Hard Light Productions Forums

FreeSpace Releases => Mission & Campaign Releases => Topic started by: Singh on September 29, 2003, 11:05:38 am

Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on September 29, 2003, 11:05:38 am
This is my first completed mission ever, done with the help of FRED and FRED_Open. It may or may not have some issues, since my copy of FS_open isn't exactly co-operating, but for the most part the mission is bug-free :)

Hope you enjoy it and give me some good constructive criticism :)

http://www.geocities.com/anandraj_singh_d/Proton.zip

(please ignore the fact that you can jump out just about anywhere instead of just at the node and don't cheat when it comes to dodging the flak! those problems occured with FRED_Open and i cannot fix 'em :P)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: karajorma on September 29, 2003, 05:40:19 pm
If you don't know how to stop the player jumping out anywhere have a look at the FRED section of my FAQ cause I explained how to solve that particular problem there.
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on September 29, 2003, 07:38:22 pm
As i said, its a problem with SCP and my computer more than anything else. But i did manage to fix the problem- along with a few others too. The updated zip will be uploaded momentarily.

Any comments on the mission itself? was it fun or did it simply suck? :P
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Woolie Wool on September 29, 2003, 07:49:13 pm
I haven't tried it, but judging by the fact that it's your first mission ever...:doubt:

I made many missions before coming up with one suitable for release.
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on September 29, 2003, 08:02:24 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Woolie Wool
I haven't tried it, but judging by the fact that it's your first mission ever...:doubt:

I made many missions before coming up with one suitable for release.


My first mission polished and polished and even more polished before releasing. I spent several days creating the 'bones' of the mission, filled in everything else, and then play tested it to perfection (or at least, as close as i could get) ;)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: StratComm on September 29, 2003, 08:07:35 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Woolie Wool
I haven't tried it, but judging by the fact that it's your first mission ever...:doubt:

I made many missions before coming up with one suitable for release.


Really Wollie, that was uncalled for.  For all we know we might have another master FREDer on our hands here, something that the community is definitely lacking.  That's like telling someone who releases their "first" model that it sucks, without even looking at it.  But then again, my first model, while simple, was quite possibly better than a lot of things going into campaigns.  I couldn't texture at the time, and it had collision detection issues, but it was still pretty cool IMHO.  As sleek as my latest Vasudan designs?  Hardly.  It didn't have my signature engines either.  But it was still pretty neat.  So don't judge this guy unless you have actually tried the mission.

For the record, I challenge anyone to figure out what ship I am talking about here.  I finished it, but I somehow doubt that it ever actually got released.

EDIT:  I tried the mission... not bad, especially for a first.  My comments (the bad, everything else was good)
[list=1]
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on September 29, 2003, 09:02:12 pm
1. The exposition is necessary, as i'm quite literally connecting 2 universes. 1 is the GTVa and the other is one that was created in the storyline pieces i wrote for Droidarena. It hasn't helped the mission, yes, but it didn't hurt it either. The fact it came as a surprise was not bad either- gives a bit of unexpected to the entire thing. And yes, this was supposed to be the start of a campaign, but due to lack of time, its seems like it might stay that way. But I have removed some of the references and kept them fewer as you suggested.

2. It's not the fact that it is junk- it is the fact that it needs to be stopped. The GTVA have a good reason to stop all SFC vessels while using as much resources as possible- it just isn't explained here. I should include it in the de-brief though.

3. fixed in the new version (will go up in a few minutes)

4. I wanted to leave them targettable, but you are right- it does create problems. I'll leave the diemos targettable though, it does add a bit of flavor to the entire thing

5. problem with the wrong SexPs, should be fixed now.

