Just finished playing Derelict yesterday (great campaign). The Merkar demo was my first released campaign, so I didn't really know what I was doing and didn't realize how easy it was to go into Ships.tbl and create a new entry for the Erinyes. I hardly even noticed that the target display read GTF Erinyes, and I didn't think anyone would care. But you're right, I should have just gone in and edited it.
Spectators 4 isn't on the directives list because my original intent was for the player to fly around, enjoy the scenery, and eventually find Spectators 4. But you're right, there isn't a whole lot interesting to see, and in retrospect I should've just added it as an escort. But as for the Invincible, I didn't think the player would have trouble seeing that Demon destroyer that just warped in. Maybe I should've added it as escort, too.
The whole directives text deal is there because I wanted the player to think on his feet more. Read the Readme with the campaign, it explains a lot of this stuff. I hate how in most missions Command is having a one-on-one dialogue with Alpha 1 throughout the battle. I understand that most gamers are detail-oriented people who want to know EXACTLY what they're supposed to do and get it done. But the player's task in "Fireworks" is to evaluate the situation and come up with a plan without Command babying him through every step of the way. It's a surprise attack, and Command isn't there to tell you what to do. Unfortunately, the combat part of the mission is poorly designed, and it instead is an easy C-3-9-and-kill-everyone type of mission. I guess the first mission of a campaign is supposed to be easy, anyway.
Same thing with the "unknown ship". I was really surprised that you just sat there and watched the thing plow into the Giori. This idea seems alien to FS players, or gamers in general, but evaluate the situation on your own. Don't wait for directive text. I put this in the readme, but as far as I can tell noone read it. How do you get people to notice this?
The whole jumpout thing is to maintain compatibility with FS Retail (Retail doesn't have an end-mission sexp), as mentioned in the Readme.
The important thing to me, at least, is whether the missions were fun or not. Fireworks (mission 1) and Defending the Faith (mission 3) are probably bad examples of the campaign concept, which is to make the player think on his feet and come up with a plan, but Highest Bidder and Holdout are better examples. Were you challenged or just confused and humiliated?
