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FreeSpace Releases => Mission & Campaign Releases => Topic started by: CaptainX on August 01, 2007, 01:33:00 pm

Title: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: CaptainX on August 01, 2007, 01:33:00 pm
Greetings all.

I have been working on my campaign which, to date, is still untitled. Since I haven't FREDed in a while, I thought I would release a teaser pack containing some cutscenes and a couple of missions to get the opinions of the other people here.

Because of all the required stuff to make everything work, it'll have to be installed as a mod. The RAR file is 10 MB and includes everything. Anyone who is interested and is willing to provide some suggestions and insight, feel free to download it and check it out.

Please note that the campaign is not finished... there are a few parts that will be obviously incomplete, but they aren't vital areas and won't detract from the missions. The missions themslves are complete, except for a quiet spot in the second mission where some pilot chatter will go eventually.

You can download the file here: http://www.skyline-solutions.com/personal
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: TrashMan on August 01, 2007, 03:28:57 pm
CAnyou shed some more light on the campaign? When and where it's set? Some basic info?
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: karajorma on August 01, 2007, 04:56:11 pm
This belongs in the missions and campaigns forum. You'll probably get more players there too.
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: CaptainX on August 01, 2007, 05:02:44 pm
Yeah, I suppose I should do that LOL. Here is a short backstory that gives a general idea where I plan to go with the campaign.



The campaign is set approximately ten years after the second war. The GTVA has already restablished contact with Earth using Knossos technology. However, the GTVA economy still hasn't fully recovered from the loss of Capella and its neighboring systems.

With the Shivan threat gone and the NTF eliminated, the GTVA has entered a time of relative peace. The heavily populated central systems were flourishing, but the more lightly populated outer border systems were beginning to have problems with rouge gangs and pirate clans harassing civilian shipping.

In addition, using Knossos technology, a jump node was opened from the Ikeya system to the newly discovered Omicron system. The Omicron system is rich in resources, and has several habitable planets. A large majority of Capella refugees settled here. However, the GTVA military presence in the system is very light, and pirate activity has taken a turn for the worse - so much that the GTVA was now losing vital recources and supplies to pirate groups that are better armed than ever before.

You play as a pilot stationed aboard the GTCa Midway, a Warlock class supercarrier. Its mission is to conduct stike missions and respond to distress calls in the Omicron system. In addition, their underlying mission is to find out who these pirates are, where they are getting state of the art technology, and why they only seem to focus on certain civilian corporations for their strikes.

But you know what they say.... sometimes when you dig for the answer, all you get is dirty.



A longer back story with more detail (along with a title) will be coming a bit later as I develop the campaign further. I mainly wanted to get opinions from some of you veterans out there on what I've done so far.
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: TrashMan on August 01, 2007, 05:04:57 pm
Sounds promissing...

Warlock class eh? Did they ever get a HTL version of that thing?
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: Bob-san on August 01, 2007, 05:07:20 pm
Sounds interesting--I'll try to remember to try this out when I get back home.
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: CaptainX on August 01, 2007, 05:09:40 pm
I have no idea... I haven't even looked at the model to see if it was HTL or not.

Personally, I'd like a different looking carrier... something like the Galaxy class, but the size of the Warlock. I just went with what was available at the time  :)

 The Warlock isn't my favorite style, but it fits the role I am looking for.
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: TrashMan on August 01, 2007, 05:21:29 pm
I have no idea... I haven't even looked at the model to see if it was HTL or not.

Personally, I'd like a different looking carrier... something like the Galaxy class, but the size of the Warlock. I just went with what was available at the time  :)

 The Warlock isn't my favorite style, but it fits the role I am looking for.

You're refering to my Galaxy? Or someone elses...I kinda lost track of all the ships made here..there's many.

the Galaxy is..what?...allmost 4 klicks?...How big is the Warlock..it's been a while since I last seen that model
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: Snail on August 01, 2007, 05:50:23 pm
Something like 5-6km.
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: TrashMan on August 01, 2007, 06:02:01 pm
So building a 6km long warship 10 years after Capella? And 2 Knosses portals? With a economy that hasn't yet recovered?

