Hard Light Productions Forums

Hosted Projects - Standalone => The Babylon Project => Topic started by: Slasher on December 23, 2009, 01:04:45 am

Title: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on December 23, 2009, 01:04:45 am
UPDATED: November 3rd, 2010

Fixed a bunch of stuff, redid some textures, and added achievements.  The new version can be downloaded from the link directly below.  Provided there are not any show stopping errors, I'll consider this one the new "final" in a few days.    

TBP Relic 1.0a (24.34MB): Mediafire (http://www.mediafire.com/?alw85aba9m3bbbz)

Requirements:

The Babylon Project 3.4b core (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=51780.0) (791 MB)
Zathras 2.0 (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=71789.0) (119.23 MB)
FS2Open 3.6.12 executables (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=70692.0)

(http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/2466/screen0047.th.jpg) (http://img25.imageshack.us/i/screen0047.jpg/)

(http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/3391/screen0062.th.jpg) (http://img832.imageshack.us/i/screen0062.jpg/)

(http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/6232/screen0098.th.jpg) (http://img87.imageshack.us/i/screen0098.jpg/)

(http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/2816/screen0070.th.jpg) (http://img401.imageshack.us/i/screen0070.jpg/)

(http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/3547/screen0079.th.jpg) (http://img821.imageshack.us/i/screen0079.jpg/)

Links to old version - December 23rd, 2009 (23.39 MB):

MediaFire download link (http://www.mediafire.com/?dnmmw0jairj)
BDHR download link (http://fubar.org/TBP/Slasher/TBP_Relic_1_0.zip)
ModDB (http://www.moddb.com/downloads/the-babylon-project-relic)
Rapidshare (http://rapidshare.com/files/324755887/TBP_Relic_1_0.zip)
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: FUBAR-BDHR on December 23, 2009, 02:23:23 am
Added one for ya.  You can also upload it to ModDB.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on December 23, 2009, 02:34:49 am
Thanks FUBAR, uploaded to ModDB and currently awaiting authorization.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Niroborn on December 23, 2009, 03:03:06 am
Here's RS link: http://rapidshare.com/files/324755887/TBP_Relic_1_0.zip
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on December 23, 2009, 03:23:04 pm
Thanks Niroborn.  First post updated with ModDB and Rapidshare links.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: FUBAR-BDHR on December 23, 2009, 03:30:14 pm
Could you send me that video as well.  More content for DVD 2 if we ever get to it.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on December 23, 2009, 03:34:31 pm
Yeah, I'll upload a recording of it to MedaiFire as soon as I get the chance.  I don't have a better quality version of the video on YouTube anymore but rerecording it is no issue.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Vidmaster on December 26, 2009, 01:36:51 pm
Added to Campaign Download List and to ModDB  :)
Content! WE HAVE CONTENT AND IT'S NOT MADE BY ME, I REJOICE!!!!!

Plus, the campaign is AWESOME. I hope you will continue fredding for TBP and create more cool stuff for us to play. :yes:
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Ker.Soth on December 26, 2009, 03:25:04 pm
i've only played the first two mission atm, i keep replaying the second a lot :) but i cant make the code work for the thunderbolts QQ. Other than that it looks awesome.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Vidmaster on December 29, 2009, 03:11:44 pm
Highlighted, promoted on ModDB, finished.

I love cool content to play through  :)  :yes:
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Thaeris on December 29, 2009, 10:37:01 pm
Hopefully this and many of the other new TBP campaigns will be in DVD release 2.0!  :yes:
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: starlord on December 30, 2009, 03:50:23 am
Great job! that was the mysterious TBP video on youtube I saw...
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Vidmaster on December 30, 2009, 04:12:02 am
Quote from: Thaeris on December 29, 2009, 10:37:01 pm
Hopefully this and many of the other new TBP campaigns will be in DVD release 2.0!  :yes:

this? bet on it. Many other new...  :confused:   not sure.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Ker.Soth on January 01, 2010, 07:51:27 am
Happy new year folks.

