Author Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand  (Read 20327 times)

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Offline JSRNerdo

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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
Good news: The is-in-box solution works, and is actually quite good enough for me. I'm also putting in better messages about the beams on the left side tac-hud, so you'll know if you can fire or if you can't. Hopefully the is-in-box solution should make it intuitive enough, and I'm also going to bank on the player not trying to fire their right side beam at an enemy on their left.

Expect a patch sometime this week, then once I confirm these issues are made better I'll get to work on the second mission.

By the way, everyone give Axem a great big round of applause for getting me a script that lets these solutions be a lot better!
Former Inferno lead, BTA fredder-ish and DE fredder. Driven out by ordinary fascists the_e, aesaar and general battuta. Will return if they're ever removed.

 

Offline AdmiralRalwood

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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
I'm also going to bank on the player not trying to fire their right side beam at an enemy on their left.
* AdmiralRalwood winces
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Codethulhu GitHub wgah'nagl fhtagn.

schrödinbug (noun) - a bug that manifests itself in running software after a programmer notices that the code should never have worked in the first place.

When you gaze long into BMPMAN, BMPMAN also gazes into you.

"I am one of the best FREDders on Earth" -General Battuta

<Aesaar> literary criticism is vladimir putin

<MageKing17> "There's probably a reason the code is the way it is" is a very dangerous line of thought. :P
<MageKing17> Because the "reason" often turns out to be "nobody noticed it was wrong".
(the very next day)
<MageKing17> this ****ing code did it to me again
<MageKing17> "That doesn't really make sense to me, but I'll assume it was being done for a reason."
<MageKing17> **** ME
<MageKing17> THE REASON IS PEOPLE ARE STUPID
<MageKing17> ESPECIALLY ME

<MageKing17> God damn, I do not understand how this is breaking.
<MageKing17> Everything points to "this should work fine", and yet it's clearly not working.
<MjnMixael> 2 hours later... "God damn, how did this ever work at all?!"
(...)
<MageKing17> so
<MageKing17> more than two hours
<MageKing17> but once again we have reached the inevitable conclusion
<MageKing17> How did this code ever work in the first place!?

<@The_E> Welcome to OpenGL, where standards compliance is optional, and error reporting inconsistent

<MageKing17> It was all working perfectly until I actually tried it on an actual mission.

<IronWorks> I am useful for FSO stuff again. This is a red-letter day!
* z64555 erases "Thursday" and rewrites it in red ink

<MageKing17> TIL the entire homing code is held up by shoestrings and duct tape, basically.

 

Offline HLD_Prophecy

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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
The beams are still confusing me. More than half the time when I hit the fire key my beam charge will drain but the beams won't fire.
That means the target wasn't in the firing arc for the beam emitter.
...or part of the hull blocked the arc. Side beams are placed underneath some sticking out part. Despire firing angle of 170 degrees, you are not able to fire upward.


Oh, gotcha. I was trying to fire in that direction.

 
Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
wrt beam detection: Is there any reason something like this wouldn't work?

Code: [Select]
-- beam-heat-sct.tbm

$On Mission Start: [
    BeamHeat = mn.SEXPVariables["Heat"] --change "Heat" to whatever your heat variable is called
    BeamCost = 10 --change this to the heat cost per beam
]

$On Beam Fired: [
    if hv.User == hv.Player then
        BeamHeat.Value = BeamHeat.Value + BeamCost
    end
]

 

Offline JSRNerdo

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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
That actually works really quite well. I'll just need to adapt it slightly for energy, since energy goes down by 200 the first firing, and 50 for every firing after that, but apart from that I'll probably give that a go instead of the ugliness of the is-in-box solution!
Former Inferno lead, BTA fredder-ish and DE fredder. Driven out by ordinary fascists the_e, aesaar and general battuta. Will return if they're ever removed.

 
Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
Oooo, Capship command, loved doing that in BP!

Will have to play this later!

EDIT: Played it and this is awesome!  ... just one tiny issue, on my system (at least) the game crashes when I click one of the corvette or cruiser icons.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2017, 04:45:55 pm by hack-wizard »

 

Offline JSRNerdo

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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
Oooo, Capship command, loved doing that in BP!

Will have to play this later!

EDIT: Played it and this is awesome!  ... just one tiny issue, on my system (at least) the game crashes when I click one of the corvette or cruiser icons.

Yup, known issue. Should be fixed soonish, once I get a patch up and will also have other general improvements.
Former Inferno lead, BTA fredder-ish and DE fredder. Driven out by ordinary fascists the_e, aesaar and general battuta. Will return if they're ever removed.

 
Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
So I've currently got the Hemsut clipped through the arm of the Arcadia.

 

Offline Hunter

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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
I've uploaded this to FSFILES for you: http://sectorgame.com/fsfiles/uploads/Projects%20-%20Campaigns%20-%20TCs/Demos/The_Last_Stand%20-%20Demo.7z

You can upload any patches or updates to the same location - Simply login with the user/pass combo: freespace/files :)
FreeSpace Files | Overload | Sectorgame Forums - For those times when HLP is down (or because you want to keep me company)

Volition BB Survivor - Nov 1999 to April 2002 / Yes I know *some* folks in Hollywood, and no I can't get you on TV.