Also added the cruisers into the escort ship list. I will put up the finished version shortly.
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on September 29, 2003, 09:06:53 pm
uploaded new version with all the suggestions.
Thanks for your help Stratcomm :)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on September 29, 2003, 11:54:24 pm
uploaded even newer version. FRED didn't save it so it was buggy O_O

Newer version is fluffled up a bit- just played it through with no bugs :D

http://www.geocities.com/anandraj_singh_d/Proton.zip
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on October 03, 2003, 10:51:12 pm
come on....any comments at all?? :P
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Setekh on October 05, 2003, 02:10:21 am
This may get more attention if it's in the right forum. :)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Akalabeth Angel on October 06, 2003, 03:09:54 am
I'd play it but I don't have FS_Open installed. I only gots FS2 standard. :)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: magatsu1 on October 06, 2003, 12:07:29 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Akalabeth Angel
I'd play it but I don't have FS_Open installed. I only gots FS2 standard. :)


Ditto.
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Krackers87 on October 07, 2003, 09:41:36 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Woolie Wool
I haven't tried it, but judging by the fact that it's your first mission ever...:doubt:

I made many missions before coming up with one suitable for release.


I was told my first mission kicked ass.

no one gets to see it again until it comes out with POW

you can find an early version of it somewhere in the forums.
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Krackers87 on October 07, 2003, 10:46:50 pm
Played the latest V.

More stress packed in such a short mission i thought was imaginable. Im going to go take some cafeine pills to calm me down now.

Very good though. You might want to give the Aeolus a little more health for those who dont know the barrel and scream manuver.
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on October 11, 2003, 10:46:01 am
Thanks for the comments, unfortunately i wont be able to edit the mission any more due to the fact that I no longer have access to either FRED or FRED_open, or any FS2 material whatsoever.

My apologies for this, I was hoping to put in a few more delays on the Cap ships arrival to prevent too much fast-paced action, but didn't have the time to finish it. Again, my apologies :(

P.S. Barrel and Scream Manuver? What's that??
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: karajorma on October 11, 2003, 11:31:01 am
Nice mission singh. I took a break from playtesting another campaign and gave it a try. Not bad at all for a first mission but as Krackers said a little too fast paced. :yes:
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on October 16, 2003, 04:21:23 pm
Any idea on how to lower the pace then? (may have access to FRED again soon!) :D
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: karajorma on October 17, 2003, 06:52:27 am
Increasing the delay between the enemies jumping in by a few seconds might be nice. Givig the Aeolus a few more hitpoints or having the enemy cruisers take a little longer to turn around and bring their main beams to bear on it might be nice too.
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on October 17, 2003, 09:33:39 pm
K. I'll do that ASAP.
Any other items worth mentioning? They can be good or bad- since i might just have enough time to complete mission 2 of this :D
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on October 18, 2003, 04:40:04 am
updated file- new Version has a few updates that should reduce the pace a bit. On easy difficulty, the ship made it out several times, but it was balanced enough so that it survived at hard difficulty as well :)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Thylrial on October 19, 2003, 01:25:50 pm
I tried to download your mission, but I got a nice error 404. Is my browser faulty, is the problem on your side or am I even unable to follow a link without getting lost?
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: karajorma on October 20, 2003, 05:50:18 am
Worked fine for me. Try again now. It may have been a temporary glitch.
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Thylrial on October 20, 2003, 08:36:06 am
It was actually a problem with Geocities and perhaps the way my broswer handles links. Geocities seems to hate remote linking, and it didn't work as I only clicked on the link. Now that I reload the link, it works fine.

Anyway, I will give it a try as soon as possible now that the problem is no more. (Silly me) Thanks Karajorma for incinting me to try again!
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: magatsu1 on October 21, 2003, 05:03:04 pm
can I add a couple of thoughts ?

*does anyway*
I think the briefings were too long. And I'd change the debris ships to friendly so the battle music isn't on all the time.

:)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: karajorma on October 22, 2003, 07:09:38 am
Quote
Originally posted by magatsu1
can I add a couple of thoughts ?

*does anyway*
I think the briefings were too long. And I'd change the debris ships to friendly so the battle music isn't on all the time.

:)


I agree with you about the command briefing. This is probably something that would be sorted out if the mission was part of a campaign though.

The debris is a good idea :)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on October 22, 2003, 08:02:52 am
Quote
Originally posted by karajorma


I agree with you about the command briefing. This is probably something that would be sorted out if the mission was part of a campaign though.

