Author Topic: RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux  (Read 3233 times)

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Offline Novachen

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RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux

OVER 40
NEW MISSIONS

Requires Full Version of

FREESPACE
THE GREAT WAR™
sort of

Heyya guys,

actually this is a package that lie on my Hard Disk for some time already.
This one give the Missions from the Silent Threat Expansion Pack in FreeSpace Port some treatment.
In the FreeSpace Port, these missions are much unaltered from their 1998 release, which results in some mission bugs and missing enhancements like FSOpen Nebulae.

It was planned to release it together with one of NTP's FreeSpace Port translations... but as NTP is frozen right now due to personal reasons, i decided to release that one now. I will simple later release a NTP compatibility update that would add all the needed translation support.

What are the Contents?
• 12 revised Silent Threat campaign missions.
• 12 official Volition cooperative multiplayer missions that were converted and rebalanced for single player.
• 25 revised Community Single Player missions.

What are the Changes?
• Nebulae for all missions.
• Every mission has an assigned Soundtrack, now.
• All Missions were playtested and played through successfully at least once on Hard difficulty. It is the difficulty i also recommend for this.
• If there is a CBrief in a mission, it got the same look of the CBriefs in the main game.
• "Order of the Eye", "Supplies, Supplies!" and "The Manhattan Project" were replaced with more recent versions, that were released back then on Volition Watch.
• All three missions got (partial) Voice Acting due to this process.

What is not in it?
• This package does not make the Mission Disk to the best Expansion Pack that was ever released. Most missions are still below average by today's standards. But at least they look better and they are most likely work like intended, now.
• All missions that are from the "The Destiny of Peace" and "Awakenings" campaigns were omitted, because both campaigns are available as a superior standalone release.
• No Multiplayer Missions. I actually already have revised and rebalanced all multiplayer missions, including the Silent Threat campaign, too. Maybe they will follow at a later date.
• No Translation Support. So this package supports only english.

Are there special mentions?
• There are three types of missions. md-xx.fs2 are the Silent Threat campaign missions. mdsm-xx.fs2 are the missions by Volition (so they are canon) and mdu-xx.fs2 are all community missions.
• "Virginia's Run" was altered, because the original mission is way too similar to one of the converted Volition cooperative missions. The battle in this mission is much longer now and was changed with a Highscore Hunting in mind. How much kills you can get before the mission ends or you die?

What happened in the Update, is there a changelog?
Version 1.0.2:
• mdu-17 "Shadows": Fixed and Changed Arrival and Departure Cues for several ships and wings. Also the Kamikaze of the Nimitz with the Ran will always happen, now.

Version 1.0.1:
• mdu-16 "The GTI Shadow": The debriefing was fixed.
• mdu-17 "Shadows": Unknown is now scannable. Nightingale will also depart if the Barnett gets destroyed.

What are the Requirements?
• Not as much, the missions were updated during the FreeSpace Port 3.5 days.
• I used however the FSOpen 3.8.1 Nightly from 28th August 2018 for them. This should be the build everything is working at least.
• Have to admit, that i can not guarantee that all missions are still working like they should with FSPort 3.6.9 and FSOpen 21.4. However i did a few sampleplays and they worked at least. The included mod.ini in the manual download is however set correctly for the most recent FSPort version, the FSOInstaller version also needs the most recent FSPort as a dependency.

Where can i get this?
Current Version is: 1.0.2
MediaFire or Sectorgame
FSOInstaller
Knossos

Have fun,

Jenna
« Last Edit: January 08, 2022, 06:09:48 am by Novachen »
Female FreeSpace 2 pilot since 1999.
Former Global moderator in the German FreeSpace Galaxy Forum.
Developer of NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface, which allows to play FreeSpace in YOUR Language.

Is one of my releases broken or not working? Please send a PM here, on Discord at @novachen or on Twitter @NovachenFS2, a public tweet or write a reply in my own release threads here on HLP, because these are the only threads i am still participating in.

 

Offline Goober5000

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Re: RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux
Great to see this!

 

Offline Trivial Psychic

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Re: RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux
I'm not sure why, but a number of assets are coming up in the lab as the stock models or semi-upgraded ones instead of their newest Hi-Poly designs.  Faustus, Aten, Jackal, Lucifer, the Terran Probe, and possibly the Ursa... it looks a little under-detailed to my eyes.
The Trivial Psychic Strikes Again!

 

Offline Novachen

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Re: RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux
I'm not sure why, but a number of assets are coming up in the lab as the stock models or semi-upgraded ones instead of their newest Hi-Poly designs.  Faustus, Aten, Jackal, Lucifer, the Terran Probe, and possibly the Ursa... it looks a little under-detailed to my eyes.

