Hard Light Productions Forums
Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The FRED Workshop => Topic started by: soilder198 on March 18, 2018, 06:26:02 pm
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Hi all. I haven't fredded in years, but then it happened again, and so I am stuck in the cycle. I'm only asking questions that I couldn't find answers to in the FRED2 guide.
1. How do I have a directive appear when the relevant enemies also appear, instead of appearing immediately at the mission start?
2. Is there a shorter version of vasudantalk.wav?
3. Is there a way to change the names of individuals ships in a wing?
Thank you.
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Hi all. I haven't fredded in years, but then it happened again, and so I am stuck in the cycle. I'm only asking questions that I couldn't find answers to in the FRED2 guide.
1. How do I have a directive appear when the relevant enemies also appear, instead of appearing immediately at the mission start?
2. Is there a shorter version of vasudantalk.wav?
3. Is there a way to change the names of individuals ships in a wing?
Thank you.
Hi!
1. Have the directive chained to an event. So if you want the directive to show up when a wing arrives then make an event with that condition, and chain your directive event to it.
2. Not sure...Do you mean shorter filename or shorter length of audio?
3. Not that I know of. You can give them unique call-signs though, and those stil show up when the ship is targeted. What's your goal with having individual ship names in a wing?
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Hi all. I haven't fredded in years, but then it happened again, and so I am stuck in the cycle. I'm only asking questions that I couldn't find answers to in the FRED2 guide.
1. How do I have a directive appear when the relevant enemies also appear, instead of appearing immediately at the mission start?
2. Is there a shorter version of vasudantalk.wav?
3. Is there a way to change the names of individuals ships in a wing?
Thank you.
Hi!
1. Have the directive chained to an event. So if you want the directive to show up when a wing arrives then make an event with that condition, and chain your directive event to it.
2. Not sure...Do you mean shorter filename or shorter length of audio?
3. Not that I know of. You can give them unique call-signs though, and those stil show up when the ship is targeted. What's your goal with having individual ship names in a wing?
1. Thank you.
2. Length of audio, to use during missions.
3. I'm having a convoy warp in during a mission that was recently engaged. I want to make their escort wing, Iota, seem like they lost fighters by numbering them out of sequence, such Iota 1, Iota 3, Iota 4.
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Hi all. I haven't fredded in years, but then it happened again, and so I am stuck in the cycle. I'm only asking questions that I couldn't find answers to in the FRED2 guide.
1. How do I have a directive appear when the relevant enemies also appear, instead of appearing immediately at the mission start?
2. Is there a shorter version of vasudantalk.wav?
3. Is there a way to change the names of individuals ships in a wing?
Thank you.
Hi!
1. Have the directive chained to an event. So if you want the directive to show up when a wing arrives then make an event with that condition, and chain your directive event to it.
2. Not sure...Do you mean shorter filename or shorter length of audio?
3. Not that I know of. You can give them unique call-signs though, and those stil show up when the ship is targeted. What's your goal with having individual ship names in a wing?
1. Thank you.
2. Length of audio, to use during missions.
3. I'm having a convoy warp in during a mission that was recently engaged. I want to make their escort wing, Iota, seem like they lost fighters by numbering them out of sequence, such Iota 1, Iota 3, Iota 4.
2. Hmmm... You could always trim the file yourself and save it with a new name, but I am assuming you want to keep compatible with the base game.
3. Ah gothca. The only way I can think to do that is have Iota start with 8 ships and kill some with sexps before the player shows up.
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Hi all. I haven't fredded in years, but then it happened again, and so I am stuck in the cycle. I'm only asking questions that I couldn't find answers to in the FRED2 guide.
1. How do I have a directive appear when the relevant enemies also appear, instead of appearing immediately at the mission start?
2. Is there a shorter version of vasudantalk.wav?
3. Is there a way to change the names of individuals ships in a wing?
Thank you.
Hi!
1. Have the directive chained to an event. So if you want the directive to show up when a wing arrives then make an event with that condition, and chain your directive event to it.
2. Not sure...Do you mean shorter filename or shorter length of audio?
3. Not that I know of. You can give them unique call-signs though, and those stil show up when the ship is targeted. What's your goal with having individual ship names in a wing?
1. Thank you.
2. Length of audio, to use during missions.
3. I'm having a convoy warp in during a mission that was recently engaged. I want to make their escort wing, Iota, seem like they lost fighters by numbering them out of sequence, such Iota 1, Iota 3, Iota 4.
2. Hmmm... You could always trim the file yourself and save it with a new name, but I am assuming you want to keep compatible with the base game.
