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General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: Armareon on September 02, 2007, 09:46:09 am

Title: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Armareon on September 02, 2007, 09:46:09 am

I am currently cheating my way through the campaign , to see the highest obtainable rank achievable . But I have several questions .

1: Does anyone know the score required to achieve each rank ? Via cheating , I have blown up three Orions , 1 Santhanas , 2 Ravanna ( I destroyed the Ravana twice ) and countless other cruisers and corvettes. Yet , I have only achieved the miserly rank of Lieuternaunt Commander . I would appreciate it if someone enlightened me on that subject.
( P.s : I've just completed High noon , by Superlasering the Santhanas slightly less than 100 times . )

2: How does difficulty affect the score . I know that the higher the difficulty , the higher the score for each ship killed . But how does each succesive magnitude of difficulty affect the score .

3: What is the highest rank any of you achieved in the campaign ? What about other Mods and Multi Player?

On an unrelated ( or perhaps slightly related ) note , I have noticed that the game ocassionally freezes up or even crashes when I use a beam cannon in my Fighter . This was experienced in the second training mission , where I continually bombarded the station with beams for the fun of it . Could anyone please inform me of a solution ? ( Besides avoiding using beam cannons that is )  :nod:

Thanks .  ;7

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Mobius on September 02, 2007, 10:05:52 am

:welcomesilver:

1) Use PilotView, a Descent Manager tool. Be advised that it won't work with FS Open pilot files :)

2) At hard and insane, the score is higher (x1.5 and x2.0 or something similar) :)

3) Lieutenant General :lol: <it's Admiral> :)

Beams aren't supposed to be used by the player :P

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Armareon on September 02, 2007, 10:16:09 am

Thanks . Do you know the exact score needed to achieve such ranks ? And I am using FS open unfortunately . How do I view my avatar?

It's a pity that the FSO has not yet succeeded in making beam cannons usable . Else , many players might have lots of fun cutting gashes into entire enemy wings from four clicks out with a Ultra AAA beam cannon , or tearing ships apart with a BFRed .

Oh yes , May I ask a third question ? How do I mod weapons ?

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Mobius on September 02, 2007, 10:19:32 am

I don't know because I don't use Retail(my computer is a bit messed up :blah:)

In theory you can use beams. I have never did it(only one time, and by accident)so I can't help you.

Depends on what you intend for "modding weapons". If you want to change their parameters, you can simply extract the weapons.tbl with VP View, open it with Notepad, change stuff and place it in your FS/mod folder. Modifying textures and other weapon effects is a bit harder :)

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Ashrak on September 02, 2007, 10:20:44 am

actually highest rank is fleet admiral and petrarch says "now go outside and play" ;)

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Armareon on September 02, 2007, 10:22:02 am

Thanks for your assistance . Did anyone compiled a list of ranks and relevant scores?

BTW , being an Alpha one Admiral on the Aquataine must have been slightly awkward. :confused:

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Mobius on September 02, 2007, 10:25:04 am

That's in FS1, I think :P

Try with the FreeSpace Wiki. There should be something about ranks :)

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Jeff Vader on September 02, 2007, 10:27:55 am

Quote from: Ashrak on September 02, 2007, 10:20:44 am

actually highest rank is fleet admiral and petrarch says "now go outside and play" ;)

Wasn't it "Now, go read a book"? Or have I once again missed some important factor in the world of ranks?

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Gamma_Draconis on September 02, 2007, 10:28:02 am

Wait wait wait. Can anyone tell me what Petrarch says when you get all the ranks in chronological order? Make sure you put it in spoilers because some people may not want to know yet.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Armareon on September 02, 2007, 10:29:58 am

I've checked , but there's nothing that informs me of the score I must target.