It's a streach, but in the realm of possible I guess. :)
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: CaptainX on August 01, 2007, 06:15:44 pm
I'm planning to cover for that particular stretch with advances in building and manufacturing technology - The GTVA dedicated research to coming up with faster and more economical ways of building ships to replenish their fleet, in the event of another Shivan invasion or other major threat.
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: TrashMan on August 01, 2007, 06:35:40 pm
I factored that in :p..and I'm using the same "excuse" in my campiagn too  - nano construction bots, new welding tecniques, etc...
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: CaptainX on August 01, 2007, 07:02:29 pm
Don't worry... once you get into the campaign, ship construction times will be the furthest thing from your mind  ;)
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: Excalibur on August 01, 2007, 07:36:37 pm
The warlock is sort of like a massive fenris cruiser with heaps of turrets. ;)

I looked at it in blender, i've never seen it in FS2. Yet.
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: CaptainX on August 02, 2007, 11:04:36 pm
Has anyone played the missions yet? I'm looking to get some feedback before I continue...
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: NGTM-1R on August 02, 2007, 11:32:25 pm
Give me a day or so.
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: jr2 on August 02, 2007, 11:49:48 pm
So building a 6km long warship 10 years after Capella? And 2 Knosses portals? With a economy that hasn't yet recovered?

It's a streach, but in the realm of possible I guess. :)

The economy is doing great thx to all the new jobs available building warships & Knossos portals... err, not, because of the heavy taxes.  If they'd leave the taxes alone, maybe... yeah, riggggt.  Stupid government always leans too heavily onto the tax side, IMO.
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: S-99 on August 03, 2007, 02:25:21 am
Reminds me of derelict, except no shivans, and in derelict there was no link back to earth. This does sound fun though otherwise.
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: ssmit132 on August 05, 2007, 02:46:12 am
The economy is doing great thx to all the new jobs available building warships & Knossos portals...

Just because it's a depression, doesn't mean that you can't build great things. The Sydney Harbour Bridge was built in the Great Depression.
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: Tinman on August 05, 2007, 02:53:41 pm

very nice, started playing it...

i will need two or three days... then you will get feedback  :D 
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: Turey on August 05, 2007, 04:51:12 pm
I'm on the cruise liner mission, but I just want to say one thing:
Your use of the cutscene SEXPs is one of the most immersive things I've seen in this engine. It really adds to the feel of the campaign. I'd like to see this done more often.

EDIT: Oops. I guess there's no cruse liner mission. Was that on purpose?
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: CaptainX on August 05, 2007, 11:01:17 pm
Quote
EDIT: Oops. I guess there's no cruse liner mission. Was that on purpose?

Yes.... it leaves you wanting more.... I know, I'm evil  ;)

I'll be working on more missions and adding content. My main focus was to see what everyone thought thus far... are the missions immersive and exciting? Does everything appear to be working correctly "behind the scenes"? Is there anything broken? Is there anything I should add to improve the experience?

Basically questions like that.... I didn't want to create a 30 or 40 mission campaign only to have someone tell me I did something horribly wrong through 75% of the missions  :)
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: Turey on August 06, 2007, 12:55:40 pm
I like it very much. Do I have your permission to use some of those cutscene missions for my own nefarious purposes?
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: Tinman on August 06, 2007, 01:28:14 pm
So, the two missions are over...  :)

1. I like the cutscenes very much.

2. The two missions are very easy. With 2 UD8-Kayser as primary too much firepower for every foe. I played the 2 missions on hard as easy as other campaigns' missions on very easy   :eek2:
i try them on insane tomorrow but i do not expect a difference.     
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: CaptainX on August 06, 2007, 04:34:35 pm
Quote
I like it very much. Do I have your permission to use some of those cutscene missions for my own nefarious purposes?