Lets get this thread back to track. After trying a lot i still can't unlock the pod containing the tbolts in mission 2. Anybody else has a problem with that? I expected the pod to at least explode or give me some notice when i put in a wrong code, but nothing happens.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on January 03, 2010, 10:59:05 pm
Happy new year everyone!  Thanks for the highlight, Vidmaster!

Quote from: FUBAR-BDHR on December 23, 2009, 03:30:14 pm
Could you send me that video as well.  More content for DVD 2 if we ever get to it.

FUBAR, here's a mediafire link to an 800x600 (199 MB) capture (http://www.mediafire.com/?zymnzija2ym) of the intro.  I tried to record in a higher res but my computer stuttered it up like nothing else.  Also the gamma is a tad bit bright but I'm not sure how to adjust for it.

Quote from: Ker.Soth on January 01, 2010, 07:51:27 am
Happy new year folks.

Lets get this thread back to track. After trying a lot i still can't unlock the pod containing the tbolts in mission 2. Anybody else has a problem with that? I expected the pod to at least explode or give me some notice when i put in a wrong code, but nothing happens.

Have you tried using the Enter key on your keypad, over by the Page Up/Down keys, as opposed to the one on the main part of the keyboard?  FS2 does not seem to register the regular Enter key for this kind of event, but if you use the one on your keypad it should work.  
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: FUBAR-BDHR on January 03, 2010, 11:43:41 pm
Downloading it now. 
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Colonol Dekker on January 04, 2010, 01:39:46 am
Same here. Need to dust off TBP and install Zathuras thingy.
 
 
This is my second VA appearance people. . . Give the author feedback.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Ker.Soth on January 04, 2010, 02:18:22 am
Hm, i'm playing in my laptop so no keypad enter  :( i'll have to plug in my other keyboard for the tbolts :)

I finished playing the campaign so here's my feedback:

All the missions were really fun, missions 1 and 2 were really innovating although i must say mission 1 is not really my style.

Misison 2: I could play mission 2 all the time, i'm pretty sure i can figure out a pattern to get everything done in time :) It's exciting, gives you the feeling you are really there, and it also reminds me a lot of the general feeling i had while playing the Raider Wars. I didn't notice any problems with any of the secondary objectives apart from they keypad thing about the tbolts, and they all seem to fit quite nicely to their respective race. One thing i havent excactly figured out yet is what triggers the Narn smuggler to send you the apprentice.

Mission 3: Fun as well. One thing i noticed is that hitting "J" would not replay any logs for me.

Mission 4: Excellent ending to the campaign, lots of ships and a bit battle without turning it into a furball.
I havent checked the fred yet but is alpha wing guardianed? I kinda abused it a bit and they just wouldn't die.

In general the cinematics were an awesome way to start each mission, and the campaign left me with the curiosity of what happens to the Xerxes until the end of the civil war. I hope we'll be seeing more from it.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on January 04, 2010, 03:32:09 am
Thanks for playing and the feedback Ker.Soth.  Sorry to hear about the keypresses not working.  On Mission 3 the log entries from the derelict fighters have no voice over, just text.  Were you able to read the text or did it not do anything for you after scanning?  After they are read the first time the only way to look over them again is by pressing F4 and looking them up on the message log. 

And props to Colonol Dekker for his awesome work.  For anyone wondering, he did the voice of the CO of the Knossos from the intro and Alpha 3 aka "Overseer" from Mission 4.  Not to mention the very authentic sounding Centauri on Mission 2 that gives you the goal of blowing up the Vilafar.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Ker.Soth on January 04, 2010, 03:38:47 am
No i couldn't see a thing. I'll have to play it again though, it's the only mission i managed to finish with the first try, and i was very curious about the next one which i spammed about 5 times :) (I like blowing up stuff).
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Colonol Dekker on January 04, 2010, 06:13:58 pm
You're welcome Slasher. I really like the X3 feel I get from mission 2. Well executed. . . .
 
Except I can't seem to trigger me. I don't say a thing.
Spoiler:
Hadrius right?

I admit I even took a peek in Fred albeit briefly. I have to scan somethings without getting the escorts hostile right? I get a slight telling off then the escorts follow me instead. . . . Did I cock up?
 
