[bigchunk1]

I hope this is the correct forum category to post this. I am interested in getting feedback for this as it is the first mission I have completed using FRED2, well the first real mission. I don't want to bias the responces, so I won't be too specific about the mission. You are an NTF pilot stationed on Admiral Koth's flagship the NTD Repulse. This mission is supposed to take place some time before the Colossus destroys the Repulse in the main campaign mission titled "feint! parry! respite!".

A quick comment, sorry about the voice acting file. I tried to make it as easy as I could to download, but you will have to sort the files into games/freespace2/data/voice/special (special or briefing or debriefing) etc. note: there is no command briefing audio.  If you have a distaste for voice acting try running the mission without downloading the audio files, Though I do recommend downloading and sorting all of it if you are willing to do the work. Let me know if it does not work without audio files and I will make a version that does not include voice acting. Also please let me know if you have any difficulty downloading the files. This is my first time using Qdrive.

The mission file: EDIT: Links no longer are valid Qdrive is shamelessly restructuring its entire site, so I remade the links using mediafire. http://www.mediafire.com/file/lgzhyqzrqvj/WaN(Beta[1]).fs2

The audio files: EDIT: same with this file. http://www.mediafire.com/file/yfonzjmyo0k/WaN(voiceActing).zip

All of the above files in a single .vp (extract to \freespace2\wan\ and select \wan\ as a mod folder from the Launcher. Remember that you must go to the mission simulator and open single missions to see this mission). [Thanks to Jeff Vader for providing the VP file and link]

EDIT:This mission was created using FRED2 open 3.6.10 and was tested using the standard mediavps (no mod).

EDIT2: there are many spoilers in the replys. If you don't like spoilers, download and play the mission before reading. Otherwise don't worry about it.

[Dilmah G]

G'day,

Yep, you got the category right mate. I've got some time (and econs homework to do... But **** that), so I'll give your mission a runthrough and post some feedback.

[bigchunk1]

haha cool, hope you don't have a test or anything.

EDIT: I'll check this thread tomorrow, it's getting late in Chicago.

[Dilmah G]

Was a pretty good first mission, in my opinion. Although, it lacked a bit of structure at the beginning. It's pretty rare to see a voice-acted mission, let alone someone's first.

That said, Koth sounded a little camp for my liking. All of the nitpicks were small things, personal message me if you'd like to go into more depth, and keep it up!

[bigchunk1]

Thanks for testing, glad to see everything worked. I'll PM you.

[bigchunk1]

Anyone else with feedback? I guess I picked a bad day to post. Comments about anything are welcome. Story, runtime-logic, atmosphere, gameplay/tactics etc.

Anyone try the mission without audio?

[Spoon]

Couldn't get the audio to work
The mission itself is a basic defend mission, defeat the enemy waves. Not too much to say there
Though I did find it rather odd that the GTVA would send in a lone Orion in to attack the Repulse. No cruiser or corvette escort?

[bigchunk1]

Couldn't get the audio to work

The audio is a zip file that contains 3 separate folders(which you must first extract). I don't think dragging the entire folder into games/freespace2/data/voice will work. Each group of files must be put into their directory without the folder. So for example all of the .wav files in the "special" folder need to be placed in games/freespace2/data/voice/special without the folder, just the .wav files. I hope that helps. Again, sorry to put you through the trouble. I don't know how campaigns such as "derelict" or "cardinal spear" bundle their audio into one single download. At any rate, I am happy you got the mission to work without audio. I like that FRED2 is so versatile.

The mission itself is a basic defend mission, defeat the enemy waves. Not too much to say there
 

I have read lengthy threads regarding proper wing management, event scripting, objectives, briefing, debriefing, background creation, balance etc., so I still feel that simply calling it a "basic defend mission" does not mean there is nothing to comment on. Plenty of things can still go wrong. Please too keep in mind this is my first mission. I created it specifically to get feedback from the community so that I know how to improve in the future, so I would like comments to be as detailed as possible.

Though I did find it rather odd that the GTVA would send in a lone Orion in to attack the Repulse. No cruiser or corvette escort?

In the retail campaigns they kept the ship count low. I wanted this mission to feel like something Volition would make. A lot of things in the retail campaign would not make sense, such as a Sathanas without warship escort, but I wanted to stay true to the game over reality if that makes sense.

Thanks for commenting spoon.

EDIT: changed the file directory name from "voices" to "voice" in this post after being corrected by Jeff Vader

[The E]

I don't know how campaigns such as "derelict" or "cardinal spear" bundle their audio into one single download.

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/VP

Basically, by packing the data\ folder into a vp, you can distribute everything needed for your mission into one single file.

[Jeff Vader]

There's also another option if creating .vp files seems to daunting. Assuming that \wan\ would be the mod folder for your mission, place the mission file to \wan\data\missions\ and the audio files to \wan\data\voice\special\ . Zip the \wan\ folder, distribute it, tell people to extract to their \freespace2\ folder. The \wan\ folder will appear there as a subfolder. Tell them to select is as a mod. Profit.

Also, note that it is \data\voice\ . Without the "s".

Edit: I created a .vp version and took the liberty of adding a download link to the first post.

[Spoon]

Voices work with Jeff vader's .vp
Your attempt at Kosh is well... not so good. 

I have read lengthy threads regarding proper wing management, event scripting, objectives, briefing, debriefing, background creation, balance etc., so I still feel that simply calling it a "basic defend mission" does not mean there is nothing to comment on. Plenty of things can still go wrong. Please too keep in mind this is my first mission. I created it specifically to get feedback from the community so that I know how to improve in the future, so I would like comments to be as detailed as possible.

