Author Topic: [WIP]: Friends and Foes  (Read 2570 times)

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[WIP]: Friends and Foes
"There are a lot of stories about battle-changing heroism, about single men and women changing the fate of an entire species. Stories about uprisings against great injustice and evil governments. History and fiction show us the tales of people in positions where they can change the way of humankind itself. This story is none of them. This is about those people that get cought in between when empires collide and great militarists fight their wars. This is about the survival of those you love and need the most. About those who sweat and bleed next to you when the going gets tough."

Hello Everybody! Thanks to the big support I received here at the HLP, the first 3 missions of my little campaign are now ready for release. There's still a lot to do for the complete campaign, but I'm eager to hear what you think of my little creation  :)

The story of this campaign is based on Blue Planet. It takes place in Sol within the 18 months before the GTVA captures Jupiter, shortly after the GTVA arrived in Sol.
So first of all I wanted to thank the Blue Planet Team for their great mod and the permission to let my little attempt of fredding play within their universe  :)

I will use a lot of models in this campaign, so within the folder there is a credit.txt as a thank you for all the people who developed so many extraordinary stuff that I could use!

What do you need for this campaign to work?

Must have:

- I'm using FS2 Open 3.7.4. I always used SSE2.exe so I have no idea if there is a problem if you use another, this is the one I recommend.
- Blue Planet complete. Download-Link and instructions: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=90802.0 I used the Bpcomplete mod to create this mission and also used their ship models, so this is definitely needed.
- As it is needed for Blue Planet: The MediaVPs 2014: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=86475.0

And of course:

The Campaign:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/78fc2e3y71ikxmz/Friends+and+Foes.rar -> 108mb when it's packed as a RAR-file, almost 285mb unpacked due to the fact that there are already included user created models that I will (probably) use in the next missions.

How to install?

Extract the RAR-file and put the "Friends and Foes"-Folder within your Freespace 2 folder. Then use your launcher and activate the "Friends and Foes"-Mod. The bpmod and the MediaVPs 2014 should automatically be activated with it.

Then start the game, go to the campaign room and activate "Friends and Foes".

Well, I really think this is it for now. I hope this works for you. Since I did this the first time, I hope I managed to create the vp.files correctly and everybody is able to start the campaign.

So have fun and give me a feedback if you like. I learned so much about fredding the last weaks, and I want this to be continued ;)

One additional advice: I think this campaign should be played on "medium". If you think this is too hard or easy, don't hesitate to tell me!
« Last Edit: January 08, 2017, 02:30:51 pm by bomb3rman »

 

Offline Nyctaeus

  • The Slavic Engineer
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    • Exile
Re: [WIP]: Friends and Foes
Something to play :D. Downloading...

How complete it is? There is still [WIP] in the title, but this seems to be complete campaign.
Exile | Shadow Genesis | Inferno | Series Resurrecta  | DA Profile | P3D Profile

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All of my assets including models, textures, skyboxes, effects may be used under standard CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

 
Re: [WIP]: Friends and Foes
Well, the first three missions of the campaign are ready. Since I'm new to Fredding I thought it would be nice to get some feedback to see if I get all the campaign-stuff including bonus goals etc... right.

The campaign itself will finally contain between 6 and 9/10 missions, depends on my progress and the ability to work around my ideas :)

So there is still "work in progress", though the first missions are already done :)

Maybe I add a "progress-meter" later on  :D

 
Re: [WIP/Testers wanted]: Friends and Foes
Just an update:

Now 6 missions are complete, but the plan to bring this campaign to an end within these missions failed completely  :D

But I think it's worth it. Now I'm aiming at 10-12 missions.

I reviewed the first three missions as well to kill any bug that appeared and to make it a bit easier. Now it should be playable much better.

So have fun with it and if you wish to give me some feedback, I'd be glad to hear it :)

EDIT: Mediafire-Link updated, it's the new version with 6 missions now.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2017, 02:30:10 pm by bomb3rman »

 

Offline Mito [PL]

  • 210
  • Proud Member of Slavicus Mechanicus
Re: [WIP]: Friends and Foes
Okay, just finished what you've got there...