 
Additional edit-
 
I managed to finish it. I didn't get time to read all the fighter logs. But I did enjoy the final mission. The 'press 2' mission ;)
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on January 04, 2010, 11:14:50 pm
I was going to hide the outtakes as an easter egg somewhere in the campaign but eventually decided they fit best in the credits. :D

As for getting the Centauri official (you) on the Hadrius to make contact with the player:

1.) Scan any of the Centauri cargo pods.
2.) Get away before the patrols are asked to "escort" you away, or
3.) Without shooting at the Centauri fighters yourself, lure them over to the Narn (Ja'tan wing) on the other side of the station to get them off your back.

If shuttle Hadrius hasn't launched at that point, it will soon.  Provided you haven't spilled any Centauri blood yourself and you aren't actively engaged in hostilities with one of the factions at the station (the Narn, security, somebody else...), the guy on the Hadrius will contact you.

I forgot Ker.Soth asked if Alpha is guardianed in the last mission.  Alpha is actually protected or made invulnerable at some point in every mission except the third.  Good catch!
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Ker.Soth on January 05, 2010, 03:11:51 am
One thing i really love is figuring out new ways to criple capships :) one of my solutions to the fourth mission was

Spoiler:
  Load up alpha 2-3-4 with 60mm guns and send them off to take out Fates and Insmouth's front weapons early on, while i was safely behind in the badger equiped with dual 40mm pulse that can blow up the other badgers and the dropships in a blink of an eye. A badger with double 40mm is LETHAL and the firing arc is just ridiculous :) It's also enough to take out the Midwinter's guns relatively easy so i didnt have to call them back and forth. I'm still itchy to test out them taking out the engines

That's when i noticed Alpha's survivability was somewhat...suspicious :P. Nah, they're just awesome pilots.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: IPAndrews on February 05, 2010, 04:33:38 pm
I saw this on youtube it looked nice. Never did get around to putting beefier guns on the Valkyrie. Originally it was supposed to have a mini gun. Beautiful ship I modeled it from photos of the B5 Wars table top strategy game models. Reminds me of the ALIENS drop ship.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: darkmaster on February 08, 2010, 07:53:48 pm
Hi, do I need to activate Zathras to play this campaign ?
And does it require INF build ?
Thanks
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: FUBAR-BDHR on February 08, 2010, 08:50:05 pm
Yes and yes.  Inferno build is included in Zathras. 
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Nehemiah on May 29, 2010, 05:32:11 pm
I had a problem with jumping out at the end of mission 2.  I completed all the objectives, but alt-j would not allow me to warpout even after shuttle Routine had jumped out.  What's going on with this?
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Nehemiah on June 01, 2010, 08:33:06 pm
Quote from: Nehemiah on May 29, 2010, 05:32:11 pm
I had a problem with jumping out at the end of mission 2.  I completed all the objectives, but alt-j would not allow me to warpout even after shuttle Routine had jumped out.  What's going on with this?

I figured it out when I went into the mission file that you have to be close to the shuttle in order to be able to jump out at the end of it.

All in all, a great mini campaign with an amazing four missions entirely unlike any I've played to date.  Great story, great characters, great originality.  This mod epitomizes how FSOpen ought to be used.  Good work, 10/10.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: IPAndrews on June 14, 2010, 02:50:08 pm
I saw this on youtube. Good production values.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on November 03, 2010, 03:56:28 pm
New version uploaded for testing purposes.  See the first post of the thread for details.  If there aren't any complaints I'll consider this one the official new version this weekend and post a list of the achievements.  Will be nice to be done with this so I can return attention to the other campaign and its assets.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Colonol Dekker on November 03, 2010, 04:27:04 pm
Are the voice files compatible?
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on November 04, 2010, 04:37:33 pm
Yeah, all the original voice overs are still there.  Nothing changed along those lines. 
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: PSI-KILLER on November 07, 2010, 10:05:43 am
The link not working for TBP Relic 1.0a BETA or is it me?
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on November 07, 2010, 12:21:45 pm
No, I must have messed the link up.  Fixed now.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Skullar on November 09, 2010, 02:29:54 am
Hello folks ! Did a MAJOR examn yesterday and I am back once again :) Will take a look myself :)
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on November 09, 2010, 02:35:50 am
We were starting to worry you ran for the Rim like the other First Ones. :p