Mh... as there is no ships.tbl or .tbm in this mod...  :wtf:


I have to admit, that i messed up the right mod sequence in the mod.ini then. :nervous:
secondarylist = fsport-mediavps_45X,fsport,mjnhalls,MediaVPs_45X; is the right one. So switch the fsport-mediavps_45X with the fsport one.
Package was updated with the right one. Same version, so no changelog.

Knossos should be unaffected by this?
« Last Edit: November 01, 2021, 01:56:17 am by Novachen »
Female FreeSpace 2 pilot since 1999.
Former Global moderator in the German FreeSpace Galaxy Forum.
Developer of NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface, which allows to play FreeSpace in YOUR Language.

Is one of my releases broken or not working? Please send a PM here, on Discord at @novachen or on Twitter @NovachenFS2, a public tweet or write a reply in my own release threads here on HLP, because these are the only threads i am still participating in.

 

Offline Trivial Psychic

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Re: RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux
I just finished "The GTI Shadow" MDU-16, and after eliminating all enemies and saving the station with only a few percent hull damage to it, I got both the Victory and Failure debriefings.

Also, in MDU-17 "Shadows", there is a directive to scan an unknown ship (which is a Mephisto class), but it isn't scannable.
« Last Edit: November 07, 2021, 02:51:37 pm by Trivial Psychic »
The Trivial Psychic Strikes Again!

 

Offline Novachen

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Re: RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux
I just finished "The GTI Shadow" MDU-16, and after eliminating all enemies and saving the station with only a few percent hull damage to it, I got both the Victory and Failure debriefings.

Also, in MDU-17 "Shadows", there is a directive to scan an unknown ship (which is a Mephisto class), but it isn't scannable.

Thanks for the report.

mdu-16 is maybe an oversight from back then.
mdu-17 however seems to be resulted due to the build change.

Will look into it as soon as I have time for it.
Female FreeSpace 2 pilot since 1999.
Former Global moderator in the German FreeSpace Galaxy Forum.
Developer of NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface, which allows to play FreeSpace in YOUR Language.

Is one of my releases broken or not working? Please send a PM here, on Discord at @novachen or on Twitter @NovachenFS2, a public tweet or write a reply in my own release threads here on HLP, because these are the only threads i am still participating in.

 

Offline Marguel

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Re: RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux
Thanks for the release!
Downloading!
"You'll see. It'll be better than last time. "
"I hope so. I died."

 

Offline Trivial Psychic

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Re: RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux
I just finished your revised version of Silent Threat and I like the changes you did to the final mission.  When the original was ported over, the whole "big damage" thing would make that mission MUCH more difficult to complete, since your bombers would often get all shot down before they could take out the Hades.  With your additions of the Soyokaze and Myrmidon, you now have somewhere for a fresh supply of fighters and bombers can spawn from.  Of course, too many changes (like have the Hades use its beam cannons), would have encroached too much on STR.
The Trivial Psychic Strikes Again!

  

Offline Novachen

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Re: RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux
I just finished your revised version of Silent Threat and I like the changes you did to the final mission. When the original was ported over, the whole "big damage" thing would make that mission MUCH more difficult to complete, since your bombers would often get all shot down before they could take out the Hades.  With your additions of the Soyokaze and Myrmidon, you now have somewhere for a fresh supply of fighters and bombers can spawn from.  Of course, too many changes (like have the Hades use its beam cannons), would have encroached too much on STR.

The final mission is one of the most obvious changes i made. Both destroyers with their bombers were introduced into the final battle to shorten it significantly.... Even without the big damage flag... i always had the feeling that this mission was always too long and too boring, even for Silent Threat.

AFAIK in the original final mission in FS1 the Hades actually used its Beam Cannons. But they never hit their target which was the GTC Orff.
I have could used the GTD Myrmidon as a target for the Hades beam cannons as this ship is mentioned only in one mission of ST and never again after that.
But well, i was not very sure about that, as i never wanted to make too big changes. Especially as there is ST:R anyway which also has a ST:R'ed version of this mission in the Mission Simulator.

So the priority was only, to make this battle shorter as the longer battle has no benefits for the player at all.
There are some tedious and lenghty missions in the Silent Threat campaign, but the final one was the worst imo.
« Last Edit: November 12, 2021, 06:09:25 pm by Novachen »
Female FreeSpace 2 pilot since 1999.
Former Global moderator in the German FreeSpace Galaxy Forum.
Developer of NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface, which allows to play FreeSpace in YOUR Language.

Is one of my releases broken or not working? Please send a PM here, on Discord at @novachen or on Twitter @NovachenFS2, a public tweet or write a reply in my own release threads here on HLP, because these are the only threads i am still participating in.

 

Offline Novachen

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Re: RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux
So, Version 1.0.1 of this mod is online.

It fixed all reported bugs so far.

