[Megadoomer]

Not entirely sure where to ask this, I was introduced to TBP a few weeks ago. I'm now in the process of designing a campaign in between revising for the final exams of my degree and I have encountered some problems that I can't seem to fix. Though perhaps I'm being too ambitious with somethings. If you could offer help or direct me to somewhere better to ask that would be great, thanks.

The first main problem I have is that on the opening level all the ships randomly start off invunerable, and then stay that way for a random length of time. I've even tried including an event to make all ships vunerable (using both vunerable and no-guardian), which triggers at mission start. The only solution at the moment is to restart until it doesn't happen. I do have the jump gate both protected and invunerable but I don't see how that could affect other things.

The second main problem, which may be where I'm being too ambitious, is I can't get red-alert-carry status to actually carry over ship damage. I had wanted to have the player have only one ship of a particular type of fighter, and not have it repaired in between missions (it's a stolen psi thunderbolt so they not going to be able to get it fixed regularly). I also want to have other vessels to retain damage on certain missions when they for example ambushed before they can get back to somewhere for repairs. The only way I can see to do this, is to make each mission have red alert status and mark the player fighter and other ships to be carried over. It's not worked. Is there any way to store a ships health and ammo in a variable(s), and then set it to that on the next mission?

The last thing is how can I get access to the images/video clips used with both messages and campaign missions? I've tried setting them using the standard options but it hasn't worked, and I can't browse for them (as there part of other files).

For the curious the campaign is fitted loosely into the B5 story line, and deals with the escape of a rogue telepath to the telepath homeworld from the Psicorps, at about the time the Drakh start to act more openly. The player then get embroiled fighting the drakh while avoiding the corps, though I will probably have the option of just going to the homeworld, and not helping to fight the drakh at some point in the campaign.

[Slasher]

I can't imagine what could be causing ships to become invincible the way you describe, particularly if you're using a ship-vulnerable SEXP on all of them.  Do you know what version of FRED2 you are using, or what build of the SCP you use to run TBP/FS2?  Just for troubleshooting purposes, you might try making an event that lists all the ships in the mission under ship-vulnerable and give this event a repeat count of 999 and a repeat interval of 1 second.  If that solves anything it might indicate the problem is scripting related as opposed to some weird hickup in the code.



Unless this has been changed by the SCP, Red Alert specs will only get carried over from mission to mission if they've already been linked together in a campaign.  If you play Mission 1 as a single mission and Ship A has 56% hull integrity, Ship A will likely have 100% hull integrity in Mission 2, even if its flagged for Red Alert Carry Status.  

If you are playing these missions in campaign mode, make sure the names of the ships in a mission (and all subsequent missions where this applies) that you want to retain damage have the same exact name as they did in the previous mission(s).  And though you've probably already done it, make sure the Red Alert Carry Status flag is checked for the ships you want to carry over, and that "Red Alert Mission" is checked under the Mission Specs Editor (unless this has been changed by the SCP people).  

Understand that you may have set it up right, but if you're playing these missions as single missions (from the Tech Room), you're not going to see the results yet.  As far as I know, the game does not keep variables stored from one single mission play session to another.  Once you've got your missions linked together in a campaign, you should see what you're looking for.

Variables can be a substitute for this; scroll past the next section for an explanation.





CommAnis have to be entered manually the first time you use them in a mission because the ones in the drop down menu, long story short, are basically incorrect.   Input any of these to get what you want:

capcomm_1_MINBARI.ani     <<< female Minbari of the warrior caste
capcomm_2_MINBARI.ani     <<< male Minbari of the warrior caste
capcomm_CENTAURI.ani       <<< male Centauri official
capcomm_Corwin.ani                  <<< Lt. Corwin of Babylon 5
capcomm_DRAKH.ani                  <<< a Drakh
capcomm_Delenn.ani                  <<< Delenn in her post-Revelations look
capcomm_EA.ani          <<< Capt. Ellis Pierce of the EAS Hyperion
capcomm_Garibaldi.ani    <<< Garibaldi in civilian clothes
capcomm_Hague.ani    <<< Gen. Hague in dress uniform
capcomm_Hall.ani      <<< Capt. Hall of the EAS Heracles
capcomm_Hiroshi.ani      <<< Capt. Hiroshi of the EAS Churchill
capcomm_Ivanova.ani     <<< Cmdr. Ivanova in Army of Light uniform
capcomm_James.ani   <<< Capt. James of the EAS Agamemnon
capcomm_Lefcourt.ani   <<< Gen. Lefcourt on bridge of the EAS Apollo
capcomm_MacDougan.ani     <<< Capt. MacDougan of the EAS Vesta
capcomm_MacDougan_2.ani   <<< Capt. MacDougan sitting in his chair, not talking (?!?)
capcomm_Mollari.ani   <<< Ambassador Londo Mollari staring idly at the camera (...)
capcomm_Morden.ani   <<< Mr. Morden talking
capcomm_NARN.ani   <<< male Narn speaking
capcomm_Ryan.ani   <<< Maj. Ryan of the EAS Alexander
capcomm_Sheridan.ani   <<< Capt. Sheridan in Army of Light uniform
capcomm_Vorlon.ani      <<< a Vorlon
pilot_CENTAURI.ani    <<< lower ranking male Centauri
pilot_DRAZI.ani      <<< Drazi pilot
pilot_EA.ani        <<< male Starfury pilot
pilot_EA_2.ani    <<< another male Starfury pilot
pilot_EA_Clarke.ani   <<< EA pilot in Thunderbolt cockpit
pilot_EA_dying.ani   <<< EA pilot losing control, followed by loss of signal
pilot_EAservicecraft.ani   <<< Construction Fury pilot
pilot_EAservicecraft_dying.ani   <<< Construction Fury pilot buying the farm
pilot_Gkar.ani  <<<   Ambassador G'Kar in a fighter cockpit
pilot_Garibaldi.ani   <<< Garibaldi in a Starfury cockpit
pilot_MINBARI.ani    <<<  male Minbari inside Nial
pilot_NARN.ani  <<<  male Narn in fighter cockpit
pilot_RAIDERS.ani   <<< male human in Zephyr cockpit

