Modding, Mission Design, and Coding > FRED Academy

[FA] - Getting the ball rolling

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karajorma:
Here's the big thread we've been waiting for. :D

The two campaigns choosen were Black Wolf's NTF campaign and Singh's trapped in the nebula campaign.

How things will work

Basically I've assigned everyone to a campaign. If I messed up tell me and I'll reassign you. Everyone on the Retail campaign has to use FRED2 retail. Those of you on the FS2_Open campaign can use whatever build of FS2_Open you like (Tell me if you use the Kazan and Taylor fixed FRED build though since I use an older build than that).

Missions are assigned on a first come, first served basis. Pick a mission you like the look of. Announce that you've done so clearly in the thread below and then get to work. If you've got problems post a topic and people will help out. Once you've got a working mission either upload it or request that someone upload it for you. Can you please upload the mission zipped BTW. Some people (myself included) sometimes have problems opening missions that weren't zipped in FRED).

 Make a new thread for each mission. Start the thread name with [FA] so that people not interested in playtesting or being spoiled can avoid it. I'm expecting all the FREDders to playtest each others missions. This project will fail really fast if you leave it up to the experts to playtest everything. We simply don't have the time for that.
 When playtesting be a little nasty. Try to break missions by jumping out at the wrong point, blowing up ships you were told to disable etc. It's the best way to check that the events were properly written.

When you play someones missions note any bugs down and post them on that mission's thread. The designer can then correct them.

The Experts

Right obviously I'm not expecting the experts to go over every mission with a fine tooth comb looking for mistakes very time a version of the mission is posted. What I need to the experts to do is to load the missions into FRED and look for the obvious mistakes. It only takes 5 seconds to notice if the Y-axis is being left unused. It takes a similar amount of time to notice that all the events are called Event Name.  Basically you're looking for mistakes in FREDding style more than mistakes in the actual code. If you have the time and want to point them out too feel free though.

The big job I'm expecting from the Experts is for you to be on hand to answer questions and show how to do things in FRED. This isn't going to be too big a difference from what we do on the boards.

When a FREDder is happy with the mission I want a slightly more detailed check. I'm still not expecting you to check through the logic of every SEXP but we all know the big faults that can be made so have a quick poke around and see if you can spot any.

The Campaigns


Campaign 1 - FRED2 Retail

Staff :

Akalabeth Angel, Pilot of the US, Fergus, Ghostavo, ShadowFox, z3r0_tr0jAn and Freespacegundam. You guys get Black Wolf's campaign.

Black Wolf has promised me a more detailed version of the plotline sometime soon but I'll post the simple version to get things rolling.

The campaign uses a vp which is available from http://dynamic4.gamespy.com/~freespace/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=539759

Spoiler:

Campaign Description : http://www.swooh.com/peon/BlackWolf/Archives/Damocles.htm

 Mission 1 - (ASSIGNED to Ghostavo) - NTR (Neo Terran Remnant) have been raiding cargo depots in the Polaris system. Intel has pinpointed several likely future targets, and has rotating shifts watching them. Your squadron (luckily enough) happens to be there when the NTF make their move.
 
 Mission 2 - (ASSIGNED to ShadowFox) - Intel has received an anonymous tipoff about a smuggler filling an NTR contract for highly restricted materials (high level decoding and cryptography computers). It is believed they are trying to crack GTVA ciphers to gain a tactical advantage within the region. The computers use a unique powersource that can be detected through simple scanning, but the smuggler is moving as part of a huge convoy. Once detected, the vessel must be captured intact. NTR vessels do their best to prevent this should the freighter be discovered.
 
 Mission 3 - (ASSIGNED to Akalabeth Angel) - The NTR as been trying desperately to recruit other capital ships in the region, but until now had been unsuccessful. However, recent intel on the Aeolus class GTC Alexander suggests it destroyed the (Aten Class) GVC Khem. Alpha wing escorts bombers tasked with disabling and disarming the Alexander, but things become more complex when the Damocles arrives.
 
 Mission 4 - (ASSIGNED to Fergus) The NTR has attacked and boarded the Adur research installation (Black Wolf suggested Robin Varleys Archeron (With weaker weapons of course) for this. If we decide to use mods we'll add them in but until now just use an Arcadia) . The player arrives too late to prevent their transports from escaping, but the NTR are trying desperately to eliminate the installation and the science vessels around it, apparently to cover up what exactly they stole. The NTC Perilous should escape with the transports here as a set up for the next mission.
 
