[Wildfire]

Intro:

I have been using FRED2 for about 3 years now and I have noticed that there is no option for a designer to choose to add a cut-scene before or after the mission.

Benefits:

The benefits of being able to set cut-scenes before or after missions are fairly straightforward.  Having cut-scenes can help to progress the story line as well as add some drama to it.  It may also allow campaign designers to add their own intro for when FS2 is started up itself.
There are probably other benefits, but I can’t really think of any more at the minute.

Options:

For setting when cut-scenes can be run the options can be put into the mission specs screen where the designer sets the mission music etc.
There are four main options that can be set to determine when the cut-scenes can be run.

1 – FS2 Intro…
This is run when FS2 starts.  If no option is set or an invalid cut-scene name etc is entered then the default FS2 intro is run.

2 – Pre Mission…
This is run before the command or standard briefing for the mission starts and can be used to further the plot in between missions or set the scene for a mission.

3 – Post Mission 1…
This is run once the player jumps out of a mission but before the debriefing is displayed.  This can be useful if part of the story evolves once the player has left but the results of which may need to be included in the debriefing (i.e. Alpha 1 jumps out as a Shivan fleet warps into a depot.  The cut-scene shows the Shivan ripping the depot apart, which is then recounted in the debriefing).

4 – Post Mission 2…
This is run after the debriefing and can be used to introduce the next chapter or mission in a campaign.  While there is not much difference with this form of cut-scene option and the Pre mission cut-scene option there is one significant difference.  
The pre mission cut-scene will only be run if that particular mission is next (i.e. in campaigns with branching missions one of several missions may be next) which stops a cut-scene from contradicting what is happening in a missions plot.
IF on the other hand the designer wants the cut-scene to be run regardless of what mission may be coming up the designer only has to set the cut-scene to be run once by the “Post Mission 2 option” rather than 2 or more times in each of the possible up coming missions.


Design:

The options for setting the cut-scenes on the mission specs screen can be set up as check boxes that when checked require the name of the cut-scene to be entered in a text box below or beside it (a set directory for where the animations should go can be coded like the other options already in FRED2).  I don’t know if sounds can be included as part of *.ani files or whether they need separate *.wav files for sounds.  This may also need to be taken into account for the setup.

If the name of the *.ani is not entered or is misspelled then the animation is simply not wrong and the mission progresses as normal, or FRED2 could be set to give an error message when this happens.


Pseudocode…

Here’s an some Pseudocode to try and give an example of what I mean…

If chkIntro = checked Then
   Record entered name of ani file
   Go to hard coded cut-scene directory
   If entered name matches name of ani file Then
      When FS2 runs run “directory”/”name of ani”
   Else
      Run default FS2 intro
   End If
End If

[Darkage]

I am still for making cut-scenes using a 3D rendering program.

[EdrickV]

1. Cutscenes are not anis. In the original exes they are mve files that we can't make. The fs2_open exes intend to have support for DIVX avi files. (I'm not sure how complete that support is right now, but I've heard mention of Windows versions using DirectShow to play avi files.)
2. Pre-mission briefing cutscenes are set in the campaign editor. I'm not entirely sure if it will work because I've never tried it. If it doesn't, it can be fixed.
3. Currently, FS2 doesn't support post-mission cutscenes except for special case situations. (The end of the main FS2 campaign.) That could probably be changed if/when cutscene support is finished. (Or at least when the interface to the cutscene system is finished.) Again, I don't know how things stand on the avi support.
4. Changing the cutscene played at startup is simply a matter of making an overriding intro.mve (or maybe intro.avi) movie and putting it in the right spot. I'm not entirely sure where it would go, but I'm sure someone else knows. (It might just go in the regular game folder with the exe's and VPs.)

[EdrickV]

The pre-mission briefing cutscene box in FRED2 does work, but unless you want to watch one of the cutscenes using the original exe, it may not be very useful right now 'cause I'm not sure any released version of fs2_open has avi file support yet. I made a campaign play FS2's intro movie before the briefing came up just by putting "intro.mve" in the provided box, saving the campaign file, and running that campaign in FS2 using the original exe.