The debris is a good idea :)


It is part of a campaign...or at least, it was supposed to be ;)

I'm working on Mission 2 of it now, but will edit the previous mission with the second suggestion given :)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on October 22, 2003, 08:11:22 am
Version updated :)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: magatsu1 on October 23, 2003, 12:33:26 pm
someone here listens to me ??
I try and keep briefings to about 4 or 5 stages.
:cool:
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on October 25, 2003, 10:06:43 am
I've done mission 2 of this; but before I do anymore stuff (like briefings, de-briefings, etc) I'd like some help playtesting it just to make sure all the stuff works right and its actually playable (and maybe fun too) :)
Any volunteers? :D
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on October 26, 2003, 10:44:59 pm
Hmm.....no volunteers?
Guess the mission goes out as good as i can make it on my own then. Or should I not bother since i obviously seem to suck at FREDing?
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: karajorma on October 27, 2003, 07:40:56 am
Make the mission and you'll find people willing to try it :)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: magatsu1 on October 27, 2003, 04:28:06 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Singh
Hmm.....no volunteers?
Guess the mission goes out as good as i can make it on my own then. Or should I not bother since i obviously seem to suck at FREDing?


No one said that.
Don't be so damn stroppy ! ;)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on November 05, 2003, 08:10:23 am
I've playtested this as much as possible, and its a good mission to me. Don't mind hte long boring period in hte beggining, its meant as a dialogue opener, and things get hard enough after that.
If its too easy, please, give me suggestions to improve that- i've been playing on hard and completed it nearly every time!
If its buggy or something, please take note that im dead tired and might have made changes last-minute, in which case, i apologize in advance and will fix it in the morning.

www.geocities.com/anandraj_singh_d/Control.zip
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: kv1at3485 on November 06, 2003, 04:22:46 pm
Well, I finally got my hands on fs_open (DSL is good for something afterall... ;7 ) and so I was able to play your missions...

Your first mission! (proton.zip)
I can't say anything bad about it.  Thanks to those Fenris cruisers and their AA beams, I got whacked to 6% hull integrity.  Needless to say, when all those hostiles jumped in at the end, I made a beeline for the node after I finished the scanning.  Didn't even need to bother the Sobek on the way out wither! :)

Your second mission!
I wasn't able to complete this mission because I got this error message:


Error: Distance of 0 is invalid in mission_set_arrival_location

File:E:\Languages\Visual Studio Projects\Visual C++\fs2_open\code\Mission\MissionParse.cpp
Line: 4802

Call stack:
------------------------------------------------------------------
    FS2_OPEN_R.EXE 011b81f8()
    FS2_OPEN_R.EXE 011b50f8()
    FS2_OPEN_R.EXE 011b2fb8()
    FS2_OPEN_R.EXE 01159f38()
    FS2_OPEN_R.EXE 011b81f8()
    FS2_OPEN_R.EXE 011b50f8()
    FS2_OPEN_R.EXE 011b2fb8()
    FS2_OPEN_R.EXE 01159f38()
    FS2_OPEN_R.EXE 011b81f8()
    FS2_OPEN_R.EXE 011b50f8()
    FS2_OPEN_R.EXE 011b2fb8()
    FS2_OPEN_R.EXE 01159f38()
    FS2_OPEN_R.EXE 011b81f8()
    FS2_OPEN_R.EXE 011b50f8()
    FS2_OPEN_R.EXE 011b2fb8()
------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm not quite sure what's going on, aside from what the error message implies.  I take you didn't get this error, so... :confused:

EDIT:  I found the problem.  Kilo wing has an arrival distance of zero from "any friendly".  I suspect this is the problem.  Change this to 1000 or something.  You don't want Kilo wing jumping in right in front of Alpha 1,2,3 or 4.  (Besides, this would make Kilo sitting ducks for a few critical seconds.)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: kv1at3485 on November 06, 2003, 04:49:17 pm
And another thing! (I really should do my research before posting... :o )

In "First Step", the mission objective where you need to scan the wrecks is listed as a bonus objective.  I think it should pop up as a secondary or primary objective at the appropriate time since you need to do it anyway to complete the mission.  The Tomak will not warp in unless you have completed the 'bonus' objective.

