[wistler]

I hate the briefing part of FRED because it always looks crummy when I play test it 

Does anyone have any tips on how to make it look better? I know to align the grid and stuff but no matter what I do icons always seem bunched up and there never in line even though they are in the editor.

Does anyone have any tips on spacing them out and making it look more interesting?

[Vrets]

My frustration is that I can never perfectly align the grid. It's always slightly off, so one line to the far right might look jaggy. Basically, I zoom on a ship, set rotation and movement to slowest and try to get it perfect. Then I zoom out. If there is a better way, I'd love to hear it.

[Galemp]

You can double click on the window to make it full screen. That might help with your icon placement.

You can also open FRED missions in Notepad to fine-tune your camera position and orientation.

[Vrets]

You can also open FRED missions in Notepad to fine-tune your camera position and orientation.

I never thought about that. Good idea, I say.

The quest for the perfect top-down shot may yet reach a successful conclusion.

[Goober5000]

Indeed.  Get the camera to as close a position as you can, then edit the mission by hand.  Change all the matrix numbers from .99995424 to 1, or from -.00000017 to 0, for example.  That will precisely align the camera.