect the right one and are burning to the HoL/Vasudans before it arrives then you can manage it, I actually think I remember you having to swap which cargo container your ai are protecting on the way back too).
If you don't want to bother flying all that way and back, you can let the convoy die to no ill effect, - you can also steal a fighter from it (well on retail anyway, I imagine on port too but I haven't checked).

It's very doable and as far as I know only the AI general problems (most, of which have been fixed, seemingly? (I need to confirmness)).

But yea, good luck it's a very tough mission to get a 'perfect' on (note; you don't need to save the Vasudans).

You can also still the figter in FSport(Rho 2 I belive) - anubi with ~30% hull. Did you manage to save all prototypes and vasudan convoy? I never seem to be able to go back in time to defend cargo from the first targeting it shivan wave, and my wingman never seem to be able to defend them by themselves even from only the first of two dangerous waves.

Hello there.
I had no problem playing on Easy mode saving the 3 shield prototypes, but now i'm wondering something else.

is it possible to save the Andromeda ? Is this a bonus objective ?
I mean, it's not self-destructing and warps with a Rho wing as cover. Then it must be defendable.
Also, the distance is crossable in time using a Valkyrie with maxed engines.
But, i can't get to destroy the HoL ships in time... they're targeting it directly, and it dies way too fast <_<
I tried doing it on Medium difficulty (I restarted the campaign to try getting all those bonus objectives)

BTW, What's that Fury's enhanced AI ?

As said - saving andromeda only gives you the warm fuzzy feeling you should get when saving someone;). To defend it you must go in it's direction before they arrive(preferably from the beggining of the mission, since your wingmen will fend off first shivan waves without a problem).

[Sushi]

I can only really recommend you pick up a very recent nightly to test, as a lot of AI behavioural problems in the builds after Sushi's AI profiles post effected FS1 in missions with Avenger/Shields much more harshly than pretty much any other mod.
 good luck it's a very tough mission to get a 'perfect' on (note; you don't need to save the Vasudans).

Blue Planet Presents

An AI Profile Enabled By All The Hard Work of Sushi and Wanderer

The Fury AI Templates!

To paraphrase Homer Simpson:
"Here's to the AI.tbl update: the cause of, and solution to, all of FSO's problems!"

[MatthTheGeek]

The problem seems to be only with missles hitting more often - I also have retail installed, so I tried comparing both. Shivans behaviour is pretty much the same, but they manage to cause more damage to cargo, while freighters seem less damaged in FSport, thus my conclusion of missles hitting better being the cause. In retail they seem to hit freighters instead of cargo more often.

A viable solution might be to sexp the shivans to target the freighters instead of the cargo, maybe the behavior and balance would then be closer to retail FS1 ?

[QuantumDelta]

Did you manage to save all prototypes and vasudan convoy?

In Retail yes, in FSP I haven't tried.

Realistically I think the reason you're probably finding it harder is because the AI (Shivans) fire a lot more Rockeyes coming in on the Cargo.
Personally that doesn't bother me because I can just fly between the shivans/cargo firing CMs to pull the rockeyes off track, I don't need CMs for myself because there isn't a missile in the game that can hit me >.>; (even before you consider that Ports missiles have worse tracking).


Generally if you micro the AI you get better results.
The time I did the retail-insane-perfect (cargo/andromeda save/all vasudan ships alive), was before FS2 came out when getting stuff like that in FS1 was all the challenge left really ;P
Beyond multi....but multi FS1 was too laggy to REALLY enjoy for the sake of flying.