Actually this is a really fine and interesting campaign, I'm sooooo waiting for a next piece of the story :D
And some feedback on the missions themself:

M1.: The only problems I've encountered are: the nav beacon jumps out when not needed (I think it should disappear), and in the debriefing the "There's no recommendations for you" text is doubled.
It's a really fine, simple mission.

M2.: I recall there being a small typo in the briefing text and a strange mention of Capella in-mission (something about "it got really hot here when Capella got exploded"). The other thing are the Triton freighters and pirate Perseus fighters - are you sure they should be there? I mean, it's Sol some time before GTVA got the Third Fleet running, I don't really think local civvies or pirates could get some Tev freighters and fighters. I also got a message from Red after I got rid of the spyboats, telling me to hurry up because "they" are going to jump soon. And I think the ambient music could be a bit different.
That station is a really nice place though!

M3.: One of friendly wings are Myrmidons... unarmed Myrmidons (because there's no Tev weapon to choose from - probably because these Myrmidons shouldn't be there in the first place!). Also the equipment of these pirates is a bit strange: Myrmidons, Areses, AAA beams on the Leviathan... And I happened to call in the support ship only to realise it's a Hygeia (sometimes). Probably related to the Myrmidon Gamma wing. A few typos: "This lady is quiet old", "quiet some time now" (it's 'quite'), the message saying "let's take this cruiser" shows up some time after the transport docked with it (just after the second pirate wave goes boom). And after the battle started, I realized I can order around some of the UEF fighters. Another typo in the debriefing - "heroes above the Hades" (aboard?). And that ambient music (during battle it was a lot better).
This is actually a pretty complex mission with a really bloody satisfying bonus objective. Grimlers FTW!

M4.: The way that your commander is doing his job (wih Ubuntu all around and stuff)... Well, he sounds like a crazy old paranoical grandpa that nobody cares about, but in command of a frigate and its fighter wings. I wouldn't say he resembles any military man. Plus, the way player launches is a bit strange... and the music in the first part of the mission seems... inadequate. And be sure to check player orders, I seem to be able to order many things around the place.
A nice way to introduce the trauma of the main character. And if the player decides to shoot some time after the order was given, the way the transport loses control is looking very realistic.
M5. & M6.: What I can say about them is that the briefing music is a bit too... aggresive in relation to what is in the text. And I think you could use the fiction viewer or the red-alert briefing instead of normal briefing in M6.
But this is a really pleasant search-and-salvage mission. Well done!

What I could say about the campaign in general: It's really nice. There aren't so many campaigns out there about civilians during wartime, so you're doing a really nice thing for the diversity of scenarios pf Freespace! Plus, this kind of stories have the potential of being so interesting! And I'd say that your writing is really good. It really got me into the story.
On the other side, I find it difficult to believe that a such civilian paramilitary unit could somehow have such a large variety of weaponry (that you can choose from), especially when everyone is talking so much about the lack of supplies. And I suggest you place there in the mission backgrounds the typical Sol skybox (used in nearly every WiH mission).

It also seems that the enemy corvette in the "test" mission 7 has some model bugs - when I watched the battle, at some point Eurynome started to fire flak in a really strange direction ("above" the enemy vessel), and some time after that both collided and my Freespace started to do really funky funky stuff (everything disappearing, my fighter in a some kind of black void, then I die to fire of the friendly corvette).
How do you kill a hydra?

You starve it to death.

 
Re: [WIP]: Friends and Foes
Hi MitoPL,

thank you for your positive feedback :) And thanks for the information about the current bugs within the missions.