3. Ah gothca. The only way I can think to do that is have Iota start with 8 ships and kill some with sexps before the player shows up.
2. Forgot I have music editing tools on my computer.
3. I'll experiment with this I guess.
Thank you!
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Happy to help! FYI FRED will show you an error message about a wing if it has more then four members, but this message can be safely ignored. The game will run just fine :) Let me know how it works out!
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You can name the ships individualy to make it look like they're a normal wing. Fred won't bite you if you name them Iota 1, 2 and 4 as long as you don't name a wing Iota using the toolbar
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Happy to help! FYI FRED will show you an error message about a wing if it has more then four members, but this message can be safely ignored. The game will run just fine :) Let me know how it works out!
Mind if I ask you a few more questions :D?
How do I have an event occur when a ship reaches a certain health percentage? Right now I am using the hits-left sexp, and I want to send a message once the specified ship reaches 15% hull integrity, but it doesn't seem to be working out.
Also, how do I make my mission objectives fail? For example, I want my mission to be considered a failure if a certain ship dies. When this ship dies, I want the Primary Objective Failed message to appear on screen.
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Happy to help! FYI FRED will show you an error message about a wing if it has more then four members, but this message can be safely ignored. The game will run just fine :) Let me know how it works out!
Mind if I ask you a few more questions :D?
How do I have an event occur when a ship reaches a certain health percentage? Right now I am using the hits-left sexp, and I want to send a message once the specified ship reaches 15% hull integrity, but it doesn't seem to be working out.
Also, how do I make my mission objectives fail? For example, I want my mission to be considered a failure if a certain ship dies. When this ship dies, I want the Primary Objective Failed message to appear on screen.
Sure :)
I think using a logical operator like less then and the ship's hit-points should work. See the attachment.
So are you using the mission objectives editor? If so you can try the second image. The second part of the and statement needs to be false until you want the objective to stop checking.
Let me know if these don't make sense, I can try and clarify things and the structure :)
[attachment stolen by Russian hackers]
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Happy to help! FYI FRED will show you an error message about a wing if it has more then four members, but this message can be safely ignored. The game will run just fine :) Let me know how it works out!
Mind if I ask you a few more questions :D?
How do I have an event occur when a ship reaches a certain health percentage? Right now I am using the hits-left sexp, and I want to send a message once the specified ship reaches 15% hull integrity, but it doesn't seem to be working out.
Also, how do I make my mission objectives fail? For example, I want my mission to be considered a failure if a certain ship dies. When this ship dies, I want the Primary Objective Failed message to appear on screen.
Sure :)
I think using a logical operator like less then and the ship's hit-points should work. See the attachment.
So are you using the mission objectives editor? If so you can try the second image. The second part of the and statement needs to be false until you want the objective to stop checking.
Let me know if these don't make sense, I can try and clarify things and the structure :)
Mine comes up with two numbers, and I couldn't figure out how to insert Alpha 1. Edit: And I know that it is currently set to do-nothing, I was toying around trying to get mine like yours.
[attachment stolen by Russian hackers]
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Ah, so right click on one of the numbers, then hover over 'replace operator' then hover over 'status' then hover over 'damage' and then click 'hits-left' :)
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Ah, so right click on one of the numbers, then hover over 'replace operator' then hover over 'status' then hover over 'damage' and then click 'hits-left' :)
Both the solutions worked. Thank you so much!
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Ah, so right click on one of the numbers, then hover over 'replace operator' then hover over 'status' then hover over 'damage' and then click 'hits-left' :)
Both the solutions worked. Thank you so much!
Happy to help! Once you get back into things it starts all falling back in place :)
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Happy to help! FYI FRED will show you an error message about a wing if it has more then four members, but this message can be safely ignored. The game will run just fine :) Let me know how it works out!
It will only do that if the wing is one of the starting wings since the interface can only handle loadout for 4 ships IIRC. Other wings should be just fine with six ships.
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Happy to help! FYI FRED will show you an error message about a wing if it has more then four members, but this message can be safely ignored. The game will run just fine :) Let me know how it works out!
It will only do that if the wing is one of the starting wings since the interface can only handle loadout for 4 ships IIRC. Other wings should be just fine with six ships.
Oh you're right, I forgot about that. Also, soilder198, as you will find out from FRED any wing can only have a max of six ships. Not sure if I made that super clear earlier.
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Happy to help! FYI FRED will show you an error message about a wing if it has more then four members, but this message can be safely ignored. The game will run just fine :) Let me know how it works out!
It will only do that if the wing is one of the starting wings since the interface can only handle loadout for 4 ships IIRC. Other wings should be just fine with six ships.