Erh yea, you are right. It's just that I'm personally not a big fan of 's 1999 mission design "Less ships because of framerate" and "Defeat the first wave and then the second one and then the third one" 
Let me rephrase, your mission is solid. Played it twice, didn't encountered any odd bugs or incomplete events or missing debriefings. In fact, it seems you have every possible debrief accounted for, even a deserter one 

Well, one oddity is that you are ordered to disarm the beam cannons but a moment later are told to stay clear of that area because of the beam fire. Can't have both!

[The E]

That's what Maxims are for.... (Disclaimer: I did not play the mission)

[Spoon]

That's what Maxims are for.... (Disclaimer: I did not play the mission)

NTF my man, they don't exactly have the luxery of a wide weapon choice
in fact, this mission only has the Prom R as primary 

[bigchunk1]

I created a .vp version and took the liberty of adding a download link to the first post.

Thanks for making the VP file Jeff Vader. I am still very new to SCP and still trying to get a hold of file management. VP files make a lot more sense than what I made.

Voices work with Jeff Vader's .vp
Your attempt at Kosh is well... not so good. 

You are very right. I can’t do Koth. If one day I elaborate this mission into a mini-campaign I will definitely audition the part on the forums.

Well, one oddity is that you are ordered to disarm the beam cannons but a moment later are told to stay clear of that area because of the beam fire. Can't have both!

The idea I was trying to communicate is that the player should fly above the Diophantine and shoot down at the beam cannons. While testing in the early stages, death by beam fire was a huge problem. I must have died at least 10 times by beam fire in testing. I put in the warning messages so that people don’t get frustrated. I can see the contradiction though. Thanks for pointing it out.

That's what Maxims are for.... (Disclaimer: I did not play the mission)

Ya, you don't get maxim in this mission. Maxims are sweet though. You do however have access to stilettoII warheads.

[Jeff Vader]

Your attempt at Kosh is well... not so good.  

"Yes."

[Spoon]

Oh hush you 
At least comment on the mission instead of my silly typo

[Nemesis6]

The mission was pretty good.

By the way, didn't Koth try to the ram the colossus? Stupid, stupid, stupid! 

[FelixJim]

Good stuff, especially considering it's a first mission. I've PM'd you with a few ideas (feel free to ignore; I'm still fairly new to the mission design scene myself).
Wasn't sure what the GTVA were thinking here, mind. Sending a Vasudan scout, and from its report sending a few wings of Terran bombers and then a lone Orion? It's not too unusual though, just a bit odd.
Oh, and it's not too difficult to put the Repulse into the position where they're thrashing the other Orion, whilst it's getting scared and powering up jump drives to run away. Not sure how you would fix this though (special hits, anyone?).
But all in all, nice material. It's always good to see new(ish?) ideas too (even if hunting for near-invisible fighter is frustrating, thank God that the Repulse finds it after a while!).

[bigchunk1]

By the way, didn't Koth try to the ram the colossus? Stupid, stupid, stupid! 

Yep that's the guy! My favorite underplayed character in FS2 main.

Wasn't sure what the GTVA were thinking here, mind. Sending a Vasudan scout, and from its report sending a few wings of Terran bombers and then a lone Orion? It's not too unusual though, just a bit odd.

A Vasudan recon fighter found the Repulse and relayed the position to a nearby Terran fleet. Such an operation I think is very possible. I considered making some of the early wings in the attack Vasudan, but the mission was not long enough for that level of variety. Things might have gotten a little weird if the Diophantine started deploying Vasudan wings, but even in FS1 the GTD Bastion deployed a wing of Vasudan Thoth fighters near the end of the campaign.

The mission might look like a blunder for the GTVA, but I think that’s because I might have made it a little too easy. A lot is at stake here for the NTF. The Repulse is the flagship of the spearhead attack fleet in Epsilon Pegasi. Losing it pretty much kicks the NTF out of the system, as well as knocking off Rear Admiral Koth, who is a major player for the NTF. A bomber attack to weaken the Repulse followed by an equally matched destroyer to finish the job does not sound like a bad idea on paper. It does however, put both parties in a high risk situation. Thankfully for the NTF, Alpha 1 is on the job.

A lot of people say that 1v1 destroyers makes no sense. I’m just going to run back to my volition argument on that one. Also perhaps the rest of the fleet is tied up elsewhere? The main FS2 campaign worked that excuse liberally.

Oh, and it's not too difficult to put the Repulse into the position where they're thrashing the other Orion, whilst it's getting scared and powering up jump drives to run away. Not sure how you would fix this though (special hits, anyone?).

Not exactly sure what you mean by this. The dilemma is that the Repulse can only divert power to subspace drives or beams. Not enough power for both. Perhaps this information is hard to catch during the climax of the mission. Are you talking about conventional engines?

It's always good to see new(ish?) ideas too (even if hunting for near-invisible fighter is frustrating, thank God that the Repulse finds it after a while!).

I am so glad you said that! I was beginning to think I made that recon fighter too easy to take down. I wanted to be very careful not to make the player frustrated in this mission.

I don’t mind the comments at all. in fact, I am glad you sent them to me! In many ways it’s very useful to have a new FREDer review this mission because you are most likely struggling with many of the same issues I am; Issues that most experts forget are problems newcomers face.

[FelixJim]

Oh, and it's not too difficult to put the Repulse into the position where they're thrashing the other Orion, whilst it's getting scared and powering up jump drives to run away. Not sure how you would fix this though (special hits, anyone?).

Not exactly sure what you mean by this. The dilemma is that the Repulse can only divert power to subspace drives or beams. Not enough power for both. Perhaps this information is hard to catch during the climax of the mission. Are you talking about conventional engines?

Well, what I was thinking of was that I couldn't understand why they wanted their jump-drives working at that point, rather than their beams. They were winning, why try and jump?