I guess I should post the achievements now:

Spoiler:
(http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/2797/achievementversatile.jpg) (http://img8.imageshack.us/i/achievementversatile.jpg/)
(http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/3049/achievementsuiciderun.jpg) (http://img530.imageshack.us/i/achievementsuiciderun.jpg/)
(http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/2112/achievementcuriousity.jpg) (http://img200.imageshack.us/i/achievementcuriousity.jpg/)
(http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/2289/achievementawesometrigg.jpg) (http://img801.imageshack.us/i/achievementawesometrigg.jpg/)
(http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/553/achievementifoughtthela.jpg) (http://img811.imageshack.us/i/achievementifoughtthela.jpg/)
(http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/866/achievementmagic8.jpg) (http://img535.imageshack.us/i/achievementmagic8.jpg/)
(http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/388/achievementsupernova.jpg) (http://img526.imageshack.us/i/achievementsupernova.jpg/)
(http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/6606/tdoanything.jpg) (http://img819.imageshack.us/i/tdoanything.jpg/)
(http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/6056/achievementcrimsondown.jpg) (http://img266.imageshack.us/i/achievementcrimsondown.jpg/)
(http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/2522/achievementantimediator.jpg) (http://img688.imageshack.us/i/achievementantimediator.jpg/)
(http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/1355/achievementrecordkeeper.jpg) (http://img36.imageshack.us/i/achievementrecordkeeper.jpg/)
(http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/3853/achievementmorbid.jpg) (http://img521.imageshack.us/i/achievementmorbid.jpg/)
(http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/8199/achievementshadowsplatt.jpg) (http://img263.imageshack.us/i/achievementshadowsplatt.jpg/)
(http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3620/achievementaztecaward.jpg) (http://img10.imageshack.us/i/achievementaztecaward.jpg/)
(http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/1603/achievementmodelwingmat.jpg) (http://img266.imageshack.us/i/achievementmodelwingmat.jpg/)
(http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/4100/achievementannoyingquin.jpg) (http://img547.imageshack.us/i/achievementannoyingquin.jpg/)
(http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/711/achievementbadgerbaitin.jpg) (http://img594.imageshack.us/i/achievementbadgerbaitin.jpg/)
(http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/5663/achievementavatar.jpg) (http://img59.imageshack.us/i/achievementavatar.jpg/)
(http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/614/achievementbestinclass.jpg) (http://img688.imageshack.us/i/achievementbestinclass.jpg/)


[/quote]
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: wesp5 on November 09, 2010, 02:59:17 am
Okay, although I'm a newbie to TBP and to space combat simulators in the first place I played two thirds of all campaigns out there on easy without many problems, and I still can't finish the first one of Relic without cheating. Either I'm missing out of something about missile use or otherwise this mission is too hard on easy!

Also I noticed that while the first destroyed transport triggered a number countdown, the other ones didn't do this, so I was wondering whether I was destroying the right ships when suddenly the objective was met. After that I didn't know what to do so I just jumped out near Xerxes. You should add another objective for this...

I couldn't finish the second mission yesterday because I was interrupted, but again right from the start I didn't know what to do because the objective was unclear. In all the missions I've played waypoints were either those big green visible objects or invisible green symbols in the target window. With this mission I got neither and only after scanning some pods discovered what was intended to happen. You should change the objective to something like "Scan any interesting cargo" or something instead of pointing to not existing waypoints.

Last not least I think I know why people have problems with your keys. You mention the key names for functions that you use but other people have other configs. E.g. pressing SPACE doesn't skip the cutscenes on my system, but using SECONDADY FIRE IIRC does. The same goes for the waypoint objecyive "Press alt-j". This does nothing for me, I have rebound targeting to something else. If that's what this is supposed to be.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on November 09, 2010, 03:12:59 am
Here's a hint for the first two missions: a more nuanced approach is probably warranted.  Blasting everything in sight without thinking about what you're actually shooting at, or what's inside what you're shooting at, is a quick way to ramp up the difficulty for yourself. :)  

Also, the directives on the left side of the screen tell you what keys you need to press to bring up waypoints on the HUD, though this will differ if you changed the binding.