I usually see bonus objectives as those objectives which are purely optional, not necessary.  A better way to do 'First Step' would be to give the player a limited time to scan the wrecks before the Tomak arrives.  Therefore, the objective is truly a bonus objective.

Of course, this would mean that mission 2 would be changed since you need the information on the wrecked Leviathan.  Perhaps you may wish to have another 'mission two' as an alternative if you do not scan the Leviathan.  But then, you'd need another way of arming Alpha wing with bombs...  Complications and more complications... :nervous:
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on November 06, 2003, 10:15:43 pm
Quote
Originally posted by kv1at3485
And another thing! (I really should do my research before posting... :o )

In "First Step", the mission objective where you need to scan the wrecks is listed as a bonus objective.  I think it should pop up as a secondary or primary objective at the appropriate time since you need to do it anyway to complete the mission.  The Tomak will not warp in unless you have completed the 'bonus' objective.

I usually see bonus objectives as those objectives which are purely optional, not necessary.  A better way to do 'First Step' would be to give the player a limited time to scan the wrecks before the Tomak arrives.  Therefore, the objective is truly a bonus objective.

Of course, this would mean that mission 2 would be changed since you need the information on the wrecked Leviathan.  Perhaps you may wish to have another 'mission two' as an alternative if you do not scan the Leviathan.  But then, you'd need another way of arming Alpha wing with bombs...  Complications and more complications... :nervous:


Scanning the ships IS optional- Command even nudges Alpha into running for it if the situation is too hostile. You can leave at any time, the only thing limiting is the distance to the node, thats all. The tomak only appears after you've scanned the things and makes it harder to get out, whereas just running would be hte easy way out, but you dont have a sobek or fighters to worry about either :D

Also, i carefully worded the second mision to say 'prelimanary scans' not 'your scans', so the information is not really needed in this mission. Same with the bombs, but this will affect the outcomes in maybe the 3rd mission onwards.
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on November 07, 2003, 06:00:12 am
Zip updated and fixed. try now :)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: kv1at3485 on November 07, 2003, 04:49:32 pm
Well, the mission works now.  Very good.

I did notice that in debriefing stage one you have
"$r GTD $r Totality".
Get rid of both '$r'.  They only work in command briefings and regular briefings, not debriefings.

Aside from that, keep up the good work!
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on November 08, 2003, 08:32:23 am
Quote
Originally posted by kv1at3485
Well, the mission works now.  Very good.

I did notice that in debriefing stage one you have
"$r GTD $r Totality".
Get rid of both '$r'.  They only work in command briefings and regular briefings, not debriefings.

Aside from that, keep up the good work!


Thanks :D
I'll fix that little bug a bit later (little time now)
Anyone else have comments? (can be good or bad) :D
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Krackers87 on November 13, 2003, 08:20:25 am
Quote
Originally posted by Singh

P.S. Barrel and Scream Manuver? What's that??


when about to die from masses of enemys all heading to you perform the Barrel and Scream manuver.

1 place two right fingers on the left and up, left and down, right and up, or right and down. Alternate consstantly.

2 place left index finger on TAB

3 place left thumb on CTRL

4 Scream
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on November 13, 2003, 10:04:04 pm
So that's the barrel and scream manuever O_O
Scary....
*thinks of putting in a few more missions with that trick*
MWhahahahahahahahaha.......

btw- be honest- how many of you lost Jonus? :D
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on November 15, 2003, 02:52:37 am
Zip updated. Don't forget that you have to copy and paste the link, otherwise Geocities will NOT work!
Anyone think i should bother continuing the campaign?
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: kv1at3485 on November 15, 2003, 11:38:08 am
Sure, if you have the time.  I work on my campaign in spurts.  There comes a time when I'm straight out of ideas and energy so I take a break for a few weeks.  During that time, a bunch of ideas for missions come to me, and I work up the courage to take on FRED again.  Then I continue!

So take a break, have a piece of dark chocolate! :cool:
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on November 16, 2003, 05:46:29 am
Quote
Originally posted by kv1at3485
Sure, if you have the time.  I work on my campaign in spurts.  There comes a time when I'm straight out of ideas and energy so I take a break for a few weeks.  During that time, a bunch of ideas for missions come to me, and I work up the courage to take on FRED again.  Then I continue!