Note that the .ani file extension must be included when you type these in if you want to see them show up in mission.  Also note that once you've typed them in manually and closed the event editor, you do not need to type them in again as they will be saved in the mission file.  For instance, if you type in "pilot_RAIDERS.ani" for a message's comm animation and close the Events Editor, save the mission, and reopen the Events Editor, you will be able to pull down "pilot_RAIDERS.ani" from the drop down menu.  






With the advent of persistent variables, maintaining damage consistency from one mission to the next without using the Red Alert flags should be a possibility.  Generally speaking, using these variables will be messier than getting the Red Alert method to work.  You will need an individual variable for each factor you intend to keep in one mission.  For instance, if you want to carry Ship A's hull integrity from Mission 1 to Mission 2, you will need an event that defines a variable as Ship A's hull integrity at the end of that mission.  Here's an example event:

Check Harrisburg Integrity
--when
------has-time-elapsed
---------15
------modify-variable
---------HarrisburgHull(0)
--------------+
-----------------hits-left
---------------------EAS Harrisburg
-----------------HarrisburgHull(0)

The variable here is "HarrisburgHull."  It's important to remember that it's default value is zero.  This example event would add the Harrisburg's hull integrity percentage to the variable 15 seconds into the mission.  So if after 15 seconds the Harrisburg has 100% hull integrity, the event will add a value of 100 to the variable.  You can change the "has-time-elapsed" part to whatever works for the mission you have in mind; whatever you do, you'll want to collect the ship's specs only after they won't be changed (i.e. it's about to jump out).  Make sure when you create the variable in the Events Editor you check the "Campaign Persistent" box so it can carry over from mission to mission.  In the next mission, you would need to set up an event like this:


Set Harrisburg Integrity
--when
-------has-arrived-delay
-----------EAS Harrisburg
-----------0
-------set-subsystem-strength
-----------EAS Harrisburg
-----------Hull
-----------HarrisburgHull(0)

This event will set the Harrisburg's hull integrity at whatever percent is defined by the variable here.  Since the variable holds the value of the Harrisburg's hull integrity from the previous mission, the two should remain consistent.

Note that you'll need to recreate the variable you used from the last mission in the new one, character for character, so that when the game looks in the campaign file for it a match can be found.  

Now the reason I say this method might be messier is because the more specific you want to get with it the more work you'll have to do.  For instance, if you want to carry over the damage from the Harrisburg's subsystems, you'll need an individual variable for each of them.  The same goes for turrets.  Also, because variables aren't kept from a single mission after you exit, you won't see the desired results doing this either unless you're playing the missions in a campaign.  As a matter of fact, were you to use this example in a single mission, this method would destroy the Harrisburg upon its arrival in the second mission since the default value of the variable implemented is zero (kaboooom).  In other words, don't use this method and test your missions outside of a campaign as results will be worse than before.  A workaround to this problem exists where you could create an event that boosts the variable's value if it turns out to be zero at the beginning of the mission (which it will be if it's being played as a single mission).  Doing that might create a new plethora of issues which I won't get into unless you want.  

Basically, the Red Alert method can save time here.  If you're playing your missions as a campaign and you think it's set up right and it's still not working, you might try this or ask/search for help on the SCP forum.  If you're playing your missions from the Tech Room, however, don't worry.  The Red Alert thing doesn't really work there because it's not supposed to work there.  




Sooner or later someone with a more evolved sense of communication will come along and explain this stuff more eloquently, so don't worry if you didn't get it.

You may also try posting in the FreeSpace Campaigns forum.  Those guys actually stay on top of SCP developments and know the ins-and-outs of getting SCP enhanced FRED2 elements to work.

[NGTM-1R]

Originally posted by Megadoomer

The first main problem I have is that on the opening level all the ships randomly start off invunerable, and then stay that way for a random length of time. I've even tried including an event to make all ships vunerable (using both vunerable and no-guardian), which triggers at mission start. The only solution at the moment is to restart until it doesn't happen. I do have the jump gate both protected and invunerable but I don't see how that could affect other things.