Fear not, the last two missions are much more in line with traditional FreeSpace gameplay.  Scanning stuff before you blow it up is a good way to avoid frustration in the first two missions, but if blasting things left and right is more your thing you'll definitely be more at home in the second half of the campaign. :)
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: wesp5 on November 09, 2010, 03:37:19 am
Quote from: Slasher on November 09, 2010, 03:12:59 am
Here's a hint for the first two missions: a more nuanced approach is probably warranted.

I followed the orders until Merilyne had docked, afterwards I tried to get rid of the escort as suggested but failed. If I really need to take them out using the tankers, I must try that again. But what about the number of to-be-destroyed ships not being lowered? Shouldn't this happen for each of the tankers too? If other ships are marked, why did the objective fullfill itself suddenly? What about a "Get near Xerxes and jump" objective?

Quote
Also, the directives on the left side of the screen tell you what keys you need to press to bring up waypoints on the HUD, though this will differ if you changed the binding.

That's what I meant. Mentioning keys that are prone to be rebound is not a good idea. So either replace them with function keys, like a lot of other missions do, or just reword the objectives like e.g. "Scan any cargo". The same goes for the SPACE key to skip cutscenes. If you use SECONDARY FIRE, please state so on screen :)!

Quote
Scanning stuff before you blow it up is a good way to avoid frustration in the first two missions, but if blasting things left and right is more your thing you'll definitely be more at home in the second half of the campaign. :)

After I ignored the missing waypoints I started the second mission fine by drawing the Narn fighters to the Centauri thus getting their lasers and the mission from the Centauri trader too. Then I was interrupted and had to stop playing. I will try to replay it this evening...
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on November 09, 2010, 03:52:14 am
You can beat the first mission be either blowing everything up, or by scanning objectives and limiting your fire to those that contain weapons or spare parts.  In the briefing it says something like "blow up X number of targets" where X is the number of targets that need to be destroyed.  X is the minimum number that need to be destroyed; if you shoot stuff without scanning it then you can't tell if you're actually blowing up what needs to be blown up.  As such, you have to do things the other way and just blow everything up.  Once that's done, you'll get a message telling you to RTB.  If you did things the easy way, you'll get a directive that says "Return to Xerxes." :)

And yes, use the tankers to your advantage.  I doubt even on Very Easy you stand a good chance against 6 Starfuries in that tugboat.  

Good advice about the key binds - I didn't know remapping was so prevalent!  I always thought the engine compensated for key mapping, but I guess it's not there yet. :(

Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: wesp5 on November 09, 2010, 06:02:56 am
Quote from: Slasher on November 09, 2010, 03:52:14 am
As such, you have to do things the other way and just blow everything up.  Once that's done, you'll get a message telling you to RTB.  If you did things the easy way, you'll get a directive that says "Return to Xerxes." :)

I got neither end directive, I just moved towards Xerxes on my own, jumped and the mission ended. There seems to be a hole somewhere. Also I didn't complain about scanning or not scanning, but I think if the order is to blow 5 ships up, the ships should count down even if I haven't scanned them.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on November 09, 2010, 09:36:07 am
I've never actually played that mission with cheat codes so I don't know what effect they might have on that.  If you don't get either the message or the RTB directive after finishing without the codes let me know.  I won't have access to a computer than can open FRED2 for a few days, so I can only check these things in WordPad.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: General Battuta on November 09, 2010, 09:38:16 am
Engine will compensate for keymapping if you put dollar signs ($) around the keypress in a training message or directive.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on November 09, 2010, 09:45:04 am
!

You are a godsend.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: wesp5 on November 09, 2010, 02:03:17 pm
Quote from: Slasher on November 09, 2010, 09:36:07 am
I've never actually played that mission with cheat codes so I don't know what effect they might have on that.

I didn't use cheat codes, I gave myself 1000 hull in the fs2 file with Notepad++ ;). This bug may connected to the issue that if you blow ships up without scanning them you don't get them counted as destroyed...