 

Offline JSRNerdo

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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
You may adjust it yourself and replace default Hats model in your modpack, or check out the jump. I jumped something like 600-800 meters from my marked destination point. Beams killed me instantly, leaving single, one "wtf? o__O" in my mind.  I guess because jumping point is set to origin of the ship, not the firepoint. When people fly big capship they just don't realize how big their ass actually is.

Figured this one out. Expect the fix in the upcoming patch.

Technical details: So it turns out the key-reset-multiple doesn't actually trigger fast enough. You have to be at 0 speed to cancel a warp or finish a warp, but it wasn't checking for that properly, so you could put yourself in one position, accidentally hit alt-J without having 0 speed, and come to a stop, and it'll warp you to that one place anyway even though you weren't at 0 speed. A simple fix is to wrap the whole thing in an every-time key-pressed key-reset, and have checking for 0 speed and the associated warp stuff inside a when inside that every-time.
Former Inferno lead, BTA fredder-ish and DE fredder. Driven out by ordinary fascists the_e, aesaar and general battuta. Will return if they're ever removed.

 

Offline JSRNerdo

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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
Patch #1 is up for those who have downloaded it before: https://www.dropbox.com/s/png6y0bl9j3ygoa/LastStand_CORE.vp
For those who haven't, the link in the first post is updated.

Changelog is basically "I've looked through the thread, facepalmed a lot at the things I missed, and went fixing them and adjusting things to match."
Former Inferno lead, BTA fredder-ish and DE fredder. Driven out by ordinary fascists the_e, aesaar and general battuta. Will return if they're ever removed.

 

Offline niffiwan

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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
I've been playing this from Knossos; pretty cool & lotsa fun. I only got to the HOOVER once and got nailed after jumping. I kinda find the instruction messages don't last long enough so I need to consult F4 to figure out WTF to do. Yeah, forgetting to do that is why I ded'd. Also had one completely random crash with no message at all, couldn't be arsed to figure out what was wrong (because when you're a coder, sometimes the rabbit hole doesn't end. Or at least it's frikken deep).

Anyway, need to go back and play this some more when I'm not working out how to drive gimp to make new shields anims. Or maybe I should try to add autogenerating conformal shield bubbles to FSO.... argh!! stoppit stoppit stoppit (I may or may not have consumed booozle on a Friday night after an awful week @ work)
Creating a fs2_open.log | Red Alert Bug = Hex Edit | MediaVPs 2014: Bigger HUD gauges | 32bit libs for 64bit Ubuntu
----
Debian Packages (testing/unstable): Freespace2 | wxLauncher
----
m|m: I think I'm suffering from Stockholm syndrome. Bmpman is starting to make sense and it's actually written reasonably well...

 

Offline JSRNerdo

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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
Yeah I've, uh, been experiencing some random crashes with no message at all-s as well while developing mission 2. Not even a debug build gives anything. I have a hunch it might be related to dynamic waypoints.
Former Inferno lead, BTA fredder-ish and DE fredder. Driven out by ordinary fascists the_e, aesaar and general battuta. Will return if they're ever removed.

 

Offline AdmiralRalwood

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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
Well, if dynamic waypoints were broken, then BP should be crashing as well. If you can figure out an even partially-consistent set of reproduction circumstances, I might be able to track it down.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Codethulhu GitHub wgah'nagl fhtagn.

schrödinbug (noun) - a bug that manifests itself in running software after a programmer notices that the code should never have worked in the first place.

When you gaze long into BMPMAN, BMPMAN also gazes into you.

"I am one of the best FREDders on Earth" -General Battuta

<Aesaar> literary criticism is vladimir putin

<MageKing17> "There's probably a reason the code is the way it is" is a very dangerous line of thought. :P
<MageKing17> Because the "reason" often turns out to be "nobody noticed it was wrong".
(the very next day)
<MageKing17> this ****ing code did it to me again
<MageKing17> "That doesn't really make sense to me, but I'll assume it was being done for a reason."
<MageKing17> **** ME
<MageKing17> THE REASON IS PEOPLE ARE STUPID
<MageKing17> ESPECIALLY ME

<MageKing17> God damn, I do not understand how this is breaking.
<MageKing17> Everything points to "this should work fine", and yet it's clearly not working.
<MjnMixael> 2 hours later... "God damn, how did this ever work at all?!"
(...)
<MageKing17> so
<MageKing17> more than two hours
<MageKing17> but once again we have reached the inevitable conclusion
<MageKing17> How did this code ever work in the first place!?

<@The_E> Welcome to OpenGL, where standards compliance is optional, and error reporting inconsistent

<MageKing17> It was all working perfectly until I actually tried it on an actual mission.