I will get to the seperate missions soon, just one thing first:

I made one big mistake, thx for showing me that! I was mistaken by FS1 and FS2 here and when the node to Sol collapsed. I had in mind it was 2367, not 2335. But Capella wasn't the reason for the destroyed connection to Sol. I wanted to show the following: Sol was part of the former GTVA and had the same ships, stations etc like the rest of GTVA space. As the Delta Serpentis Node collapsed, some GTVA ships were already/still within Sol. Now that the UEF has build newer military vessels, these ships aren't used anymore by official organisations. But they found their way into the hands of other organisations, friendly or not. I try to compare this with the collapse of the UDSSR in the late 1980s. I'm pretty sure a lot of the former soviet military stuff was used by post-soviet states and some stuff got into the hands of others, too.

But if I want to go this way I can only use the ships from FS1 for the pirates etc, not the Myrmidons, Perseus etc...  :mad: :mad: :mad: So yes, now I get your confusion. I will switch the ships you mentioned to some from the Great War-era craft, like Apollos or Valkyries. Now I also get your confusion about the mentioning of Capella during mission 2. I will change that :)

I will also listen again to all the music. Maybe I find something better ;)

Ok, let's see about the missions:

Quote
M1.: The only problems I've encountered are: the nav beacon jumps out when not needed (I think it should disappear), and in the debriefing the "There's no recommendations for you" text is doubled.
It's a really fine, simple mission.

Yeah, it should just disappear, you're right. The second "no recommendation" can be deleated, too :)

Quote
M2.: I recall there being a small typo in the briefing text and a strange mention of Capella in-mission (something about "it got really hot here when Capella got exploded"). The other thing are the Triton freighters and pirate Perseus fighters - are you sure they should be there? I mean, it's Sol some time before GTVA got the Third Fleet running, I don't really think local civvies or pirates could get some Tev freighters and fighters. I also got a message from Red after I got rid of the spyboats, telling me to hurry up because "they" are going to jump soon. And I think the ambient music could be a bit different.
That station is a really nice place though!

Well I didn't find a typo, or I just don't get it :) And like I said before you're right about the Tritons and Perseus :)
I will look into the message coming too late. Sometimes I have the habit to make too long message lists, so if something happens between the beginning and the end of these lists, the messages aren't all that accurate. Yeah, the station and it's surroundings were a lot of work, so thanks :)

Quote
M3.: One of friendly wings are Myrmidons... unarmed Myrmidons (because there's no Tev weapon to choose from - probably because these Myrmidons shouldn't be there in the first place!). Also the equipment of these pirates is a bit strange: Myrmidons, Areses, AAA beams on the Leviathan... And I happened to call in the support ship only to realise it's a Hygeia (sometimes). Probably related to the Myrmidon Gamma wing. A few typos: "This lady is quiet old", "quiet some time now" (it's 'quite'), the message saying "let's take this cruiser" shows up some time after the transport docked with it (just after the second pirate wave goes boom). And after the battle started, I realized I can order around some of the UEF fighters. Another typo in the debriefing - "heroes above the Hades" (aboard?). And that ambient music (during battle it was a lot better).
This is actually a pretty complex mission with a really bloody satisfying bonus objective. Grimlers FTW!

The Myrmidon-problem will be solved, as mentioned above. But you're right about the loadout, I didn't allow Tev weapons here... I'll work on that once I'm clear which ship Arctic is flying. The AAA beams are something different. Maybe I switch them to flak, I'll look into it. Might help.
Typos-> corrected
Messages-> as above, I'll look into it.

I switched the UEF from neutral to friendly and changed the iff-colours, but forgot to take out the player orders. Thanks for the info!

Bonus objective?? That's funny, there is no additional weapon if you manage to destroy the cruisers, just the part of the debriefing. But that's a nice idea :) I just forgot to take away the Grimlers from the team loadout :P

Quote
M4.: The way that your commander is doing his job (wih Ubuntu all around and stuff)... Well, he sounds like a crazy old paranoical grandpa that nobody cares about, but in command of a frigate and its fighter wings. I wouldn't say he resembles any military man. Plus, the way player launches is a bit strange... and the music in the first part of the mission seems... inadequate. And be sure to check player orders, I seem to be able to order many things around the place.
A nice way to introduce the trauma of the main character. And if the player decides to shoot some time after the order was given, the way the transport loses control is looking very realistic.