Update:
I finished the cool missions 2 and 3 now. I managed to do all 4 submissions in 2 although I didn't really know what the fourth one was ;). I would recommend using another model for the Brakiri pod though, the waypoint model looks out of place. I didn't like that mission 3 is supposed to play in a nebula although it clearly plays in hyperspace. Why don't you make a dense nebula by joining many nebula efffects like you almost do in level 4? Speaking of which, I don't think that predominately choosing red for both missions 3 and 4 is fun. It's gets into the eye ;). Now for another replay of mission 4, I already lost the Xerxes two times.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on November 09, 2010, 03:35:12 pm
I kinda avoided counting down the total number of ships destroyed specifically to discourage people from doing things the hard way. :)

There is an event that checks to see if a ship has been destroyed.  If it was scanned and revealed to have valuables, a variable is incremented by 1.  If it was destroyed before being scanned or was scanned and had nothing of value, the variable is not incremented.  Blow something up that satisfies that second conditional and the variable will not be incremented.  If you don't scan anything ever, the variable will always == 0, regardless of what gets blown up.  Every time the variable is incremented +1, through some annoying FRED-fu, the directive counter will increment -1.  The directive counter starts at 5.  For example: variable == 2, directive counter on screen == 3.  I can assure you quite confidently it's not a bug.  :nod:  

I know it's hard going if scans aren't made prior to the fireworks starting; maybe I should have emphasized that in-game more.  I can't remember if scanning things is in the directives or if scanning stuff is mentioned outside of the briefing but I'll check when I get the chance.

You might be asking why I used a variable for this when a non-variable approach would be much easier.  Well, the problem is the cargo is randomized every time you play the mission.  Hence I can't actually tell you which ships to destroy because I honestly don't know. :D

If you're really curious about the mission mechanics you can crack it open in FRED2.  Even I can't do that right now. *grumbles*
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: wesp5 on November 09, 2010, 05:03:01 pm
Quote from: Slasher on November 09, 2010, 03:35:12 pm
There is an event that checks to see if a ship has been destroyed.  If it was scanned and revealed to have valuables, a variable is incremented by 1.

Hm, but the directive to destroy 5 ships was suddenly tagged as completed without having been counted down to zero. So is there another option that will trigger it?

Quote
If you're really curious about the mission mechanics you can crack it open in FRED2.  Even I can't do that right now.

I use notepad++ myself because I know too little about FRED2 ;). Speaking of which, I haven't yet looked into it, but there was a bug in the second mission which caused the reward message of the Centauri to be triggered twice. I think it was when I dispatched the security wing.

Also I couldn't finish mission 4 on easy again without cheating by increasing the Xerxes' hull to 1000. It lost over 150 points in the end so I was very far off. Maybe you cracks fly much better, but I think any mission should be solveable on easy without dozends of tries. Also here again marking important targets like the shuttles with function keys would be nice! Besides that, a great mini campaign :)! What do you think about my other suggestions, especially regarding the nebula mission?
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on November 10, 2010, 02:36:49 am
Quote from: wesp5 on November 09, 2010, 05:03:01 pm
Quote from: Slasher on November 09, 2010, 03:35:12 pm
There is an event that checks to see if a ship has been destroyed.  If it was scanned and revealed to have valuables, a variable is incremented by 1.

Hm, but the directive to destroy 5 ships was suddenly tagged as completed without having been counted down to zero. So is there another option that will trigger it?


I'm guessing that if you destroy everything then that particular directive goes to true since there really isn't anything left to destroy at that point.  

It occurred to me some of the missions might actually be easier on Medium than Easy.  I never actually played the campaign on anything lower than Medium, so I figured by default anything easier than that would be, well, easier.  So when I ran into frustrating moments in the campaign, I put events in that only activate if the difficulty level is >= Medium.  On mission 4 there is an event that disables one of the Omega's forward guns if the Xerxes hull integrity drops below a certain percentage, for instance.  The same is true on mission 1.  These "helper" events only kick in when you play on Medium or higher, and some only activate on Hard.  