<IronWorks> I am useful for FSO stuff again. This is a red-letter day!
* z64555 erases "Thursday" and rewrites it in red ink

<MageKing17> TIL the entire homing code is held up by shoestrings and duct tape, basically.

 
Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
I can second the concern about short messages. I guess I playtested this campaign enough times that I don't notice them any more, but when I tried to read them, they were definitely too fast.

Hm, I think part of the trouble is that you're trying to explain not only the interface, but also the heat mechanic, which makes your messages complicated. Here's a thought: what about a giant bar somewhere labeled "heat" that fills up as heat is generated - and for each thing that generates heat, flash the heat gauge the first time the player does that? That will organically establish the relationship between, say, active armor and heat, letting you take that out of the training-messages. It's also more readable than a lil number off to the side.

 

Offline General Battuta

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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
Instead of killing the HUD, EMP the player a bunch! Maybe!

 

Offline AdmiralRalwood

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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
Or perhaps the training messages just need voice acting so that the player doesn't have to actually read them to get the information...
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Codethulhu GitHub wgah'nagl fhtagn.

schrödinbug (noun) - a bug that manifests itself in running software after a programmer notices that the code should never have worked in the first place.

When you gaze long into BMPMAN, BMPMAN also gazes into you.

"I am one of the best FREDders on Earth" -General Battuta

<Aesaar> literary criticism is vladimir putin

<MageKing17> "There's probably a reason the code is the way it is" is a very dangerous line of thought. :P
<MageKing17> Because the "reason" often turns out to be "nobody noticed it was wrong".
(the very next day)
<MageKing17> this ****ing code did it to me again
<MageKing17> "That doesn't really make sense to me, but I'll assume it was being done for a reason."
<MageKing17> **** ME
<MageKing17> THE REASON IS PEOPLE ARE STUPID
<MageKing17> ESPECIALLY ME

<MageKing17> God damn, I do not understand how this is breaking.
<MageKing17> Everything points to "this should work fine", and yet it's clearly not working.
<MjnMixael> 2 hours later... "God damn, how did this ever work at all?!"
(...)
<MageKing17> so
<MageKing17> more than two hours
<MageKing17> but once again we have reached the inevitable conclusion
<MageKing17> How did this code ever work in the first place!?

<@The_E> Welcome to OpenGL, where standards compliance is optional, and error reporting inconsistent

<MageKing17> It was all working perfectly until I actually tried it on an actual mission.

<IronWorks> I am useful for FSO stuff again. This is a red-letter day!
* z64555 erases "Thursday" and rewrites it in red ink

<MageKing17> TIL the entire homing code is held up by shoestrings and duct tape, basically.

 

Offline niffiwan

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  • Eluder Class
Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
Here's a thought: what about a giant bar somewhere labeled "heat" that fills up as heat is generated - and for each thing that generates heat, flash the heat gauge the first time the player does that? That will organically establish the relationship between, say, active armor and heat, letting you take that out of the training-messages. It's also more readable than a lil number off to the side.

This sounds good, you could probably repurpose Axems boss (or player) health bar script; althougth the "flash/pulse" on use would probably need to be added.

Instead of killing the HUD, EMP the player a bunch! Maybe!

This also sounds good!

Oh.. and maybe combining ideas, what about fade red into the entire screen when you get too hot (hawt!), I recall Lepanto used that in one of his BP Captains missions; there it represented Severanti bleeding out (iirc) but here it'd be a great visual cue on when your heat is getting too high.  Combine that with the EMP blasts :) 
Creating a fs2_open.log | Red Alert Bug = Hex Edit | MediaVPs 2014: Bigger HUD gauges | 32bit libs for 64bit Ubuntu
----
Debian Packages (testing/unstable): Freespace2 | wxLauncher
----
m|m: I think I'm suffering from Stockholm syndrome. Bmpman is starting to make sense and it's actually written reasonably well...

 

Offline crizza

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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
So how difficult is this script to customize?
Since having anounced a Aeolus campaign I'M toying around with ideas of how to customize the gameplay.
For example, running with full power to engines or weapons all the time and then using special abilities would damage the reactor over time, resulting in slower speed/ beam recharge to the point when your engines blow out (mission fail) or your beams won't work.

 

Offline JSRNerdo

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Re: ANNOUNCEMENT AND DEMO RELEASE: The Last Stand
So how difficult is this script to customize?
Since having anounced a Aeolus campaign I'M toying around with ideas of how to customize the gameplay.
For example, running with full power to engines or weapons all the time and then using special abilities would damage the reactor over time, resulting in slower speed/ beam recharge to the point when your engines blow out (mission fail) or your beams won't work.

It shouldn't be too hard, most of the systems were written with just this campaign and these missions in mind but should be fairly easy to adapt to a different ship, as they're all rather generic abilities. The reactor damage would also be rather simple to do in FRED, just a couple variables really and a few more if-then-elses.
Former Inferno lead, BTA fredder-ish and DE fredder. Driven out by ordinary fascists the_e, aesaar and general battuta. Will return if they're ever removed.