Yeah I know, I still have some trouble with the commander... Maybe I change some of these parts, he's not as he should be... But it's good you like the way how I try to show the past of the protagonist. I was a bit worried about it :)
Opps, the player orders :) Fixed!

Quote
M5. & M6.: What I can say about them is that the briefing music is a bit too... aggresive in relation to what is in the text. And I think you could use the fiction viewer or the red-alert briefing instead of normal briefing in M6.
But this is a really pleasant search-and-salvage mission. Well done!

Yeah the music. I thought the same. I'll look into it.
But in my command briefings, they are the part where I try to describe things. I don't think the fiction viewer or the briefings fit into this.
And thanks!

Quote
What I could say about the campaign in general: It's really nice. There aren't so many campaigns out there about civilians during wartime, so you're doing a really nice thing for the diversity of scenarios pf Freespace! Plus, this kind of stories have the potential of being so interesting! And I'd say that your writing is really good. It really got me into the story.

On the other side, I find it difficult to believe that a such civilian paramilitary unit could somehow have such a large variety of weaponry (that you can choose from), especially when everyone is talking so much about the lack of supplies. And I suggest you place there in the mission backgrounds the typical Sol skybox (used in nearly every WiH mission).

Good to hear that the story works, since it's not that much "action" here like in other stories. But you're maybe right with the weapons, I look into the "scarcity" a bit more ;)

Skyboxes! Didn't even think about it. Let's see what Blue Planet has got there  :yes: :D :D

Quote
It also seems that the enemy corvette in the "test" mission 7 has some model bugs - when I watched the battle, at some point Eurynome started to fire flak in a really strange direction ("above" the enemy vessel), and some time after that both collided and my Freespace started to do really funky funky stuff (everything disappearing, my fighter in a some kind of black void, then I die to fire of the friendly corvette).

LOL, the test mission shouldn't even be there! I just needed it to see if my additinal ships work in the next mission and I tested the new corvette if she fits into my story... But I don't see these problems with the ship on my side... strange, maybe it's your computer :)

So, done... Thanks a lot for your feedback, there are still things I didn't think about  :D :)

And since I'm still learning, it's really time to get into these Skybox-stuff :)

Greetings,

Bomb3rman

 

Offline Mito [PL]

  • 210
  • Proud Member of Slavicus Mechanicus
Re: [WIP]: Friends and Foes
A simple story. In the ending of FS1, the jump node leading to Sol (and, in effect, any other "phasing" node from Sol, which can be read somewhere in FS2 Intel section of the Techroom) was collapsed by Lucy detonating inside it. This has definitely cut off Sol from the rest of the universe. Then, several years after getting rid of any remaining Shivans in T-V space, the Beta Aquilae Convention founded the GTVA and meanwhile in Sol, Ubuntu had started to pull together the remains of the crisis that happened there after node collapsed. In FS2, GTVA finds the Knossos device, which is reverse-engineered and then there's Capella. Then, several years later, a "clone" of Knossos is constructed in Beta Aquilae, and GTVA re-openes the node to Sol.
This effectively means that every single piece of hardware owned by anyone in Sol is either a pre-FS1 era, FS1 era craft or something built later by the UEF (the frigate in M3 is a great example) or any Sol organisation in that case. And there also is the equipement of Tevs, but I really doubt someone could obtain there - perhaps in a way of salvaging it from somewhere... That's what I think that Tev stuff in anyone's hands should be in next to no quantities, if not at all.
The choice here isn't that limited - HLP has a lot of different models for everything out here, just check out User-made ship list on HLP Wiki. Take a look around, choose some assets and include them in your mod - just remember to give a credit to the creator.
If you're going to take some FS1 ships into the campaign, I suggest going for a new Apollo (was sometime ago on forum's highlights I think) and the Valkyrie from FSPort. They're very pretty, high-poly models.
About the weapons - BP has some "renewed" old FS1 era capship weapons. Like Terran Turret 2 or Terran Huge Turret 2. As about the Leviathan, for the challenge I suggest changing its weapons to a combination of one, maybe two UEF flak turrets, a couple of point defence turrets and blobs.
The thing is that player has the access to high-end UEF weaponry... But how? I mean, Rapier, Grimler, Paveway are specialist or just rare weapons employed by the UEF to get the most vital missions done, and there's even a paragraph in the techroom about the Grimler missile, speaking of how big are the shortages of the weapon in Sol fleets.

