-
Hullo everybody!
I've been a great fan of Freespace for many years now, and have been delighted to find this forum, and discover Freespace Open. Having played many of the mods available I've for a while now had the itch to try something for myself, and after a considerable length of time messing about just getting to grips with FRED, I've finally made the effort to produce as fully as possible a few missions. I've made the first five missions of a campaign, and together they represent my first true plunge into FREDing; and I'd be grateful for anyone who cares to have a look at it and see what they think.
Like any noob worth their salt, I've gone and done something far too complicated to start off with, and have probably made quite a lot of mistakes. Certainly there is some quite messy FREDing in there, and I'm not too happy with some of the things I've done either (i.e made impossible objectives in order to get the debriefing music I desired). Most of the missions are experiments with different types of gameplay too; and some of them haven't quite worked out as well as I'd have liked, but that's life.
I built most of the missions with FRED2 Open 3.6.10, with the exception of the last, which is an attempt at a cutscene of sorts, which I built with FRED2 Open 3.6.12 INF RC2. This is because I wanted to use the show-subtitle-text sexp rather than the (soon to be defunct I gather) show-subtitle one. The rest work just fine with 3.6.10 though, so even if that's all you have I'd still like feedback on the first four missions.
Oh, and in response to one piece of inevitable criticism:
I fully realise that penalising the player in "Wandering Up The Wall" just for taking the time to make sure she/he is fully prepared and has the best equipment available is evil. I could say that that's the point, but the truth is that I'm actually evil and find the idea amusing.
Ah, and I also apologise for the half-hearted backgrounds (which need Lightspeed's pack, by the way). Really isn't my thing.
Anyway, here's a download link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?qzntzndtwmo
Lieutenant Faye Walker feels as if there is something amiss in the GTVA, but doesn't realise what until she is forcibly sucked into a world she had never before dreamed existed, and upon whether she can adapt to this newfound and confusing reality may just rest the fate of both worlds.
12MB (there's music in there for the cutscene)
And thank you in advance, anybody who is willing to give a noob a chance. *Puts arms up to shield himself from the impending welcome beam*.
-
Welcome to the HLP Missions & Campaigns release hell. I sure hope this you'll enjoy your stay. May your feedback be positive.
Anyway, I hope you read this: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=68817.0
It's a compilation of common issues in releases, and suggestions on how to avoid them.
For everyone else, let's keep technical feedback confined to PMs (unless this release is so broken that it won't work).
-
:welcome:
from myself and the rest of the board staff.
Now.... let's see what we have here :D
/me downloads.
edit- DAMNIT E beat me to it.
edit2- 114 mb? :sigh:
-
(unless this release is so broken that it won't work).
Do you have any idea how nervous that makes someone who wants to make a good first impression? Especially when I really wasn't sure what I was doing while building the VP, heh.
EDIT: 114 mb?
Oh, um, there's a couple of bits of music for the cutscene I felt like throwing in. None of the in game soundtracks seemed to fit (my bad for not mentioning or anything.)
-
Well, assuming you tested it after you put the VPs together, what could go wrong?
-
The VP looks solid, although I have to question the use of uncompressed wav audio...
-
I'm having some difficulty downloading this. When I click the link, the site informs me that "the file is temporarily unavailable."
If others are experiencing the same difficulty, it would be ideal to mirror this (http://www.freespacemods.net/upload.php) at freespacemods.
I was thinking about doing that, but didn't understand what the "Working demo" bit was all about for uploads.
Well, assuming you tested it after you put the VPs together, what could go wrong?
I have a feeling that those might come under "famous last words" if I dared say them. Though it seems to work fine for me.
-
Do you have any idea how nervous that makes someone who wants to make a good first impression?
Don't worry about it. :yes: we had a bit of a charliefoxtrot a week or two ago on a completely unrelated but similar matter. The guys here will be a bit more behaved i hope this time.
So.......... do you have a breif synopsis of your campaign?
-
So.......... do you have a breif synopsis of your campaign?
Ah, yeah. The description on file is this (trust me when I say it sounded a lot better at one in the morning last night when I wrote it):
Lieutenant Faye Walker feels as if there is something amiss in the GTVA, but doesn't realise what until she is forcibly sucked into a world she had never before dreamed existed, and upon whether she can adapt to this newfound and confusing reality may just rest the fate of both worlds.
-
Here's the campaign again, mirrored on mediafire and with the two pieces of music converted to ogg, which cuts down on the HDD usage considerably (as in, now uses only 12 MB as opposed to 130....). Enjoy.
http://www.mediafire.com/?qzntzndtwmo
-
Here's the campaign again, mirrored on mediafire and with the two pieces of music converted to ogg, which cuts down on the HDD usage considerably (as in, now uses only 12 MB as opposed to 130....). Enjoy.
http://www.mediafire.com/?qzntzndtwmo
Thanks.
-
:yes:
I'm capped at the moment due to an over-abundancew of downloading music. so it would've taken me 3 hours as opposed to four minutes :D
-
Here's the campaign again, mirrored on mediafire and with the two pieces of music converted to ogg, which cuts down on the HDD usage considerably (as in, now uses only 12 MB as opposed to 130....). Enjoy.
http://www.mediafire.com/?qzntzndtwmo
Thanks.
Downloaded.
You should update the first post to use this mirror if you haven't already, just because of the huge space savings.
-
WEll.....
I genuinely enjoed this, the end cutscene had one bit that i wasn't too sure about when it says APOCALYPSE, it's right up in a warships grill and looks a bit "off".
-
Another successful tour of duty for Vrets (actually, all of my tours of duty end drooling in a straight jacket). No technical issues. Interesting concept. Critique follows:
Gameplay: Mission 2, it is possible to start with 1% health. In mission 1, possibly have a guardian-threshhold SEXP on the fighter that will be assigned to the player in mission 2.