So a more detailed changelog:
• mdu-16 "The GTI Shadow": The debriefing was fixed.
• mdu-17 "Shadows": Unknown is now scannable. Nightingale will also depart if the Barnett gets destroyed.
« Last Edit: November 14, 2021, 03:46:46 am by Novachen »
Female FreeSpace 2 pilot since 1999.
Former Global moderator in the German FreeSpace Galaxy Forum.
Developer of NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface, which allows to play FreeSpace in YOUR Language.

Is one of my releases broken or not working? Please send a PM here, on Discord at @novachen or on Twitter @NovachenFS2, a public tweet or write a reply in my own release threads here on HLP, because these are the only threads i am still participating in.

 

Offline Trivial Psychic

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Re: RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux
Just a few more critiques about Shadows:
-You've used a vasudan message for the science cruiser saying that its engines are fixed.  I can understand if you want to stick to voice-only, but it is a bit confusing.
-The last wave of Shivans, and the repair of the science cruiser comes with a BIG delay.  For a time I wondered if there was an oops in the mission design and the end sequences were unreachable.  You may want to consider shortening that.
-Once its engines were back on-line, there was no departure cue for the science cruiser.  I had to use the command menu to order the Elysium it was docked to to depart in order to end the mission.
The Trivial Psychic Strikes Again!

 

Offline Novachen

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Re: RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux
Just a few more critiques about Shadows:
-You've used a vasudan message for the science cruiser saying that its engines are fixed.  I can understand if you want to stick to voice-only, but it is a bit confusing.
-The last wave of Shivans, and the repair of the science cruiser comes with a BIG delay.  For a time I wondered if there was an oops in the mission design and the end sequences were unreachable.  You may want to consider shortening that.
-Once its engines were back on-line, there was no departure cue for the science cruiser.  I had to use the command menu to order the Elysium it was docked to to depart in order to end the mission.

Huh :wtf:

I am curious, if i accidentally included an older version of this mission in 1.0.0 than i had back in my test enviroment.
That is indeed strange, that this mission seems to be totally broken  :nervous:

I will look into that of course. Sorry for the Inconvenience, but thanks for the report.
Female FreeSpace 2 pilot since 1999.
Former Global moderator in the German FreeSpace Galaxy Forum.
Developer of NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface, which allows to play FreeSpace in YOUR Language.

Is one of my releases broken or not working? Please send a PM here, on Discord at @novachen or on Twitter @NovachenFS2, a public tweet or write a reply in my own release threads here on HLP, because these are the only threads i am still participating in.

 

Offline Novachen

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Re: RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux
Well, it took a time, but i can present a new version of this small mission package.

Version 1.0.2 is online.
It fixed so far all reported problems of the "Shadows" mission. It should work now how it is was intended.

A more detailed changelog:
• mdu-17 "Shadows": Fixed and Changed Arrival and Departure Cues for several ships and wings. Also the Kamikaze of the Nimitz with the Ran will always happen, now.

EDIT:
Uh, something messed up during the Knossos upload. As i am not able to repeat the upload, there is a 1.0.2-Nova version on Knossos. It is identical to this one here, however.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2022, 07:57:09 am by Novachen »
Female FreeSpace 2 pilot since 1999.
Former Global moderator in the German FreeSpace Galaxy Forum.
Developer of NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface, which allows to play FreeSpace in YOUR Language.

Is one of my releases broken or not working? Please send a PM here, on Discord at @novachen or on Twitter @NovachenFS2, a public tweet or write a reply in my own release threads here on HLP, because these are the only threads i am still participating in.

 

Offline Novachen

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Re: RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux
Is there actually any interest in a multiplayer update of this?

As said in the OP, back then i also revised and rebalanced the multiplayer missions aswell. I did that for the MP missions from the main game, too. Not sure if i should include them in Mission Disk:Redux.
The main thing would be the updated Silent Threat cooperative multiplayer campaign of course, which would get the same bugfixes from the single player version. Also some kind of rebalancing for most missions, so that the coop campaign are much harder if you try to play them alone. The retail one have many missions which are identical to the single player version and would not pose any challenge if you play them with 2 or even 8 players.

I am asking, because if there is no really interest in this, I tend to procrastinate or even to drop it.
Female FreeSpace 2 pilot since 1999.
Former Global moderator in the German FreeSpace Galaxy Forum.
Developer of NTP - A Multi-Language Translation Library Interface, which allows to play FreeSpace in YOUR Language.

Is one of my releases broken or not working? Please send a PM here, on Discord at @novachen or on Twitter @NovachenFS2, a public tweet or write a reply in my own release threads here on HLP, because these are the only threads i am still participating in.

 

Offline Goober5000

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Re: RELEASE: FreeSpace Mission Disk: Redux
I do think a multiplayer update would be well received.  We're starting to get more people interested in multiplayer, and they will be looking for more content.