The bonus objective in M3 is a good way to commit suicide, actually. I say Grimlers For The Win, because even killing the beams without them is a very hard task, not mentioning the engines, where you either have to snipe them off at >2000m range or dive into this hellfire a Hyperion cruiser can make. If the mission is going to stay in the current form, I say that it needs a long-range weapon comparable to Trebs and Grimlers, but not a best military equipement out there. I say that FS1 Phoenix V needs to change its name a bit (like Phoenix VII), as also stats. The original range of it will suffice, but it needs to be able to make a lot of subsystem damage. I say that import the weapon from FSPort, change its stats a bit and mention in the briefing that its given you especially for this opportunity and it's very expensive.
Paveways don't count - enemy PD can shoot them down. And they will shoot them down no matter what. No engine killing with them.

I believe you've played through AoA? Because there is a place when the player docks with a cruiser, and there was either a fiction viewer there, or just a red-alert mission briefing. Take a look into this.

If you want to test something, just make a mission, place it in data/missions and run it via Single Missions tab in Techroom -> Mission simulator. You don't need to bother with placing it in the campaign.
And I think skyboxes are actually a very simple thing. There should be a way of choosing the background skybox in Editors -> Background. Note that you should be able to change it also via SEXPs (if you're making a mission with in-mission jumps or something...). The same should go for bitmaps.
How do you kill a hydra?

You starve it to death.

 
Re: [WIP]: Friends and Foes
Quote
A simple story. In the ending of FS1, the jump node leading to Sol (and, in effect, any other "phasing" node from Sol, which can be read somewhere in FS2 Intel section of the Techroom) was collapsed by Lucy detonating inside it. This has definitely cut off Sol from the rest of the universe. Then, several years after getting rid of any remaining Shivans in T-V space, the Beta Aquilae Convention founded the GTVA and meanwhile in Sol, Ubuntu had started to pull together the remains of the crisis that happened there after node collapsed. In FS2, GTVA finds the Knossos device, which is reverse-engineered and then there's Capella. Then, several years later, a "clone" of Knossos is constructed in Beta Aquilae, and GTVA re-openes the node to Sol.

Yeah, it's just been a very long time since I played FS1 and FS2... Some things must have been put together wrong in my head :)

Quote
This effectively means that every single piece of hardware owned by anyone in Sol is either a pre-FS1 era, FS1 era craft or something built later by the UEF (the frigate in M3 is a great example) or any Sol organisation in that case. And there also is the equipement of Tevs, but I really doubt someone could obtain there - perhaps in a way of salvaging it from somewhere... That's what I think that Tev stuff in anyone's hands should be in next to no quantities, if not at all.

Makes sense... And now that I know the correct timelines, I'll make sure that it stays this way ;)

Quote
The choice here isn't that limited - HLP has a lot of different models for everything out here, just check out User-made ship list on HLP Wiki. Take a look around, choose some assets and include them in your mod - just remember to give a credit to the creator.
If you're going to take some FS1 ships into the campaign, I suggest going for a new Apollo (was sometime ago on forum's highlights I think) and the Valkyrie from FSPort. They're very pretty, high-poly models.

I'll look for them soon. That's what I need.