Sure, you're welcome to use them.... but open up the scenes in FRED, and check out the SEXP tree.... they're rediculously easy to figure out. Then you'll be able to make any scene you want with any ship you want. If you have any trouble, let me know and I'll see if I can help ya.

Quote
So, the two missions are over... 

1. I like the cutscenes very much.

2. The two missions are very easy. With 2 UD8-Kayser as primary too much firepower for every foe. I played the 2 missions on hard as easy as other campaigns' missions on very easy  :eek2:
i try them on insane tomorrow but i do not expect a difference.


That's the kind of feedback I was looking for  :p

I'll see about toning down the player's weapons a bit. I love the Kayser, but it DOES make the missions a little too easy, now that I've paid attention  :lol:
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: TrashMan on August 06, 2007, 05:34:10 pm
Nice...very nice :yes:
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: Excalibur on August 08, 2007, 10:48:02 pm

Sure, you're welcome to use them.... but open up the scenes in FRED, and check out the SEXP tree.... they're rediculously easy to figure out. Then you'll be able to make any scene you want with any ship you want. If you have any trouble, let me know and I'll see if I can help ya.

Quote

Are you saying that you can make cutscenes like the original FS2 ones with FRED?    (Sorry if this is well known, I haven't seen the latest version of FRED and I never knew anything about making cutscenes)
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: DiabloRojo on August 09, 2007, 01:26:47 am
First, I hope this doesn't sound like I'm expecting/demanding anything; based on the two missions so far, this would be how I think I would proceed, assuming I could get enough time and actually get decent with FRED.  On a side-note, you've given me an idea for a spin-off... that I'll never get to make.  Anyway, I know this is WIP, and that you may already have explanations for most of this, but here goes with my thoughts...
<braindump>

- Initial premise is peachy.  New system with lots of activity leaves plenty of room for varied combat areas and environment-based plot twists later on.

- Cut-scenes: Big thumbs up, though a couple may last a bit too long at current... whoopdy-doo, I know, but wanted to mention it as the thought crossed my mind while watching.  0rph3u5 made great use of them in The Black Hand TBP campaign and I'm glad to see the technique used more as it's a really cool extension to a mission or intro to a briefing.

- It's definitely on the 'very easy' end of the spectrum right now...  On the flip-side, I think the whole pirate stockpile of lokis and ursas (and pilots!) would have been wiped out in the 2nd mission.  In my run-through, I didn't lose a single wingman and still ended up waiting 3 or 4 minutes for the ship to jump.  Herein lies a conflict between logic and story-telling.  Of course the GTVA is going to send in the big dogs with the intent of wiping out the pirates 'yesterday.'  This is a brand-new top-o-the-line carrier and it's going to have all the best equipment.  Given that, they won't be sending their pilots out with moth-eaten Apollos, HL-7s and MX-50s.  IMO, game balancing only works when it fits the circumstances.  We've got Erinyes (Erinyi?) and Kaysers as we should.  The pirates, seeing this new threat, have the choice of running (no way no how, ya scurvy dog) or sending everything they have at the new threat (Yar!).

So here's my thoughts on possible solutions to this perceived problem:

1. Change the whole background to be really depressing, using an old and busted capital ship with a washed-up, shell-shocked crew and matching equipment to toughen it up while making the protagonists more desperate.  That's too depressing for my liking, but it would 'fit.'  That and it would require a major revamp of ...everything.