Oh you're right, I forgot about that. Also, soilder198, as you will find out from FRED any wing can only have a max of six ships. Not sure if I made that super clear earlier.
Hey my friend, how do I make it so a wing cannot be customized in the briefing menu? I want to deploy Alpha wing to Assist Beta and Gamma, but I do not want those two wings to show up in the armory.
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Happy to help! FYI FRED will show you an error message about a wing if it has more then four members, but this message can be safely ignored. The game will run just fine :) Let me know how it works out!
It will only do that if the wing is one of the starting wings since the interface can only handle loadout for 4 ships IIRC. Other wings should be just fine with six ships.
Oh you're right, I forgot about that. Also, soilder198, as you will find out from FRED any wing can only have a max of six ships. Not sure if I made that super clear earlier.
Hey my friend, how do I make it so a wing cannot be customized in the briefing menu? I want to deploy Alpha wing to Assist Beta and Gamma, but I do not want those two wings to show up in the armory.
If you open up the 'mission specs' editor and then click on custom wing names you will see the names of wings that will be shown in the load out. If you don't want Alpha to show up just rename the Alpha slot to something else. Also, do you want Alpha to be a reserve unit the player can call in?
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By default Alpha, Beta and Gamma show up on the loadout screen while those three and Delta and Epsilon show up on the HUD. So if you want Beta and Gamma to be in the game but not on the loadout screen go to the Mission Specs editor as wookieejedi said and swap Beta and Gamma with Delta and Epsilon.
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Thanks. Is there a way to make it so a wing cannot receive orders from the player?
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3. Is there a way to change the names of individuals ships in a wing?
Another idea for that is the Use of the "Destroy before mission" check. FRED2 does not support it by default for ships that are parts of wings, but it is supported if that entry is added manually in the mission file:
One example:
$Name: Amenemhat 3 ;! Object #16
$Class: PVF Seth
$Team: Friendly
$Location: -31173.031250, -7500.000000, 5382.563965
$Orientation:
-0.855978, 0.000000, -0.517013,
0.083814, 0.986773, -0.138764,
0.510174, -0.162111, -0.844655
$AI Behavior: None
$Cargo 1: XSTR("Nothing", -1)
+Initial Velocity: 33
+Initial Hull: 0
+Initial Shields: 100
+Subsystem: Pilot
+Primary Banks: ( "VLL-9 Laser" "VLL-9 Laser" )
+Secondary Banks: ( "MX-50" "Fang" )
$Arrival Location: Hyperspace
+Arrival Delay: 1
$Arrival Cue: ( false )
$Departure Location: Hyperspace
$Departure Cue: ( false )
$Determination: 10
+Flags: ( "cargo-known" "no-shields" )
+Flags2: ( )
+Respawn priority: 0
+Destroy At: 1
+Orders Accepted: 0 ;! note that this is a bitfield!!!
+Group: 0
+Use Table Score:
+Score: 12
The "+Destroy At: 1" actually triggers the "Destroy before mission" entry for that ship... and so will never show up when the wing jumps in.
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Thanks. Is there a way to make it so a wing cannot receive orders from the player?
You have to set orders for each ship, so if you want to do it for a whole wing then select all ships in the wing, then right click, hit edit marked ships, and then click 'player orders' and uncheck the boxes you do not want. :)
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Thanks. Is there a way to make it so a wing cannot receive orders from the player?
You have to set orders for each ship, so if you want to do it for a whole wing then select all ships in the wing, then right click, hit edit marked ships, and then click 'player orders' and uncheck the boxes you do not want. :)
Hey wookieman, I'm making a mission where Alpha wing is in the Nebula and I want them to investigate a disturbance on their radar. When they are within three kilometers on the disturbance, they will be able to target the disturbance and see that it is a wing of dragons. When they reach 2000 units from the dragons, I want the dragons to warp.
Now I could accomplish this using time oriented sexps, but if the player character jumps ahead of his unit, he could possibly engage them before the sexp activates. Is there a sexp that sets an AI goal upon certain units reaching a distance threshold to them? Edit: Nevermind, found a way.
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Thanks. Is there a way to make it so a wing cannot receive orders from the player?
You have to set orders for each ship, so if you want to do it for a whole wing then select all ships in the wing, then right click, hit edit marked ships, and then click 'player orders' and uncheck the boxes you do not want. :)
Hey wookieman, I'm making a mission where Alpha wing is in the Nebula and I want them to investigate a disturbance on their radar. When they are within three kilometers on the disturbance, they will be able to target the disturbance and see that it is a wing of dragons. When they reach 2000 units from the dragons, I want the dragons to warp.