 Mission 5 - (ASSIGNED to z3r0_tr0jAn) Information from the Adur confirms what some had already begun to suspect. The NTR stole the prototype for a subspace communications device that was being developed to send subspace messages through destabilized nodes and re-establish some contact with Earth. It is theorized that Staker plans to use this device to contact someone possibly on the other side of Capella, either Bosch or the Shivans themselves. Nobody really knows what thatll mean, but theyre pretty sure they dont want it to happen. The GTVA needs to keep up the pressure and disrupt Stakers timeline. The NTC Perilous was recently confirmed as operating within the system, and its present location has been confirmed. Your mission here is two fold - destroy the Perilous, and capture at least two of the three wing leaders of the fighters guarding it. They will be interrogated and the location of the cache hopefully disclosed. (Black Wolf's suggestion was to use special table entries to make Uberlokis - however I've recently written a disabiling mission and believe me it's not easy to disable an enemy fighter. We'll stick to using standard craft (The Ares sounds suitable to me as it's an offshoot of the Herc II (Which the NTF had) and it's a real bastard to disable ).
 
 Mission 6 - (ASSIGNED to FreespaceGundam) Acting on information gleaned from our captives, A GTVA ground force raided and took the NTRs main cache, but many of the fighters and bombers escaped into space, presumably to join Staker. Without the Perilous or his cache, theres nothing holding him in Polaris, and hes attempting to escape into EP. You try to prevent him, but this mission should really echo mission 3. The Damocles escapes and youre left fighting its entourage.
 
 Mission 7 (ASSIGNED to Pilot of the US)  - the GTVA has scrambled the GVCv Sopedu to intercept it at the EP- Capella node. Your job is to guard the Sopedu, take out turrets and also the communications subsystems on the Damocles (Add a few to make this part more challenging).



Campaign 2 - FRED2_Open (Any build)

Staff :  Magatsu, Singh, JR2000Z, mr.WHO, Deepstar, Culando, Cobra and Mongoose.

You've got Singh's campaign and fortunately he's on the staff to answer plotline questions rather than me. :D

The plot was posted on the campaign ideas thread but here it is again.

Spoiler:
(ASSIGNED to Singh) You play Alpha wing, sent into the Gamma Draconis nebula to rescue a damaged GTVA Battlegroup, the only survivors of which are an Orion Class Destroyer , the GTD Ionas, and two damaged Corvettes, The GTCv Julius and the GVCv Annatet. The group has been missing for several days after a fierce encounter with a large Shivan fleet. Due to the nebula, contact with command was lost for the time period, and the fleet has been drifting and trying to repair itself.
Initially, the rescue attempt suceeds and the first mission sees the Ionas jumping out to safety after repelling several shivan assaults. Ive actually managed to FRED this mission; only left with beta testing it and what-not.

The Second mission (ASSIGNED to Magatsu)  is where things start to go downwards. Alpha wing and the Ionas are approaching the jump node back to Gamma Draconis when the Shivans arrive - this time in force. They encounter a retreating Aquitaine as it heads for the node. Command re-establishes contact and informs them that another Sathanas has been found, and more are inbound for Gamma Draconis. Alpha must now defend the Battlegroup as it heads to the node (which is now empty as the Aquitaine has jumped out) and as it comes under fierce attack from the Shivans. Just before the Ionas can make it through the node - A Sathanas jumps in from behind and rips it to shreds, throwing the Julius and the Annatet off-course. Alpha wing is ordered to retreat and re-group with the Julius as it jumps out.

Mission three (ASSIGNED to JR2000Z) sees the rendevouz with the Julius. They are badly damaged after the previous encounter. The commander forms a plan to make a run for the node, along with the Annatet once they reach the rendevouz point. But when the Annatet reaches the point, it is badly damaged and is able to send only a distress signal before a large force jumps in behind it and obliterates it. Alpha cannot do anything much to save it; and is ordered to jump out again with the Julius.

Mission four (ASSIGNED to Cobra) is in Subspace. The Shivans have followed both Alpha wing and the Julius into subspace. Only a few fighters and bombers have managed to follow them in, and strangely the main fleet seems lacking. After the fighters and bombers a dispatched off; its comms chatter time. A plan is hatched and a secret is revealed: The Battlegroup had actually gone in to rescue a SOC transport, which had been the base for several scout operations within the nebula and beyond. Recently, a lone wing had come in from of the nodes leading systems beyond the Nebula, where the Shivans were gathering all the Sathani to invade. But what was more interesting is the node next to this one. It leads to a crossroads which in turn leads back to Gamma Draconis and at the time, an undiscovered node.
The transport's signal was lost and it was assumed destroyed; but recently the SOC recieved it's distress signal again, and sent the Ionas in to rescue it. The Shivans were about to close in onto the Transport when the Ionas arrived, but they managed to distract it enough for it to escape. The transport is still in the nebula and around the same co-ordinates, so if they can find the Transport, they might just be able to find a safe haven of sorts. The plan is to find the transport and get a way out of there.