Since I'm guessing you lose the Xerxes to the Omega's fire on mission 4, in a future release I might just apply these "helper" events across all difficulties, or at least for Easy and above.  I wanted the player's focus in mission 4 to be on smaller craft, and only hitting the capships if there was nothing else to really do.  Possible temporary fix: play on a higher difficulty. :D
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: wesp5 on November 10, 2010, 03:54:25 pm
Quote from: Slasher on November 10, 2010, 02:36:49 am
I'm guessing that if you destroy everything then that particular directive goes to true since there really isn't anything left to destroy at that point.

I didn't destroy everything, I only destroyed some tankers and freighters. Probably exactly the five needed only without knowing it.

Quote
Since I'm guessing you lose the Xerxes to the Omega's fire on mission 4, in a future release I might just apply these "helper" events across all difficulties, or at least for Easy and above.  I wanted the player's focus in mission 4 to be on smaller craft, and only hitting the capships if there was nothing else to really do.

I already focused on the smaller craft and only disabled the beam of the first cruiser attacking the Xerxes, so I would indeed suggest enabling these helper elements for all difficulties, especially easy :). Also there were so many fighters that the first time ever my computer started to stutter after Clark's ships arrived.

About the nebula, if you don't want to change the whole level, I would suggest changing the mission description so that it places the whole level in hyperspace. Because I was really disappointed when you announced some cool nebula and all I got was the usual hyperspace ;)...
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on November 10, 2010, 07:22:56 pm
TBP slowed a computer down?  :confused:

Also, here's the list of ships that have to be blown up to finish mission 1:

$Formula: ( or
   ( = @objectives[0] 5 )
   ( is-destroyed-delay
      0
      "Gateway to Paradise"
      "Eagle"
      "Buck Rogers"
      "EASW-CPU-05"
      "EASW-CPU-06"
      "EASW-CPU-07"
      "EASW-CPU-08"
      "Silent Warrior"
      "Cruissier 1"
      "Cruissier 2"
      "Cruissier 3"
      "Vice"
      "Ana Haraway"
      "Renozuken"
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on November 11, 2010, 03:04:38 am
Quote from: wesp5 on November 10, 2010, 03:54:25 pm
Quote from: Slasher on November 10, 2010, 02:36:49 am
I'm guessing that if you destroy everything then that particular directive goes to true since there really isn't anything left to destroy at that point.
I didn't destroy everything, I only destroyed some tankers and freighters. Probably exactly the five needed only without knowing it.

Do you remember specifically which ships you destroyed, and if any of them were scanned or not scanned for certain?  I've tried recreating this bug several times now with no success.   :confused:

Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: FUBAR-BDHR on November 11, 2010, 03:33:43 am
Actually yea TBP can cause some slow downs at times.  It should be one heck of a lot less with 3.6.12 and Zathras 2.0 and a lot less when 3.6.14 and whatever Zathras goes with that comes out. 
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: wesp5 on November 11, 2010, 03:41:30 am
Quote from: Slasher on November 11, 2010, 03:04:38 am
Do you remember specifically which ships you destroyed, and if any of them were scanned or not scanned for certain?

I've scanned and destroyed the "Renozuken" and also the ship beside it which I can't remember the name. Then I destroyed the two tankers causing those huge explosions and every ship else that tried to flee. Sorry, but I don' know their names.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on November 11, 2010, 03:46:16 am
Ah!  My fault for not being clear earlier when I said "destroy everything."  By everything I actually just meant the supply and support ships that try to flee, not the warships or their fighters.  Which I guess is a far cry from everything, so my bad for not being specific.  Blow up those ships alone and you have completed the mission's main goal, even if you didn't bother to scan anything.  This is a relief, because that's what is supposed to happen! :)

I've also run through this mission doing both the scan method and "destroy everything (minus combatants)" method and gotten both the message and the directive to return to the Xerxes.  About the only way I can think of right now that you could miss it is if you were hanging around the Xerxes already when the parameters for mission success were fulfilled.  In that case, the directive would show up in your list as already completed since you're already next to the Xerxes.  The ship would then jump a few seconds later, as it's supposed to, without you really knowing you were supposed to return to the ship in the first place, assuming it was your first time playing all the way through.  I could see how one would miss the directive in that case, but it's still actually there.  It just shows up as true (blue text) before you even got a chance to do what it says, because you've already done it.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: wesp5 on November 11, 2010, 04:43:17 pm
Quote from: Slasher on November 11, 2010, 03:46:16 am
This is a relief, because that's what is supposed to happen! :)

Ah, so I did the right thing, only I didn't know it because the number was not counting down. Maybe you should consider this in any case, because the objective doesn't demand for only scanned ships to be destroyed...