Now I could accomplish this using time oriented sexps, but if the player character jumps ahead of his unit, he could possibly engage them before the sexp activates. Is there a sexp that sets an AI goal upon certain units reaching a distance threshold to them? Edit: Nevermind, found a way.
Glad to hear you got if figured out!
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Thanks. Is there a way to make it so a wing cannot receive orders from the player?
You have to set orders for each ship, so if you want to do it for a whole wing then select all ships in the wing, then right click, hit edit marked ships, and then click 'player orders' and uncheck the boxes you do not want. :)
Hey wookieman, I'm making a mission where Alpha wing is in the Nebula and I want them to investigate a disturbance on their radar. When they are within three kilometers on the disturbance, they will be able to target the disturbance and see that it is a wing of dragons. When they reach 2000 units from the dragons, I want the dragons to warp.
Now I could accomplish this using time oriented sexps, but if the player character jumps ahead of his unit, he could possibly engage them before the sexp activates. Is there a sexp that sets an AI goal upon certain units reaching a distance threshold to them? Edit: Nevermind, found a way.
Glad to hear you got if figured out!
Hey Wookie, quick question for you. In this nebula mission, several wings of dragons attack the convoy throughout the mission. Now, this works well enough, and most wings get destroyed, but occasionally one or two dragons manage to wander very far from the convoy while engaged with an allied ship
I've attached the following screenshot to show you how I'm trying to combat this. All the wings listed in the SEXP have orders to attack any ship upon arrival, but this changes their goal to attack only the Semtu when they reach too far a distance from it. I'm hoping this will cause the dragons to go back to the convoy if they stray too far. Is this a good way to achieve this goal? Should I do something else?
[attachment stolen by Russian hackers]
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If you don't want the Dragons to be distracted by the first shiny thing that comes in their path, try giving them the No Dynamics Goals flag. Either through Edit ship window -> Misc or by the Change -> Ship Status -> alter-ship-flag sexp
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If you don't want the Dragons to be distracted by the first shiny thing that comes in their path, try giving them the No Dynamics Goals flag. Either through Edit ship window -> Misc or by the Change -> Ship Status -> alter-ship-flag sexp
What does that do, No Dynamics?
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When you order the a.i. to attack something, they'll try and do so to the best of their ability, but if they're being attacked by something, they'll receive a 'dynamic goal' to take evasive action and to start defending themselves. If you disable them receiving dynamic goals, they won't just try and attack to the best of their ability, it will be literally the only thing on their mind.
In your case, if the dragons are straying too far from the convoy because they're engaged with an allied wingman, when you change their order from attack-any to attack, its possible they'll try to disengage from the fight, and focus on the convoy ship. But if the wingman then gets on their six and starts shooting them, they'll probably try and defend themselves again. If they have the no dynamic goals flag in this case, they'll just make a beeline for the new target and ignore the wingman on their behind.
Of course, that risks them becoming easy picking as they disengage from the wingman they were fighting before.
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When you order the a.i. to attack something, they'll try and do so to the best of their ability, but if they're being attacked by something, they'll receive a 'dynamic goal' to take evasive action and to start defending themselves. If you disable them receiving dynamic goals, they won't just try and attack to the best of their ability, it will be literally the only thing on their mind.
In your case, if the dragons are straying too far from the convoy because they're engaged with an allied wingman, when you change their order from attack-any to attack, its possible they'll try to disengage from the fight, and focus on the convoy ship. But if the wingman then gets on their six and starts shooting them, they'll probably try and defend themselves again. If they have the no dynamic goals flag in this case, they'll just make a beeline for the new target and ignore the wingman on their behind.
Of course, that risks them becoming easy picking as they disengage from the wingman they were fighting before.
Hmm, that's worth considering.
I don't want to not have dragons in the mission, but it's starting to seem like, them being naturally evasive and all, it is inevitable that they will wander.
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I've not tried this but I'd suggest this instead. Have the default goals for the dragons be these,
stay-near Semtu 120
attack (all the allied fighter wing names) 40
attack Semtu 10
That should result in them staying near but still responding to attacks rather than acting like mindless zombies who ignore attacks on them. It may or may not be improved by use of no dynamic goals. But I've never tried doing this so I can't say what the actual result would be.
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stay-near Semtu 120
attack (all the allied fighter wing names) 40
attack Semtu 10
AI only process one goal at a time; they'll just be stuck "staying near" until/unless the Semtu is destroyed (or they get attacked and follow dynamic goals).
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Yeah, I was wondering if the game would decide that stay-near required no action so they'd go on to the next one that did. Oh well.