Mission five takes place back in the Nebula. Alpha wing is searching around for the transport and its quite...seemingly too quite. Alpha wing find a few shivan wings and destroy them before they eventually find the transport - its barely functioning and only a single survivor is left. The Julius jumps in and the transport docks. It then undocks and leaves along with the Julius. Alpha is ordered to leave as well. Thats about it - mostly a talking mission more than anything else.

Mission six is where things get interesting. The subspace node to the gamma draconis system is not too far away from the one leading to the system the Sathanas is coming from. The transport pilots says that scout wings went into this system and came out the other side near the outer parts of the Gamma Draconis system, but far away from actual GTVA presence. The node is too unstable for Destroyers to use, but a Corvette and a few small ships should be able to get through allright. The plan is simple. First, the Transport goes in laden with heavy explosives some distance from the node. Alpha is ordered to keep some distance from the transport as the Shivans attack and destroy it, causing a large explosion and damage to ships all around. The Julius then jumps in and makes a run for the node. The Shivans have a small presence near the node (which Alpha has to clear), but things tend to get interesting as a group of corvettes follows the Julius in as it departs.

Mission seven is again in subspace. The trio of corvettes, designations Flaga, Isthar and Ereshkigal, have followed the Julius through subspace. Fortunately, it is almost at the end of its journey through the node when the Corvettes come through. The Isthar tries to take a pot shot at it, and hits, but then doesn't fire after that. Alpha must now intercept bombers and fighters as they try to destroy the Julius (again)

Mission eight is red alert from Mission seven. Turns out the node doesn't go to Gamma Draconis - nothing could be further from the truth. The node leads all the way to the Capella system, skipping Gamma Draconis totally. It turns out that the subspace corridor was unstable, and kept on switching from the nodes in both systems; with an ever-changing exit point the chances of the trio of corvettes following is quite low. But now the problem is that the Julius has emerged smack bang in the middle of a battle between GTVA and Shivan forces. The Julius (and Alpha 1) runs through beam fire, GTVA ships, Shivan ships and whatever else you can think of in an attempt to get away from the crossfire. GTVA forces cover the Julius's retreat as they themselves start to retreat and head to the node to Epsilon Pegasi. Alpha 1 leaves just as the trio of corvettes show up nearby.

Mission 9 is simple. The Julius has reached the Epsilon Pegasi node - it moves past the convoys in an attempt to reach the node (maybe insert complaints from the civvys that the GTVA are cowards) and gets there whilst protecting them against shivan attacks as well. Red Alert to Mission 9a.

Mission 9a is VERY simple. Julius jumps into the node, so does Alpha 1. Their moving along when they recieved a signal from a bouy on the other side - the GTVA are about to close the Node; the Bastion is on its way in. General cursing and shouting and "OH CRAP! WE'RE GONNA DIE!! ARRGH! RUN!!!" sort of a thing as the Julius turns around and makes a run back for the entrance. It warns off the Civvies that come in as well; and is about 5 seconds out when the Bastion arrives in the node. Cue command starting the remote detonation sequence. Alpha 1 and the Julius make it out barely in time.

Mission 10 is the last mission. The Julius jumps in...only to see the entire fleet being annihalated by the Shivans - including the Trio of corvettes mentioned earlier. All are extremely damaged, but all open fire on the Julius (enter more messages about "Oh crap!! We aint gonna make it!! stuff) and it goes down. Their are other GTVA ships here; but they are behind the shivan vessels. Alpha one is now ordered to jump out ASAP to rendevouz with the retreating task force, but has to jump in behind the Shivan vessels. Basically running through all the way to a nav bouy.
Now Cue Supernova, end-mission and debrief. The debrief is a log entry from the Captain of the GTCv Actium, which was one of the few ships that made it into the nebula. The captain laments on their current situation, stranded behind enemy lines and what-not. In the log the captain mentions the presence of the Julius and what an aid the information it was holding might have been - and also mentions that a fighter tried to escape from there, but was destroyed in the Supernova before it could reach them. Also mention on how hopeless the situation is for the survivors; faced with an overwelhming shivan force and nowhere to go.

magatsu1:
*bags mission2*

yoik!

Hippo:
As i said in the other thread, i'll inspect and stuff, for either version...

Ghostavo:
Mission 1 :)

ShadowFox:
I call mission 2.

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