Writing Nitpicks: The ending cutscene was an interesting idea, but it was unneccessary. The greatest mistake sci-fi writers make is to cave in and issue a direct explanation of their entire mythos.
In mission three I became bored and decided to fly around the Fenris as quickly as possible. Eventually, I came 'round the hull and was greeted by a lucifer. Vrets: "tra la la...GAH!!"
I liked it.
-
WEll.....
I genuinely enjoed this, the end cutscene had one bit that i wasn't too sure about when it says APOCALYPSE, it's right up in a warships grill and looks a bit "off".
I spent a while screwing around trying to get a black screen....and ended up throwing in the towel and shoved the camera in the darkest part of a crate instead. Obviously I'd like to correct that at some point if anyone'd like to tell me how I might achieve that (I guessed the image subtitle sexp would be the way to go, but I've never been very hot on images, and .dds had me completely confused). Thanks for the positive statement though.
Writing Nitpicks: The ending cutscene was an interesting idea, but it was unneccessary. The greatest mistake sci-fi writers make is to cave in and issue a direct explanation of their entire mythos.
Yeah, to be honest I just wanted to try out all the cutscene features. Although, in my defence, it's more fantasy than sci-fi, although that doesn't really change your point. There is a little bit of scope left in the plot, as far as revealing goes (not that I know what it is myself, yet).
-
Still have to play but getting a black screen is easily achieved by using the Fade-out sexp (Cutscene section.)
-
Still have to play but getting a black screen is easily achieved by using the Fade-out sexp (Cutscene section.)
True, but I need a black screen which can still display subtitles (I don't think they appear over fade-out).
-
Still have to play but getting a black screen is easily achieved by using the Fade-out sexp (Cutscene section.)
True, but I need a black screen which can still display subtitles (I don't think they appear over fade-out).
ah yeah, that's a bit more tricky.
-
Make a single flat plane.pof with a black texture with no bump or glow.......
:nervous:
-
Or a simple black texture, displayed via show-subtitle-image, and stretched all over the screen...
-
Make a single flat plane.pof with a black texture with no bump or glow.......
:nervous:
Or create a large image in gimp, pure black at a resolution with 1600*1200 and use the show-subtitle-image SEXP.
EDIT: The_E was faster. Secret Ninja powers ftw...
-
I use 1080p. Some of the background would show through on the sides.
Unless you can specify an image size as a percent instead of a resolution, using a black image is not an ideal solution. There will eventually be a resolution that is bigger than it. The ideal solution, of course, would be to make an option for subtitles/subtitle images appearing on top of fade-out.
-
Played through.. it's an interesting concept, no problems detected, good work.
Only complain: Add starfield.pof to your next released missions.... or else.
(If you want to know how to add the starfield check the wiki, if you search for starfield you'll find some info about it)
-
I liked it, interesting ideas. :yes:
I lol'd about that prank you pulled with the Erinyes :p
Not killing hercs with 8 subachs is suprisingly hard though, I had to redo that mission a few times because of it.
And like the others already said, yes, add Starfield.pof next time please. A few nebula's with retail stars does not really make for interesting backgrounds
So, when can we expect tne next missions? I'm interested in seeing what is going to happen next.
-
Yes me too...
Very interesting concept.
Playing on FSO 3.6.12 + Furys Special effects mod (bp-3612-sfx.vp)
No Problems. Very funny Missions :)
For a Noob as you say: i must say very impressive work !!!
The Cutszene at the end was great. Like an old pro. *Respect*
Greetings Peter
-
Not killing hercs with 8 subachs is suprisingly hard though, I had to redo that mission a few times because of it.
This sounds so obvious that I feel a little silly saying it, but have you tried only firing four of them?
So, when can we expect tne next missions? I'm interested in seeing what is going to happen next.
In a while; I've exams coming up. Which is shame, as I'm quite curious what's going to happen next too (I only have very murky ideas at the moment). After exams I ought to have more time to push out more missions. Probably have to be in installments like this one, in the hope of a little encouragement to keep me going (and murky ideas + possibility of losing initial enthusiasm for project = no idea how many missions it might end up being). If there's interest then that is certainly heartening though.
And yes; starfield.pof will be used hereon in.
And I'm also going to ignore the black screen issue for the time being (I understood the gist, but nothing more of the advice received so far) in the hope that if I don't think about the problem, it'll somehow be alright. A bit like the environment.
Oh, and thanks to all of you who've commented/assisted in any way. It really is appreciated.
-
Just played this; pretty neat. Creative :) And yeah, you got me with the Erinyes too. Jerk :p
-
You guys should learn something out of this....Loki FTW. always.
-
Annnd, I'm done. Very trippy; I like that.
GODS FRAKKED LOCUSTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-
I played the campaign extensively and I have to say it is quite good. The story and gameplay feel as innovative as any of the larger campaigns/mods I have played. The missions are well balanced, at least for my tastes. The structure is well thought out and introduces such a thought provoking concept in an interesting way. Also has somewhat of a philosophical edge to it. For its size, I felt it was definitely worth a look. I was prettymuch entertained throughout.
I must admit though I have not yet gotten a chance to play mission 5 because I am still on SCP version 3.6.10.
You guys should learn something out of this....Loki FTW. always.
haha, yeah I picked the Loki too.
-
I've tried with the Erineyes, just to give myself a challenge. Problem is, even when switching to single bank, the Hercs are simply to weak to be damaged without being killed, both in Medium and Hard.
-
haha, yeah I picked the Loki too.
You sir know about this stuff :yes: