[Mungrel]

Would it possible to have map - loading screen - map , without having any other (like a red alert screen,etc).

Sorry if this has been done or already been disscused before, i've been without a computer for the past 6+ months and has changed !!!

[Carl]

really? did anyone fire the welcome beam for you?

i think your idea is good. it would give more options to campaign mission makers, and you could warp to other systems without needing an emergency situation.

[Mungrel]

Originally posted by Carl
really? did anyone fire the welcome beam for you?

Nope  , but i'll survive.

Originally posted by Carl
it would give more options to campaign mission makers, and you could warp to other systems without needing an emergency situation.

Yep! No more 'one map' missions. The mission maker could set up a real sence of freedom.

[Solatar]

Tachyon style. Once you enter a jump node and press a key, then boom! You're in subspace, then reach the node on the other side and continue the fight.

That would be cool for where you must escort a destroyer to another system. You escort them to the node, then through the node, then you help out on the other side.

[mikhael]

Mmmmm. Tachyon.

How possible would it be to put in a mission configurable "loading" screen? Something that the binary would see in the mission file and would know to load a "red alert" screen or a "jumping nodes" screen or just any old full screen text message that the mission designer wanted the user to see between mission areas?

[Solatar]

Or a .ani.

[Anaz]

how about single pcx with the words "Loading" across it with the little loading bars.

It could be kind of like the 'red aleart' flag, only it would be a 'No Debriefing' flag.

...right?

[Goober5000]

Originally posted by Mungrel
Nope , but i'll survive.

We've been remiss!  Fire up the welcome beam!



Exits are to the left and right, flame throwers are under your seats, and plasma rifles are in the lockers to the front.  Be wary of hungry Shivans prowling through the air vents - throw them your lunch and they'll leave you alone.

I think there's merit in keeping the existing red-alert code.  It provides a place to catch your breath before starting the second stage of the mission - a "time out", if you will.  Plus it provides the little button that lets you go back and replay the old mission if you need to.  I'd be in favor of leaving the red-alert code the way it is.

[mikhael]

Originally posted by Goober5000

I think there's merit in keeping the existing red-alert code.  It provides a place to catch your breath before starting the second stage of the mission - a "time out", if you will.  Plus it provides the little button that lets you go back and replay the old mission if you need to.  I'd be in favor of leaving the red-alert code the way it is.

I think there's merit in extending the existing code to allow for more than a "red alert" message. Leave the time out thing, leave the replay button, but let the mission designer decide whether its a 'red alert' or 'transitting node' or 'jumping to next patrol waypoint' message.

[Goober5000]

Originally posted by mikhael
Leave the time out thing, leave the replay button, but let the mission designer decide whether its a 'red alert' or 'transitting node' or 'jumping to next patrol waypoint' message.

That's what it is, though.  Just make the red-alert briefing simply say, "Subspace jump in progress..." or whatever.

[mikhael]

Originally posted by Goober5000


That's what it is, though.  Just make the red-alert briefing simply say, "Subspace jump in progress..." or whatever.

But a jump from one node to another, or skipping between waypoints is NOT a red alert.

[KARMA]

i asked this too sometimes ago, so i drop a line too
(i asked also about saving some mission data during campaign so that it will be possible to load it with specific sexps, so to bypass  the redalert procedure and give more possibilities to fredders in creating continuity between different missions, sesqui reasked this too in the other redalert thread)

[Goober5000]

You can sort of do that already with is-previous-event true.  Just make a number of events to control most of what you need.  That's how the main campaign had the Sathanas in Bearbaiting carry over its status into High Noon.

Providing the ability to save variables would require quite a bit of modification to the player file format.

[Solatar]

But we want to be able to make jumps through nodes without having to work for a few hours just to make that part of the mission.

[Sesquipedalian]

Originally posted by Goober5000

Providing the ability to save variables would require quite a bit of modification to the player file format.

But the question is, can it be done?

Previous-event-true is good, but limited.  One cannot properly do hitpoints with it, unless one makes 100 different events for each and every ship.

I made a suggestion about this in this thread.

[Mungrel]

Thanks for the welcome Goober5000 .

So, is it actually possible to do ?

Red alert isn't bad when ya need a rest, but it would be good for making the missions more involved.

Originally posted by Hades
But we want to be able to make jumps through nodes without having to work for a few hours just to make that part of the mission.

precisely

[LtNarol]

There are times however in campaigns when you have a dire need to ditch the ability to hit the reset button or give the player a rest.  Sometimes you want to build the intensity at the end and hit the player with mission, subspace chase, mission, subspace retreat, superno....I've said too much....

[EdrickV]

Rather then changing red-alert, I think what would be needed would be a new SEXP with it's own code to change the game state from one thing to the next. The trick is, the debriefing code does more then just show your progress in the mission. It also appears to be where all the cleaning up of level data is done. A non-briefing red-alert type SEXP would also need to able to tell whether the player passed or failed the mission. It sounds to me like it would take some doing. The best way to start might be to make a copy of the red-alert SEXP and change the copy to do what you want. (As opposed to creating a new SEXP or trying to expand the abilities of red-alert itself.)

[WMCoolmon]

Something else that would be nice would be the ability to change the background of the standard loading bar, such as TBP did, on a mission-by-mission basis. Some options for the bar would be nice, such as whether it's shown or not and the position.
This would be a relatively small change, I think, but would help the immersion factor of missions by quite a bit.