(Obviously I like this idea better since the paragraph is bigger...)
2. Make the pirates much smarter with much bigger cojones.  For instance, you could start the 2nd mission as a red-alert/scramble and have a couple enemy bomber and fighter wings already in-theater with an already mildly-damaged Midway.  Maybe they're also disillusioned GTVA vets that deserted, so give 'em a better AI class.  Side-note, I like Zeus bombers for pirate roles; it's just a personal taste as Ursas are big, lumbering bulls-eyes IMO.  Maybe add in some Vasudan craft to boot.  They're pirates after all, so (unless you have pirate shipyards later) they'd likely have a wide mix of craft.  To toughen-up the mission in particular while showing the pirates aren't stupid, have one or two bombers drop a couple shots right into the hangar bay just as your wing exits, have the Midway send a message that the hangar is wrecked and that you'll get no more (beta wing) fighter support.  Now the total firepower is cut in half so the pirates can be left with much fewer incoming numbers.  But have 2x2 fighter/bomber wings jump in at four corners of the ship.  Two sets of bombers could, say, try to disable engines while the other two sets start knocking out turrets.  Trying to engage/defend/evade over all that distance while prioritizing targets could get crazy and may take a lot of wingman orders to keep the Midway in one piece.

</braindump>
Whew... Take it as you will (or tell me to STFU as you like ;))
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: Snail on August 09, 2007, 04:19:16 am
But Vasudans aren't pirates. :(
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: TrashMan on August 09, 2007, 06:24:15 am
They can be if they want to...Like there aren't disilusioned vasudans or poor vasudans...
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: CaptainX on August 09, 2007, 06:29:07 am
Quote
Are you saying that you can make cutscenes like the original FS2 ones with FRED?    (Sorry if this is well known, I haven't seen the latest version of FRED and I never knew anything about making cutscenes)
The latest version of FRED2_open includes a sizeable list of SEXPs which are used to create cutscenes. They may seem confusing at first, but it's not too hard to figure out once you test everything once.

Quote
- Initial premise is peachy.  New system with lots of activity leaves plenty of room for varied combat areas and environment-based plot twists later on.
I liked the idea of having a foe that wasn't Shivan... I kinda got sick of fighting them after awhile LOL. And there will be plenty of plot twists  :D

Quote
- Cut-scenes: Big thumbs up, though a couple may last a bit too long at current... whoopdy-doo, I know, but wanted to mention it as the thought crossed my mind while watching.  0rph3u5 made great use of them in The Black Hand TBP campaign and I'm glad to see the technique used more as it's a really cool extension to a mission or intro to a briefing.
The cutscenes are one of the most fun things to tinker around with in Fred. Technically, you could make an entire movie out of a mission if you wanted... many minutes long, if you had the time to script all of it.

As for the length, there are a couple of scenes there which I was thinking of shortening a bit.

Quote
- It's definitely on the 'very easy' end of the spectrum right now...  On the flip-side, I think the whole pirate stockpile of lokis and ursas (and pilots!) would have been wiped out in the 2nd mission.  In my run-through, I didn't lose a single wingman and still ended up waiting 3 or 4 minutes for the ship to jump.  Herein lies a conflict between logic and story-telling.  Of course the GTVA is going to send in the big dogs with the intent of wiping out the pirates 'yesterday.'  This is a brand-new top-o-the-line carrier and it's going to have all the best equipment.  Given that, they won't be sending their pilots out with moth-eaten Apollos, HL-7s and MX-50s.  IMO, game balancing only works when it fits the circumstances.  We've got Erinyes (Erinyi?) and Kaysers as we should.  The pirates, seeing this new threat, have the choice of running (no way no how, ya scurvy dog) or sending everything they have at the new threat (Yar!).
I've decided to keep the Erinyes fighters, but I am going to remove the Kaysers from use except for very special missions where a lot of firepower is required. However, I may reserve the Erinyes fighters for the same thing... kinda like special ops equipment.