[Wildfire]

Originally posted by EdrickV
The pre-mission briefing cutscene box in FRED2 does work, but unless you want to watch one of the cutscenes using the original exe, it may not be very useful right now 'cause I'm not sure any released version of fs2_open has avi file support yet. I made a campaign play FS2's intro movie before the briefing came up just by putting "intro.mve" in the provided box, saving the campaign file, and running that campaign in FS2 using the original exe.

That's what I mean.  If it can be setup to run ani or avi (or whatever) that'll open new oppertunities for developing story line in campaigns.

[EdrickV]

AVI support's been in the works and on the drawing board for a while. (And eventually platform independent AVI support.) Post-mission cutscene support is one thing that hasn't been considered, nor has single mission cutscenes. (After all, how many non-campaign missions are likely to have videos?)

[Wildfire]

That's it though.  We don't know cos no-one has had the oppertuntity to add some.

I just think it would make thing more flexible for a designer which means a greater variety of mission oppertunities.

One other idea.  Is it possible to create a setting that would mean only one piece of music is played throughout a mission without it changing based on what's happening in the mission.

I tried making an "intro style mission" to my own campaign "ATH" but when the music changes it spoils the effect.



Darkage: Do you know if it is possible to make animations in 3D max?  I recently got the full version and am learning to use it.

[Darkage]

Originally posted by Wildfire



Darkage: Do you know if it is possible to make animations in 3D max?  I recently got the full version and am learning to use it.

Yup..Venom also makes his animations in 3DS Max and so does wEvil.

[EdrickV]

Originally posted by Wildfire
One other idea.  Is it possible to create a setting that would mean only one piece of music is played throughout a mission without it changing based on what's happening in the mission.

I tried making an "intro style mission" to my own campaign "ATH" but when the music changes it spoils the effect.

Editing the music.tbl you could set all the music types to the same file, but it would restart the wave wherever it would normally change the music.

[Solatar]

I wouldn't think this would be that hard to do to the source code. Just a lot of deleting, provided you knew what you were deleting.

[EdrickV]

But deleting the dynamic soundtrack stuff in the source code would get rid of one of FS2's cool features.

[RandomTiger]

Originally posted by EdrickV
But deleting the dynamic soundtrack stuff in the source code would get rid of one of FS2's cool features.

I have my flamethrower and big OPTIONAL stamp ready if needed.
No-ones deleting that code, all we need is a well placed if statement for gods sake!

AVI, MPG, DIVX support is in the DX code.
I believe there are limited options in Fred to play what you want.

[Wildfire]

To set between the 2 different options for music you could have to option buttons.  Once called somthing like "Dynamic Mission Music" and another called "Fixed Mission Music".  One option runs the code that set FS2's dynamic music and the other sets some code that just plays the specified music track.

[Su-tehp]

I don't understand ANY of this technical stuff about avis, source codes and such, BUT I am interested in how a campaign can be made to use new cutscenes. I've already drafted a couple of cutscenes (just words on a doc file for now) for DatDB, but I don't know if they'll ever be a feasibly working part of the campaign. One can hope, however.

I just want to know how this works out, gang. I'll pop in here from time to time to see if any possible progress is made. If any breakthoughs are made, let me know. I and Lonestar will need any help you are willing to offer once new cutscenes for FS campaigns are feasible.

Thanks, guys.

[EdrickV]

Using AVI files (movie files) is a lot easier then actually making them. In the campaign editor, you select a mission in the campaign tree (not the file list in the upper left) and type the name of the AVI file you want to use in the "Briefing Cutscene" box. That movie will play before the selected mission. Simple as that. (Well, you also have to save the campaign file. ) Right now, I don't think the 3.2 release supports AVI files though so we can't use it yet. It will come as a feature of the Direct X 8 release, when it's ready. It should be able to play any AVI file that your computer can play.