How many ships do you have inmission?

Beyond a certain number of subsystems (of which most ships have 5 or more), FS2 stops tracking collisions properly and only secondary (read: missile) weapons will work the way they're supposed to.

[Slasher]

That's a good point.  When you fire at ships in the afflicted mission(s), do your shots pass harmlessly through the ship models without any indication of an impact explosion?  

A common symptom of too many ships being in a mission with an asteroid or debris field is ships becoming "holographic."  The best way to resolve this to my knowledge is simply to reduce the density of the asteroid or debris field.  Cut the number of asteroids down to something small and see if collision detection works again, then scale the asteroids upwards until you hit the problem again to see how big you can make the asteroid field.

[Megadoomer]

Thanks for that. Considering the mission is in an asteroid field, with a total of about 50ish ships, it's definitely that causing the invunerability problems. I'll play around to get it to work.

With the red alert issue I have been testing it in campaign mode but to no avail. I have the mission branching out to two red alert missions, and I was wondering if that was likely to be the issue. I've even looked at the minbari war campaign because I know that has a red alert carry status working correctly (at the battle of the line) the only difference I could see it that red alert carry status isn't checked on the ships being carried over on the previous mission, but is checked on the subsequent one (if that makes sense). I've tried doing the same but to no avail. I'll try asking the free space campaign forums.

The other problem I've had is setting beam free all, doesn't actually get a ship to fire it's beams (none of them fired on a warlock I tried, and only the rear and side beams on a sharlin fire), so I have to set them manually (which is annoying because I can't work out how to set it to the closest hostile, if it's possible). Oddly enough the Drakh raiders I've used will fire their beam weapons but only occaisionally.

[Megadoomer]

Reducing the asteroids worked. I had 93 objects and had to drop the asteroid number from 256 to 105, before the problem stopped.

The beam weapon problem is still there, though I should point out the whitestars also work correctly.

With the red alert issue it's worth mentioning that I in the previous mission have an force-jump event to end the mission, I know that end-mission doesn't activate red alert status, but theres no mention of force-jump doing the same. Also I have tried allow the player ship to warp, damaging it and then jumping to the next mission but this hasn't fixed it, (though one of the ships being carried over hadn't arrived at that point). I do add a couple of ships to the wing the hostile ships being carried over is in on the next mission, and the red alert mission is one of the possible missions that can be done based upon how events in the preceeding mission pan out.

[Megadoomer]

One last thing: I can't raise the ammo of some ships missile turrets above zero for example with the G'Quan Cruiser, it registers having energy mines but you can't alter the number above zero. Is this a known issue.

On and I'm using the version of fred that came with TBP v3.1, I don't own freespace 2, so it's the only version of fred I have.

[karajorma]

Originally posted by Megadoomer
With the red alert issue I have been testing it in campaign mode but to no avail. I have the mission branching out to two red alert missions, and I was wondering if that was likely to be the issue.

Umm. Unless FS2_Open has changed something it's impossible to red-alert to two seperate missions (It was definately impossible in Retail at least).

 You can't even have 1 red-alert and 1 non-red-alert mission in retail. It's quite possible thats your problem. Remove the branch and try it again.

[IPAndrews]

Originally posted by Megadoomer
One last thing: I can't raise the ammo of some ships missile turrets above zero

These values are ignored. Cap ships get infinite ammo.

[Megadoomer]

Thanks for all the help. The campaign forum has possibly given me the cause of the red alert problem (I wasn't explicitly setting it as an event), but I may have to use variables anyway for instances when the player has a choice between another vessel and their (probably reasonably battered) thunderbolt. I've asked this on the other forum but I'll ask it here too, is it possible to set a ships secondary ammo using a variable at the start of a mission in the same way as you can set the hull?

If anyone would like to see the mission I can email it to you. Thankfully the person who intoduced me to TBP, is more than happy to play test the levels I design, so I'm not asking you to do that.

[karajorma]

If he's happy to playtest other missions too send him over to the Freespace Campaigns forum as I've got a TBP mission for the FRED Academy that I wouldn't mind hearing more opinions on.

As for your question I've answered it on the other forum

[Megadoomer]

I've told him about it.

I've decided to get around the missile problem by not having the player start with any on the first few missions where it matters (anyway there no reason why the ship that was stolen by the players character would necessarily being fully armed for combat).

I've made use of my university webspace for the few weeks left I still have it and I've put the first two missions and the campaign file up. Test versions of the missions are there so they can be played and tested independantly of a campaign but are otherwise identical. Mission 3 (blip-02) is just an empty place holder so far. Anyway they can be found at:

http://www.bath.ac.uk/~ma1dd/TBP_campaign

[IPAndrews]

Originally posted by Megadoomer
Reducing the asteroids worked. I had 93 objects and had to drop the asteroid number from 256 to 105, before the problem stopped.

If your asteroid field looks a bit thin now you can use asteroid backgrounds to try and compensate as we did in the final missions of RW.