As for the pirate ship classes and supplies... just wait until you play the whole campaign and find out where they're coming from  :p

Quote
2. Make the pirates much smarter with much bigger cojones.  For instance, you could start the 2nd mission as a red-alert/scramble and have a couple enemy bomber and fighter wings already in-theater with an already mildly-damaged Midway.  Maybe they're also disillusioned GTVA vets that deserted, so give 'em a better AI class.  Side-note, I like Zeus bombers for pirate roles; it's just a personal taste as Ursas are big, lumbering bulls-eyes IMO.  Maybe add in some Vasudan craft to boot.  They're pirates after all, so (unless you have pirate shipyards later) they'd likely have a wide mix of craft.  To toughen-up the mission in particular while showing the pirates aren't stupid, have one or two bombers drop a couple shots right into the hangar bay just as your wing exits, have the Midway send a message that the hangar is wrecked and that you'll get no more (beta wing) fighter support.  Now the total firepower is cut in half so the pirates can be left with much fewer incoming numbers.  But have 2x2 fighter/bomber wings jump in at four corners of the ship.  Two sets of bombers could, say, try to disable engines while the other two sets start knocking out turrets.  Trying to engage/defend/evade over all that distance while prioritizing targets could get crazy and may take a lot of wingman orders to keep the Midway in one piece.

I'll definitely be doing some improvements on this mission. Now that I have a bit of feedback, I'll be adding in a lot more "fluff"... mission chatter, special events, etc. These ideas are good, and I'm sure you'll see some of them in the final campaign. The enemy AI will be improved as well.

Keep the ideas coming, I am really excited about how this is going to turn out!


Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: DiabloRojo on August 09, 2007, 10:16:01 am
Quote
But Vasudans aren't pirates. :(
Hehe sorry, I see how it reads that way... I didn't mean a generalization that Vasudans were pirates (0MG H34DZ PIR8S!!1!one!!) but shifted focus back to 'pirates' in general.  But, if they can turn into the HoL whackjobs, they can definitely be pirates!

Quote
As for the pirate ship classes and supplies... just wait until you play the whole campaign and find out where they're coming from :P
Enough said--I'll ponder no more about their Star Wars cloning technology and Star Trek replicator systems!  :nervous:
Seriously, from what you said earlier and how clean it feels, I expected there was already an answer for that to be given later in the campaign.  All of that was just a flow of thought.  :yes:
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: Snail on August 09, 2007, 11:53:25 am
But, if they can turn into the HoL whackjobs, they can definitely be pirates!

The HoL aren't pilots either. More like mujahedins.
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: DiabloRojo on August 09, 2007, 12:48:25 pm
How do you keep managing to read my wording out of the intended context? (Bad wording--duhr!)

"But, if they can turn into the HoL whackjobs, they can definitely be pirates!"
            ^Vasudans      Vasudan subset^         ^Vasudans in general again, not HoL
           (in general)           (specific)                (as in, any Vasudans should have this potential)
Hopefully this lines up properly for everyone else...

Rewording: 'Considering that a Vasudan's mind-set can get whacked out and/or brainwashed to the the point of believing and actively participating in the HoL, it would be a perfectly reasonable assumption that an otherwise 'normal' Vasudan could resort to piracy for personal gain, just like a human, when given the proper circumstances.'

There!  ;)
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: Snail on August 09, 2007, 12:53:48 pm
Well we never see any Vasudans be driven by selfish greed or anything, have we?

But of course, they can be pirates.
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: 0rph3u5 on August 10, 2007, 03:53:32 pm
So ... in between I had some time to look at your campaign and I have to say that it has a lot of potential (as well as you have as FREDer)...  :yes: :yes:

maybe you are taking the cutscene-thing a bit too far for me (but I'm just afraid of loading times)
and a BG despite stars and the closest stellar object or nearest dust/gas cloud would be nice too -- since you have centered all missions in one system (yet) you would only need only one background (maybe you would need to find something to create a contrast but I guess you will find something)

all in all I'll be looking forward to what is about to come...
in the meantime I'll go and take your cutscenes apart -- I've all too recently re-discovered this dicipline myself....

ps. I personally hate the Eyrines (if you cannot build a fighter that supports the guns you tape on it you should not complain about loosing.) - so keep a wide ship selection
Title: Re: Untitled Campaign - Teaser Pack
Post by: Macfie on August 10, 2007, 04:23:59 pm
I played it through and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I can't wait until it's finished.  It looks like an interesting story.  I like the cutscenes.