[Cobra]

yup.

then you say, "we'll see".

[Cobra]

just tried FSL. what the heck was that? isn't there supposed to be something a little different than "fly for XXXX, yay!" or something? you said there was an appearence from the MD. Where is it?

[Hippo]

Its a subtle reference from DEM...

[Cobra]

Oookay. if i reply any more i'll be reconsidered a n00b. (really though, where is the reference?)

[Goober5000]

I already said there wasn't going to be any combat.  It's just a demonstration of how the campaign would work.  An outline.

The Mission Designer appears in the Award Ceremony mission - the one where you check your score.  As I said, you can check your score by jumping out farther than 500m away from any object.

[Singh]

this is...interesting. Ive studied the campiagn structure, the sexP's are pretty simple from what I can see.....

Would you mind if i put in a little content there and see how the entire thing would cope? You know, like an actual mission or two where ye do stuff

With FSOpen and actual variables, the possibilities are quite enormous for this

[Goober5000]

Sure; the reason I posted it was to inspire people to come up with an actual playable campaign.

[Cobra]

Originally posted by Goober5000
I already said there wasn't going to be any combat.  It's just a demonstration of how the campaign would work.  An outline.

The Mission Designer appears in the Award Ceremony mission - the one where you check your score.  As I said, you can check your score by jumping out farther than 500m away from any object.

*Slaps head* i'm a dope!

[Turnsky]

great idea this.

now, all it needs is to have some mission data, mission choices, etc.

[karajorma]

Originally posted by Goober5000
That dialog (the only one that's finished so far) is for generating filenames for sound files.  It uses the same format that Volition used, except it's a little more customizable.  Put a few letters in each text box and see what the result is.  Then click "Generate Filenames" and check out the messages in the event editor.

I figured that much out. It's fairly easy to figure out what the Briefing stage etc text boxes do. What perplexed me are the campaign and mission boxes. They don't actually correspond to anything I can think of and unlike the other 4 they don't actually make an exaple filename appear when you type into them.

[Turnsky]

i reckon the hardest part would be to create a "living galaxy" as it were.   y'know, ships going about their usual routines, and the like.

[Cobra]

i've always thought about doing that... *goes to make an alive mission*

[karajorma]

Originally posted by Turnsky
i reckon the hardest part would be to create a "living galaxy" as it were.   y'know, ships going about their usual routines, and the like.

True. I think it's possible. PVs make it easier but it probably would have been possible using retail (unless the SEXP node limit got you first).

Maybe something to think about after I've completed work on SoR

[Goober5000]

Originally posted by karajorma
I figured that much out. It's fairly easy to figure out what the Briefing stage etc text boxes do. What perplexed me are the campaign and mission boxes. They don't actually correspond to anything I can think of and unlike the other 4 they don't actually make an exaple filename appear when you type into them.

They do, but you have to have text typed into all the boxes.  They represent the abbreviation for the campaign and the mission.  They're only added to the filename when there is a filename to add to.

[Unknown Target]

You'd have to reduce load times, though. Imagine if these systems were full of living ships? You'd be looking at three or four loads in as many minutes. With each load taking about 2 or 3 minutes on a slow computer (or 5 or 6 on a really slow one), you'd really reduce playing time.

[Jetmech Jr.]

Goober, You are very inventive, This is great stuff. A for implementation.

[Singh]

Originally posted by Turnsky
i reckon the hardest part would be to create a "living galaxy" as it were.   y'know, ships going about their usual routines, and the like.

Actually, it's possible using persistant variables. It depends directly on how many missions you have in the entire 'universe' as it were. If the total number of missions available were 30, you'd need 30 variables for each mission. SexPs are usefull, but they have a tendency to run out. Using variables, you can set the arrival cue of ships as true or false, depending on the value of them.

Say I've completed a mission, then I'd set that mission's variable to 1. After this, when I jump back to Sector A, either a new ship will be there with it's arrival cue set to the variable being 1, or the station will be under attack and it'll be directly connected to the previous mission (and the value of the variable) and occur after its done, allowing for a continuing storyline, sub-storylines and so much more.

But then, as mentioned before, there is the immense loading problems....

[karajorma]

Make the missions in each sector long enough and the loading problems go away somewhat.

[Flaser]

What would make this even more potent would be a spawn-sexp, instead setting the arrival cue for a ship already placed in a mission you could place ships into the mission - ergo spawn them - with the sexp itself.

BTW - IMHO some sort of "don't reload stuff" into the memory optimization would be a godsend for this type of campaign.

Finally - Goober you stole my idea! (Nah...just kidding) The very fact you though out how to implement it with the already availible resources could result in a plethora of new "dynamic" (...sorta) campaigns excelent work.

[Goober5000]

And as I mentioned before, taylor's new 3.6.5 code makes those problems obsolete. Stuff is cached between missions, so you don't unload anything you need to use again.