Quote
About the weapons - BP has some "renewed" old FS1 era capship weapons. Like Terran Turret 2 or Terran Huge Turret 2. As about the Leviathan, for the challenge I suggest changing its weapons to a combination of one, maybe two UEF flak turrets, a couple of point defence turrets and blobs.

Yes I should rework the weapons. By the way, is there a way to rename these weapons then? I switched the beam weapon to a laser, but it is still displayed as "beam weapon".

Quote
The thing is that player has the access to high-end UEF weaponry... But how? I mean, Rapier, Grimler, Paveway are specialist or just rare weapons employed by the UEF to get the most vital missions done, and there's even a paragraph in the techroom about the Grimler missile, speaking of how big are the shortages of the weapon in Sol fleets.

Well that's a point. I don't want to spoiler too much, but let's just say that Ivanov hasn't really cut all ties with the UEF. But:

Quote
The bonus objective in M3 is a good way to commit suicide, actually. I say Grimlers For The Win, because even killing the beams without them is a very hard task, not mentioning the engines, where you either have to snipe them off at >2000m range or dive into this hellfire a Hyperion cruiser can make. If the mission is going to stay in the current form, I say that it needs a long-range weapon comparable to Trebs and Grimlers, but not a best military equipement out there. I say that FS1 Phoenix V needs to change its name a bit (like Phoenix VII), as also stats. The original range of it will suffice, but it needs to be able to make a lot of subsystem damage. I say that import the weapon from FSPort, change its stats a bit and mention in the briefing that its given you especially for this opportunity and it's very expensive.

You have a point here. Maybe I should look into the FSPort weapons and rechange them. I'll think about it.

Quote
I believe you've played through AoA? Because there is a place when the player docks with a cruiser, and there was either a fiction viewer there, or just a red-alert mission briefing. Take a look into this.

Hmm I don't remember this, but I see what I can find :)

Quote
If you want to test something, just make a mission, place it in data/missions and run it via Single Missions tab in Techroom -> Mission simulator. You don't need to bother with placing it in the campaign.

I know, I just wanted to test if the bonus goal kicks in right so that I have the choice to take the uriel in the ship selection since you need a campaign file to test this. I'm not playing through the whole campaign all the time ;)

Thanks for your answers!

Greetings,

Bomb3rman

 

Offline Mito [PL]

  • 210
  • Proud Member of Slavicus Mechanicus
Re: [WIP]: Friends and Foes
1. I think you need to look at Leviathan's table file for that.
2. The moment of AoA is about right in the beginning, when you chase Duke down in N362.
How do you kill a hydra?

You starve it to death.

 
Re: [WIP]: Friends and Foes
Quote
1. I think you need to look at Leviathan's table file for that.

How do I do this and change this table file? It's within the original game files.

 

Offline Mito [PL]

  • 210
  • Proud Member of Slavicus Mechanicus
Re: [WIP]: Friends and Foes
I'm not absolutely sure that it'll be there.
Just take a look at the vanilla .vp archives via something like vpview32. I think it should be in the root.vp (or something like that). When you find the file, unpack it, change what you need (if it's there) and throw the modified table file in <mod>/data/tables., then test it. I think.
How do you kill a hydra?

You starve it to death.

 
Re: [WIP]: Friends and Foes
Quote
I'm not absolutely sure that it'll be there.
Just take a look at the vanilla .vp archives via something like vpview32. I think it should be in the root.vp (or something like that). When you find the file, unpack it, change what you need (if it's there) and throw the modified table file in <mod>/data/tables., then test it. I think.

I tried this, but it doesn't work. I asked the question here, too http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=93021.0

Let's wait, maybe I get an answer... But thx anyway :)

EDIT: And i also found other good models to use, so I won't have the "Myrmidons aren't for Sol-Civs problem" in the future ;) The GTF Apollo is one of them.

EDIT 2: Problem solved :)
« Last Edit: January 14, 2017, 11:55:29 am by bomb3rman »