So take a break, have a piece of dark chocolate! :cool:


It's not the FREDding bit that's got me concerned. Rather, the fact that there is little to no interest in this means that it might not  be worth just starting up another campaign that simply shuts down. It might be better if I instead offered what little FREDding skills i do have for some other campaign in hopes of completing it.. :nervous:
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: karajorma on November 16, 2003, 07:11:38 am
It's not that there's no interest in your work Singh it's just that most of us know that a campaign takes time so there's no point in getting excited about it at the moment. If you gave us a completed campaign to look at you'd find a lot more interest.
 I do tend to agree that working on a team is a better idea though. I'm sure if you just started a thread saying "FREDder for hire" you'd be snapped up by a major campaign by the end of the day. :D
 Hell, I'd snap you up for MG right now except that since we're in a modding phase at the moment we wouldn't have any work for you for a while.
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: magatsu1 on November 16, 2003, 03:35:48 pm
Care to extend that invitation to other the FREDers knockin' about round here ?;7
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: karajorma on November 16, 2003, 05:47:51 pm
Well at the moment MG isn't taking on any FREDders cause it wouldn't be fair to take someone on and then just leave them sitting about doing nothing while we make the next set of mods we need.
 However if you're serious about joining and are willing to help with mission design as well as simply FREDding I'm sure Geezer wouldn't complain about me signing up new people.
 I would be happy to get other peoples opinions on our missions and suggestions on how to tighten them up and improve them are always welcome.

If you've not read it have a look at my interview (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,15589.0.html) with Black Wolf to get some more info about MG beyond what is on the website.
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on November 16, 2003, 09:51:14 pm
Quote
Originally posted by karajorma
Well at the moment MG isn't taking on any FREDders cause it wouldn't be fair to take someone on and then just leave them sitting about doing nothing while we make the next set of mods we need.
 However if you're serious about joining and are willing to help with mission design as well as simply FREDding I'm sure Geezer wouldn't complain about me signing up new people.
 I would be happy to get other peoples opinions on our missions and suggestions on how to tighten them up and improve them are always welcome.

If you've not read it have a look at my interview (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,15589.0.html) with Black Wolf to get some more info about MG beyond what is on the website.


Well, i still stay doing mission scripting and sequences is a necessary part of FREDding- hell, it makes FREDding 50% easier since you know what needs to be done. :nod:
Consider me a volunteer to help then ;)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Krackers87 on November 16, 2003, 11:58:46 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Singh
So that's the barrel and scream manuever O_O
Scary....
*thinks of putting in a few more missions with that trick*
MWhahahahahahahahaha.......

btw- be honest- how many of you lost Jonus? :D


well i lost a bunch of times on the first mission proton, but the funy thing is, i liked it....
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: magatsu1 on November 17, 2003, 12:41:37 pm
karajorma,

always happy to offer an opinion......(hehhehee)
actually, I hate scripting. I just like building missions :doubt:
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: karajorma on November 17, 2003, 01:58:15 pm
Well I've now got one of your missions to try out some time tonight thanks to the other thread so I'll give that the once over :D
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on November 25, 2003, 01:58:41 am
some pics from the mission i've been working on:

Blue ships...

(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/133822/blue.JPG)

Definately not this Corvette's lucky day.

(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/133822/lucky.JPG)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: magatsu1 on November 25, 2003, 12:03:27 pm
hey, where's your avatar ?? ;7 :D
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on November 25, 2003, 10:25:13 pm
Quote
Originally posted by magatsu1
hey, where's your avatar ?? ;7 :D


Why do you ask that?
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on November 29, 2003, 04:16:24 am
ok.....im going to work on this mission and finish it, and then I'm going to work on....other missions (that's all yer getting, so :p)
It would have been a conclusion to the campaign, had i had the time to continue it, so look for a good battle and a cool twist :)
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: magatsu1 on December 01, 2003, 03:00:00 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Singh


Why do you ask that?


why else would you join a project ?



note:joke
Title: My first mission ever :)
Post by: Singh on December 21, 2003, 04:25:05 am
My public gallery of FS2 images :D

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?selected=657487