How do I obtain V.p Viewer by the way? Thanks.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Hippo on September 02, 2007, 11:57:37 am

From Rank.tbl in Root_fs2.vp:

Spoiler:

; Ranks.tbl
; Will contain data for :
; 1.) player rank names
; 2.) player rank scores
;
; Do not change the ordering of the sections in this table. Also do not add items to the list
;
;
;
; Casting Notes:
;   Terran Captain 1(M) - ES  = 1_*
;   Terran Captain 2(F) - SH  = 3_*



[RANK NAMES]
$Name:   Ensign
$Points:   0
$Bitmap:   medal12.pcx
$Promotion Voice Base: rank_0.wav
$Promotion Text:

XSTR("You have received your commission in the GTVA. Congratulations, Ensign.", -1)

$end_multi_text

$Name: Lieutenant Junior Grade
$Points:   4000
$Bitmap:   medal12a.pcx
$Promotion Voice Base: rank_a.wav
$Promotion Text:

XSTR("Because of your achievements, character, and potential, you are duly awarded the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade.", -1)

$end_multi_text

$Name:   Lieutenant
$Points:   10000
$Bitmap:   medal12b.pcx
$Promotion Voice Base: rank_b.wav
$Promotion Text:

XSTR("After reviewing your service record and the recommendations of your superior officers, Allied Command has authorized your promotion. Congratulations, Lieutenant.", -1)

$end_multi_text

$Name:   Lieutenant Commander
$Points:   22000
$Bitmap:   medal12c.pcx
$Promotion Voice Base: rank_c.wav
$Promotion Text:

XSTR("For your excellent record of service, leadership, and conduct under fire, you have attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander.", -1)

$end_multi_text

$Name:   Commander
$Points:   50000
$Bitmap:   medal12d.pcx
$Promotion Voice Base: rank_d.wav
$Promotion Text:

XSTR("Because your achievements distinguish you as an officer of the highest caliber, you have been promoted to the rank of Commander.", -1)

$end_multi_text

$Name:   Captain
$Points:   150000
$Bitmap:   medal12e.pcx
$Promotion Voice Base: rank_e.wav
$Promotion Text:

XSTR("For your brilliance as a pilot, tactician, and leader, Allied Command confers upon you the rank of Captain.", -1)

$end_multi_text

;; the Brass
$Name:   Commodore
$Points:   400000
$Bitmap:   medal12f.pcx
$Promotion Voice Base: rank_f.wav
$Promotion Text:

XSTR("Captain, your long and illustrious record distinguishes you as a leader of integrity, courage, and wisdom. You are duly promoted to the rank of Commodore.", -1)
$end_multi_text

$Name:   Rear Admiral
$Points:   2000000
$Bitmap:   medal12g.pcx
$Promotion Voice Base: rank_g.wav
$Promotion Text:

XSTR("On behalf of the GTVA Security Council and General Assembly, it is my honor to confer upon you the prestigious rank of Rear Admiral. Congratulations. ", -1)

$end_multi_text

$Name:   Vice Admiral
$Points:   5000000
$Bitmap:   medal12h.pcx
$Promotion Voice Base: rank_h.wav
$Promotion Text:

XSTR("Your career stands as a shining example of our ideals and values, and few officers have rendered greater service to the Alliance. On behalf of the GTVA Security Council and General Assembly, I hereby confer upon you the prestigious rank of Vice Admiral.", -1)

$end_multi_text

$Name:   Admiral
$Points:   9000000
$Bitmap:   medal12i.pcx
$Promotion Voice Base: rank_i.wav
$Promotion Text:

XSTR("Congratulations. You have earned your place in the highest echelon of allied leadership. Your character, courage, and genius are an inspiration to us all. On behalf of the GTVA Security Council and General Assembly, I hereby confer upon you the prestigious rank of Admiral. Now go read a book.", -1)

$end_multi_text

#End

The text is identical for every person that gives the promotion, just the audio changes. To skim through the ranks, make a campaign that has a grant-promotion sexp or a ship with 9000000 points.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: colecampbell666 on September 02, 2007, 12:43:41 pm

I am at lieutenant without cheating.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Hades on September 02, 2007, 12:46:25 pm

So am I.(In multiplayer of course :)).

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: colecampbell666 on September 02, 2007, 12:48:05 pm

I am in single player.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Armareon on September 02, 2007, 09:11:47 pm

Thanks . Please Keep it coming . Did anyone achieve the rank of Admiral in Multiplayer?

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Hades on September 02, 2007, 09:14:02 pm

No I don't think so.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: akenbosch on September 02, 2007, 10:03:37 pm

why do you still ahve too fly a fighter when you reach ranks above lieutenant commander? shouldnt you be commanding a ship?

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Fang_Taichou on September 02, 2007, 10:10:22 pm

Quote from: akenbosch on September 02, 2007, 10:03:37 pm

why do you still ahve too fly a fighter when you reach ranks above lieutenant commander? shouldnt you be commanding a ship?

I think you get to command a ship when you hit 'Captain' rank, at least that's what most C.O's of cruisers are at least (higher ranks get better warships I suppose).

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: akenbosch on September 02, 2007, 10:27:19 pm

if so, i feel sorry for the poor sap who reached admiral right when the collosus was built....

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Jeff Vader on September 03, 2007, 02:27:29 am

I still think admirals are above ships' C.Os. They're making plans and cunning strategies. They woudn't have the time to start commandind a single ship. Commanding single ships is a job for captains.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Vip on September 03, 2007, 03:35:41 am

I think each ship has it's C.O with a rank of Captain or something similar, and the Admirals just choose their flagships. So Petrarch possibly had a Captain XYZ that commanded the ship, like giving specific orders "Beams 1 and 2, fire at will. Helm, full speed, heading 2-3-7" whereas Petrarch was responsible for planning, and during the combat he would be like "Captain, engage this Moloch corvette and bring us out of this Demon's range", leaving details to the C.O. He would also coordinate multiple ships in the Fleet ("Actium, destroy this Cain crusier. Carthage, engage the Beast").

Also, I think we should not mistake the naval Captain and fighter Captain. The naval Captain is usually a C.O. of a capship, whereas a fighter Captain is a veteran pilot (possibly squadron commander) - see Captain Loukakis (sp?). I think that the player is awarded the "fighter" Captain rank in the game.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: colecampbell666 on September 03, 2007, 07:36:44 am

How does that explain Loukakis's speedy promotion?

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Vip on September 03, 2007, 07:44:02 am

Dunno... Maybe he went on a rampage and destroyed a destroyer in the Battle of Deneb ? :D

Probably a typo, just as the Fleet/Battlegroups thing...

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: colecampbell666 on September 03, 2007, 08:33:22 am

 :wtf:

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Mobius on September 03, 2007, 12:04:44 pm

There's a Cursus Honorum, simple.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: CP5670 on September 03, 2007, 12:09:53 pm

Quote from: colecampbell666 on September 03, 2007, 07:36:44 am

How does that explain Loukakis's speedy promotion?

He probably played RI over and over again for a day or two straight. :D

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Mobius on September 03, 2007, 12:32:42 pm

RI? :wtf:

Are you refering to PI? You would be damn right! :lol:

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: CP5670 on September 03, 2007, 12:54:42 pm

No, I mean the Rebel Intercept multiplayer mission. It's a ridiculously easy mission with a lot of points to be had each time you play it. :D

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Mobius on September 03, 2007, 02:11:32 pm

Ah, yeah, that mission :lol:

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Armareon on September 04, 2007, 04:02:14 am

How do you gain those points , and take out those two corvettes quickly ? I know I can bombard them from five clicks out with Trubuchets , but I feel that that would take an eternity to reduce those ships down to dust .

Also , how do I export V.p files to notepad?

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: colecampbell666 on September 04, 2007, 07:20:16 am

Disable them, I assume. The Trebuchet does 700 damage to subsystems, while the Stiletto does 775.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Armareon on September 04, 2007, 09:52:16 am

I've spent the last fourty minutes struggling to extract the VP files to notepad . Can anyone please advise me on which program to select?

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: CP5670 on September 04, 2007, 09:57:05 am

Quote from: Armareon on September 04, 2007, 04:02:14 am

How do you gain those points , and take out those two corvettes quickly ? I know I can bombard them from five clicks out with Trubuchets , but I feel that that would take an eternity to reduce those ships down to dust .

There is only one corvette in RI, and it should be attacked with Helios bombs directly from the front (target the engine03 subsystem). Ignore the turrets on it.

As a lone bomber, you get something around 3620 points in that mission if everything is done right.

Quote

I've spent the last fourty minutes struggling to extract the VP files to notepad . Can anyone please advise me on which program to select?

What exactly are you trying to do? The VPs are just containers for many other files. If you want to look at the individual files, get VPView and extract them somewhere.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Armareon on September 05, 2007, 02:57:33 am

How do I extract the extracted  file back to the original VP file?

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: karajorma on September 05, 2007, 05:18:16 am

You don't. You should never change the VP itself in any way.

If you place the edited mission in Freespace2\Data\Missions it will override anything in the VPs in the Freespace2 folder.

BTW if you are using the media VPs you should extract the mission from mv_models.vp (in your mediavps folder) and place the edited version in Freespace2\mediavps\Data\Missions instead.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Armareon on September 05, 2007, 05:55:54 am

I'm trying to modify weapons , but the changes I performed to the extracted file did not seem to affect the values of the weapons potency in the V.p Files.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Hades on September 05, 2007, 06:01:58 am

Put them in Freespace/Data/Tables.
And besides. you do not want to edit the retail VPS.If you do, you might mess up Freespace 2.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Grizzly on September 05, 2007, 06:28:38 am

I'm Commander... (not even played the FSPort yet!)

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Warp Shadow on September 11, 2007, 09:00:33 pm

Well, the reason that an admiral flies a fighter craft [despite the obvious military stupidity involved in managing your assets like that :rolleyes:] is because flying a capital ship is tedious, slow, boring and almost totally hands free. Believe me, I hacked the tables to fly a ravana and then a vasudan corvette and all you do is sluggishly point your nose in the direction that offers the most turret cover and let the turret AI do the rest. You wouldn't want to try it. Incidentally, what would you guys think of a system in which you can command any ship [that doesn't have orders coming from higher up :D] via the communications menu as long as you outrank them. Once you get to admiral you could pretty much tell the colossus what to do!

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Armareon on September 13, 2007, 05:50:55 am

If you could hack into your player files and give your avatar the rank of admiral before destroying the Santhanas Turrents , you could save 10000 lives by ordering the cannon folder that is the Phonecia to leave.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: ssmit132 on September 14, 2007, 03:30:42 am

But you can just keep retrying the mission until the Phonecia survives! :blah:

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: wdarkk on September 14, 2007, 06:49:56 pm

Quote from: ssmit132 on September 14, 2007, 03:30:42 am

But you can just keep retrying the mission until the Phonecia survives! :blah:

Isn't "oh crap flack shot down a helios" enough retrys?

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: ssmit132 on September 15, 2007, 03:22:17 am

The Phoencia jumping out/combusting happens before you get in range of the beam cannons.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: wdarkk on September 15, 2007, 10:51:49 pm

Quote from: ssmit132 on September 15, 2007, 03:22:17 am

The Phoencia jumping out/combusting happens before you get in range of the beam cannons.

Still, you might have to retry a mission where the Phonecia lived if you miss a cannon. Given how rare the Phonecia living has been for me, I'd rather not add it as a source of restarts.

Title: Re: Promotions in the Campaign
Post by: Warp Shadow on September 15, 2007, 11:34:08 pm

Still though, the point is that by the time you got to admiral you would already know the whole story and you could experiment with the missions by doing stuff like that. And for REALLY serious or important stuff you can just say that orders are coming from command and you can't change them. :cool: