Hard Light Productions Forums
Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The FRED Workshop => Topic started by: Nimiria on March 14, 2008, 04:48:29 am
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Hi all :)
I am very interested in making a long campaign, and hope that somebode here could give me some instructions and tips how I make missions, briefings, and so on :)
So if anybody wants to help me, please answer here (and perhaps say what you want to teach me/what you want to heltp).
I hope this is the right region for such a topic - if not please move it where it belongs.
So I hope that some designers will answer here :D
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Well, the best way for basic ( and advanced ) stuff is Karajormas Freespace FAQ, you can find it here:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/karajorma/FAQ/fred.html
he also made a FREDding guide on how to make missions, it is for BtrL but you can use it for any FS2 Mod/ Standalone game.
It is for MP missions, but it also applies to SP missions and there is also the FS2 Wiki.
http://www.game-warden.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2822
Check also the FRED Academy on this page, there are a lot of useful tips and tricks.
If you need anything specific, post a question.
Hope this helps.
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My advice is to take the walkthrough in FRED's help files. This will aquaint you with all aspects of the mission builder, and is extremely helpful.
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That's the first thing my FAQ says to do, but it also gives a lot of other advice too.
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You can learn a lot if you open missions coming straight from the main campaign :)
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Okay I will try to read all this stuff :)
Two questions I have then for now:
Where can I find the campaign missions exactly? Even in the modded campaigns the Fred editor does not find anything to open :/
Second: Making a mission is one thing, but how do I make mission briefings/command briefings and how do I take all missions into one campaign later?
Edit: And another question: How do I enable the window for the missions that players can choose their ships, weapons etc. and how do I setup what they can chose :)
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1) Do you have programs able to extract files from the VPs(like VPView)? You can easily get them...
2) With FRED you can also create briefings and command briefings. There also is the "campaign editor" that allows you to sort your missions in a campaign :)
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Mission files are usually in a *.vp file, you need tools to open and extract them, you can find 'em here, scroll to the tools section:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/karajorma/FAQ/fred.html
or get them here:
http://addons.teamwars.org/index.php?id=12
I suggest you make a mission first before thinking about briefings and such, you can add them later.
Both links i posted, and in your game\...\data folder should be a folder called 'freddocs', with a walkthrough, this provides you with all you need to start.
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Okay I have found those in the editor and am downloading some tools now :)
So I now just need to know how I make it that players can choose ships/weapons befor starting a mission :)
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How to do that is shown here, scroll down a bit, it's the part with the Teamloadout:
http://www.game-warden.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2822
BEFORE you check out this thread ( read the entire thread!! ), do following:
go to your freddocs folder, search for a file called 'walktrough', doubleklick it.
Your browser opens, you see the FREESPACE 2 FRED WALKTHROUGH and following points:
* Planning the Mission
* Stationary Objects
* Large Ship Movements
* Directives and Objectives
* Messages
* Background
* Fighters and Bombers
* Team Loadout and Mission Specs
* Debriefing
* Briefing
Team loadout is where you can decide which ships/ weapons the player can choose, but you have to make first a mission, set the ships you
want in FRED.
Most of the stuff in the FRED WALKTHROUGH is self-explanatory, but read the entire documentation.
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Okay thanks I will look then :)
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I really do suggest actually doing the walkthrough rather than just reading it though. You'll take a lot of the new stuff on board that way.
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a long campaign
I recommend against this. It's far too easy to underestimate the amount of work involved, and you might be setting yourself up for frustration.
I recommend releasing a single mission first. Then you might want to either release a short campaign, or divide up your longer campaign into chapters.
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Blaise Russel started off his time at HLP by releasing two separate 40+ mission long projects. :)
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a long campaign
I recommend against this. It's far too easy to underestimate the amount of work involved, and you might be setting yourself up for frustration.
I recommend releasing a single mission first. Then you might want to either release a short campaign, or divide up your longer campaign into chapters.
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Blaise Russel started off his time at HLP by releasing two separate 40+ mission long projects. :)
Of course sometimes it will be frustrating sometimes, but I love this game, it is great, and after playing it once more and playing some player campaigns now I really want to make one myself :p
The idea to do the walkthrough (making this sample mission with the NTF) is a good idea. Just reading won`t be enough for me, because I come from Germany and so it is difficult to understand all the things that are wrote down there ^^
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Of course sometimes it will be frustrating sometimes, but I love this game, it is great, and after playing it once more and playing some player campaigns now I really want to make one myself :p
Nothing wrong with that, Goober is just saying that it will be much more time-consuming and work than I bet you're thinking it will be now. I would recommend a mini-campaign first... a small five mission affair, just to get a feel for it, before tackling some 30 mission monster.
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Yeah, I just worked several hours now on the sample mission from the workout and still have not all elements in. Making a mission without a walkthroug would be taking even more time :p
I still want to make a big one, but when I have 5 missions I will try to make them to a "demo" campaign so I can see if it works :) +
But before I go to questions like how to make them to a campaign etc. I will finish them first :p
Perhaps somebody then even wants to test them :)
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Of course, there are exceptions to every rule.
just be sure that you want to be one of those exceptions. Be damn sure because even after releasing the work is not finished :ick:
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Hehe ^^
When I have my first 5 missions, I will try to load them up here so the expert could tell if they are good or not ;)
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Okay, now it`s a little bit too much for me. These transports in the walkthrough mission..
I just could copy all the things/orders there in the editor und be happy that they are doing it, but this will bring me nothing. Could perhaps some experienced mission builder tell me in easy, detailed words, what is the clue in all that?
How to make these docking operations with taking over ships, docking and warping out, making the next ship doing it then and, what is really confusing me, the correct work with this counter (for IFF change after finished docking).
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A few people have problems with using variables and as such have trouble with that particular part of the mission.
Since most FREDders aren't from a programming background the first thing that needs explaining is what a variable actually is. One simple way to think of a variable is as a box. The box has a name written on the side of it (the name of the variable) and inside the box you can put a single number (The value of the variable).
When you make a new variable you always create it with a default value. It's impossible to have an empty box. There is always a number inside the box (although the number can be zero!). FRED will remind you what this default value is. Whenever you use the variable you'll notice that it's followed by the default value in brackets. While the mission is running there are only two things you can do with a variable. You can either open the box and take a look at the contents, or you can throw away the contents and put something new in its place. Every single time you see a variable being used in a SEXP no matter how complex it is it will be doing one of those two simple things.
That should make it a little clearer what is going on. All the counter is doing is keeping track of the number of ships that have docked successfully. The game starts out with the value of 0. Every time a ship docks successfully it adds 1 to that number, once the required number of ships has docked (2 in this case if I remember correctly) the event that says the Orion is captured triggers.
Read the rest of this (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/karajorma/FAQ/fredretail.html#variables) if you're still having trouble.
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Thanks :)
I have another problem now: When I want to create the 2 events for the relentless (boarded/captured) the fred always crashes when I make a new event and right click on it... When I make 2 new event and right click on the 2nd, all is okay, but try to right click on the 1st - crash again.
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Yeah, it happens...save, close FRED and re open it to solve the problem(for a while).
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No it did not help :/
Well, it seems that an empty event does not make a bug for the mission, I just ignored it and made new events without any problems till now ^^
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Okay here another question :p
How can I get Planets etc.? I tried that what the walkthrough says, but I do not see a planet or a nebular. I tried higher scales, but nothing happens. How can I make them visible in the mission?
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View ---> Show Background
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Okay thanks, nice feature :D
And the reason why I did not see them in the mission was, that I disabled this in the options menue ^^
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There are many things that aren't displayed by dafault(like docking paths) and sometimes they're needed.
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Hm.. how do I find Icons in Fred oO Select a ship and press mark icon stands in the walkthroug, but where is that?
:/
Edit: Okay when I klick on an objekt and go to briefing I can make there "make Icon" but how do I save this? When I want to make another one, or just close the briefing menu, the icon is away and in the briefing ingame there is nothing to see... :/
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Take a look at the briefing interface, especially at "copy/paste view": they allow you to create average briefings without problems.
The briefing interface is like the normal interface, only difference being the icons. Therefore, you can handle the camera as usual.
Obviously, you need to practice ;)
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The problem is, that several icons just are not there. For example cargo icon works, but icon for installation does not. There is just nothing. So what can I make to get them? Not very funny to make a briefing with just a few icons (for example I must use a cargo icon for an installation oO)
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The interface allows you to handle the icons. You can create an icon from a fighter and change everything(class, IFF, icon pic) to adapt it to your needings. Scroll the list of icons, there usually are two versions of the same pic.
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So you mean something like this?
Icon Image: Cargo
Shiptype: GTI Arcadia (if I want such a station then)
Team: friendly (could be hostile, too)
So I see the green cargo icon and during the briefing I can click on it and I see the station.
Still the problem that it would be better to have a station Icon for a station, so there is no way to do this?
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Simple...click on Icon Image and select "Installation" :)
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Oh I did that before ^^ the problem is: There comes no image. Not in Fred, and not in the briefing. There is just nothing there.
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Check the field of view, make sure that the grid appears(you may have exaggerated with the distances).
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The grid is there, and I can change the distances as much as I want. Installations is not the only icon what is missing.. Cruiser, Freighter.. and some others do not work, too.
Bomber, Fighter, Cargo, Jump node and some others do work.
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Are they placed at the center? Certain icons tend to disappear when they're near the limits of the interface(especially planets).
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In a new mission I tried them in the center - did not work. I tried planets - they work ^^ Installations do not work
I just looked at some missions from the campaign, I have som empty briefing grids there, too (Destroyers, cruisers etc. are missing - exactly those icons that do not work in my Fred) ...
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Can you please post a pic?
Are you using FS Open? Are you using MODs? Do you think your icons.tbl is the default one?
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A pic of exactly what?
I use FS open, yes. The newest verstion.
I used some mods but in the launcher I deactivated them before I tested the campaign briefings.
icons.tbl? I can imagine what this is but I have absolutly no idea if it is the right one, perhaps you could host the right one up here and tell me where to move it?
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The launcher doesn't deactivate mods placed in your FreeSpace 2/data folder. Look for isolated VPs, icon files and tables.
A pic of the briefing interface when you're experiencing the problem.
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Okay here is one pic from the bug in the fred, The green icon in the middle should just be an installation but there does not appear anything.
I have very much vps in my main folder.. perhaps you could give me a list what should be there so I can delete all more, and host a "clean" icons.tbl?
[attachment deleted by ninja]
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Oh...it's the distance...increase the distance between the node, the central icon, epsilon wing and the others. There's no FreeSpace for a big icon there ;)
The installation icon should be used for the Vulcan's Forge, anyway...
You have MSN, too. It would be easier to talk about problems there.
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Those are FS1 briefing icons. Which means that FRED somehow has access to files it shouldn't have (Since you should be building this mission using only FS2 data or possibly the Media VPs too).
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Yes I have MSN just add "Nimiria" there or give me your name/Email, then we can talk there, yepp :)
Edit: And what can I do now that it gets back to "normal" mode again? :/ I have much vps in the main folder, and do not know how to make the game "clean" again so I have just my FS 2, and the mods where they belong: in seperate folders.
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LOL, INFA uses FS1 icons...I forgot about the others :lol:
As expectable...there's something.
There's a section in The FAQTM(link is in my siggy) about installing mods. You can easily use it to check your root folder and find the "visitors" you want to disappear.
You can get my MSN address by looking at my profile.
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Well, my first problem with my own mission.
I have 3 cruisers inbound here till now. 1 is friendly, 2 are hostiles. When the hostiles are ingame from the beginning on, all works fine. They use their beam weapons etc. the friendly cruiser comes in after a short period of time, and here all is fine, too.
But when I give the 2 hostile cruisers a time counter to jump in, too, all 3 cruisers do not fire a single shot. They even do not have any weapons. I cannot target weapons, and I cannot target subsystems on them. I gave them "beam free all" like I did when the hostile cruisers are ingame from the beginning, but when they get a counter to come in later, nothing works on any of those cruisers.
I have no glue what this means :( What can I do? Perhaps somebody wants my file and take a look?
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Problem solved. Looked like some mediavp problems..
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Another question :p
I want messages when a ship has, for example, has taken enough damage that its hull is down to 50 %. I can make a message when a ship is destroyed, or % of ship class etc. is destroyed, but I can`t find an event for % of damage of one ship ^^
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When
<
hits-left
50
send-message
or
When
<
is-subsystem-strength
hull
50
send-message
I can't remember which one was the better, and since my fred is not working I can't verify if the Sexp names are correct.
With the second option, as the name suggest, you can choose the subsystem to monitor (for example you could send a message when a turret is damaged)
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Either is good AE, But your event is actually going to trigger at 49% not 50. Common mistake. :)
when
<
--hits-left
---Name of Ship
--51
-Do-Whatever
You should always use less than percentage+1 rather than equals percentage because it's possible for a ship to jump from 52% to 49% without actually ever being at 50% in which case the game won't trigger the SEXP.
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Thanks for your answers I will try this :)
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I have finished working on a test mission :)
I hope somebody wants to test it. Evaluations are welcome :)
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Played once :)
1) Use the starfield. Background ---> Skybox Model ---> "starfield.pof";
2) Reduce the number of stars to 100;
3) Sigma behaves strangely because all freighters are grouped in a wing. They should be separate ships;
4) The Excelsior is too close to one of the freighters;
5) A message reports that the convoy needs 12 minutes to reach the waypoint while the whole mission lasts about 11 minutes;
6) See if you can reduce the distance between the node and the waypoint, the mission is too long;
7) The pirate cruisers remain immobile. I think they should move near the convoy(following parallel courses), possibly at a very low speed <6;
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Thanks so far :)
1 + 2 : done :)
3: I tried that before (gave every transport a seperate waypoint, set events for leave for them all etc.) - but the problem is that I wanted Beta to defend all 6 transports. I did not like the “wing bug” from the transporters, so I changed id again.
4. Yes, it was. Just forgot to change this ^^
5. The message told "approximate" 12 minutes :) Changed the text a little.
6. changed this a little becaus of point 7 (I think 10 or 11 minutes are not too long, guess this is that's a matter of opinion :)).
7. Forgot this, too. Done now :)
So look at it again please :)
[attachment deleted by ninja]
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3) Use add-goal and/or when-argument :)
6) It's still too long :P
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3. I tried that add goal argument but then they all surrounded one transport ^^ I think now it works good.
6. As I said that's a matter of opinion :p
What`s your general opinion of the mission? You showed me some parts that had to be changed, but I do not know what you think about it ^^
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I can't test the mission but , if Mobius says it's too long, it is likely to be... he's not a 2-mins-mission person...
anyway how long does the mission take? with how many "main events"?
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It goes 9 minutes and 35 seconds now. There are several attacks during the mission, there should be always action. Later mission will have more then 10 minutes so if 10 already is too long, I guess nobody then myself will play them ;)
I suggest to play it before making a judgment about it :)
Why can`t you test it? Any problems with it?
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:yes:
1) Fix the background, there's a nebula partially covering a planet(satellite);
2) The mission should have a proper name instead of the generic "Mission 1";
In addition...I know it's a matter of opinions, but a long mission consisting in shooting down wave after wave of Hercules and Artemis shouldn't last 10 minutes.
:)
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There are 2 cruisers, too :p
I will check the background, yepp :D
The name hmm yes, thought about it already. Since I want to make several missions for a campaign I will give them names then, later.
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There are two cruisers but they appear at the end :P
As for the name, it should be easy to get one...
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When I have 5 missions and make a "demo" campaign they will have names, promised! :D
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Just don't post them all here for testing :P
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Nope the next thing I post is when I made a campaign of those 5.
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It goes 9 minutes and 35 seconds now. There are several attacks during the mission, there should be always action. Later mission will have more then 10 minutes so if 10 already is too long, I guess nobody then myself will play them ;)
10 mins aren't too many (cfr Seadfast, for Mobius...) if the plot is various... put some interesting events, like unexpected reinforcements, capture-ship goals, sabotages, ganimede construction rings jumping in with shivan ships inside.... oh, ok, the last maybe is too much...
Why can`t you test it? Any problems with it?
My computer has died...on this old one FS works too slowly to be enjoyable...
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I will make a "demo" 5 missions campaign and then post it. I shortened the time of the mission so now it has appr. 8 minutest, that could be OK I think.
When I am done somebody just has to tell me where exactly such a test campaign should be posted best :p
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See if someone can join you and send him/it the demo ;)