Quote
About the only way I can think of right now that you could miss it is if you were hanging around the Xerxes already when the parameters for mission success were fulfilled.

Hm, so there was a time limit? I think I just jumped near Xerxes when no objective was left and I didn't know what else to do. Maybe you should trigger an objective to get near Xerxes as soon as 5 ships are destroyed.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on November 11, 2010, 08:33:10 pm
Quote from: wesp5 on November 11, 2010, 04:43:17 pm
Hm, so there was a time limit? I think I just jumped near Xerxes when no objective was left and I didn't know what else to do. Maybe you should trigger an objective to get near Xerxes as soon as 5 ships are destroyed.

I was really stumped by this one since the event logic seems sound when it finally hit me.  Sometimes new directives don't show up if the directive list is already full.  This can become a problem late in a mission if the mission is particularly big and directive heavy.  Depending on what order stuff is finished in, you might see this directive sometimes, and you might not.  Erratic, I know.

Unfortunately there's nothing I can really do about that.  Short of recoding the HUD, which is no small undertaking I guess, I would have to scale down the mission substantially.  
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: wesp5 on December 08, 2010, 01:24:46 pm
I just played Operation Black Sun in which vidmaster managed to change the hyperspace color. Maybe doing something similar could make your nebula mission look like it's not happening in hyperspace.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on December 09, 2010, 11:03:53 am
Hyperspace/subspace color is set by a texture defined in the skybox.pof file. 

I used the nebula effect, which is an entirely different animal, so this isn't really possible in this case.  I would go for an all black nebula if possible, since it looks closer to a Shadow Deathcloud, but I found the red/black effect isn't too far off. 

I know TBP supports the purple and green nebula effects, but I think you'll agree they lack the "darker" atmosphere.  :)
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: wesp5 on December 10, 2010, 03:34:42 am
Quote from: Slasher on December 09, 2010, 11:03:53 am
I used the nebula effect, which is an entirely different animal, so this isn't really possible in this case.

Strange, it looks exactly like hyperspace to me. Maybe the green nebula effect would be worth a try?
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on December 12, 2010, 12:57:07 am
Couldn't find a reference to "hyperspace.pof" anywhere in the mission file.  To my knowledge, that's the only way of enabling the true hyperspace effect in-game.  My guess is the download got corrupted since I'm getting the nebula effect in my version.

And I was wrong earlier about the nebula colors.  Nebula "poofs" are available in purple, red, and a color called "nothing" in FRED2. :D I was mistaken about the green.  There are more background colors available, but mixing the skybox effects with different colored gas effects can scare people into thinking they're on an acid trip so I'm going to avoid that.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: wesp5 on December 12, 2010, 05:30:10 am
Quote from: Slasher on December 12, 2010, 12:57:07 am
There are more background colors available, but mixing the skybox effects with different colored gas effects can scare people into thinking they're on an acid trip so I'm going to avoid that.

I don't really care what color the nebula has, but it just shouldn't look like hyperspace. Everything else should be fine :)!
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: Slasher on December 13, 2010, 12:07:01 am
If someone wanted to draw up a grey or black nebula poof I'd certainly consider changing it for the mission.
Title: Re: Relic mini-campaign uploaded
Post by: OverDhill on February 22, 2020, 09:52:22 am
I know this is an old thread but I am working on updating a couple campaigns to run under TBP on Knossos.  The Relic is one I have finished and will soon upload it to Knossos in the next release.  I am hoping I can get some of you to play test it.  I am new at editing and have no clue to FRED yet but it was a pretty easy job updating the BMP filenames. 

Let me know who is still here and interested.

Thanks