[Singh]

Hey there,
Just wanted to show my respect to all you Pro FREDers out there, since i've just started on my 3rd (WIP) mission and am finding it one hell of a tough thing to do.
Thing is, how the hell do you all FRED so well?
Any tips will be appreciated
(btw, i'm using the original FRED program that came with FS2. FS2 Open is just too darn big to download. )

[kasperl]

you did do the walkthrough?

[Tiara]

Singh, first read the FRED walkthrough files that come with the game. After that its just fiddling around till you understand it. Though, IMO once you've read the walkthrough its quite easy to get started.

[diamondgeezer]

Originally posted by Singh
btw, i'm using the original FRED program that came with FS2. FS2 Open is just too darn big to download.

Er, 'tis only a few meg for the EXEs, the fancy maps and stuff are optional.

[Singh]

I've already read through most of the walkthrough, and know what most of the SexPs are for. (ok, so i read through a little and learnt the rest the hard way ) The only thing i have problems with are when i want to give ships advanced orders and have to substitute those affects with SexPs. Makes my missions horrendously complex and hard to keep up with.
The worst part is balancing the combat- those ******* destroyers take at least 5 kilometers as a run-up just to exit from hyperspace....not to mention my destroyers keep veering off course for some stupid reason or the other......darn...i'm ranting off again.....

[karajorma]

Singh. Don't just read the walkthrough. Actually build the mission it talks about. Reading a walkthrough often teaches you a lot less than actually doing it yourself does.

Once you've finished the walkthrough have a look through the campaigns you've played and open up their missions in FRED. You can learn a lot by looking at the way other FREDders put their missions together.

FRED itself is very helpful. Click on any SEXP in FRED and the message window at the bottom will explain exactly how the SEXP works.

As for warp out/in distances have a look here

[Singh]

I took your advice and went through the Walkthrough and let me tell you, it was helpful! I've restarted the mission and passed through most of the problems i had before with ease...until i came against new ones..

Anyone know how to switch off combat completely? I mean, stop all ships in the vicinity and make them go into 'play dead mode' and then use the other commands to move around specific ships. unfortunately, i just cant find this operator.......any help?

[SadisticSid]

The one you're looking for is add-goal, then the goal ai-play-dead.

[Singh]

Originally posted by SadisticSid
The one you're looking for is add-goal, then the goal ai-play-dead.

I know of this...but somehow, I have many ships to put this to, and for some reason, if an event has more than 6 operators in it, it just doesnt work for me.

[karajorma]

You might also want to lock the turrets on any capships before you give them other orders or else they might start shooting again.

[magatsu1]

how do you mean "doesn't work" ?
do the ships carry-on fighting, or does FRED crash ?
try playing around with protect/beam protect ship or ignore ship to stop combat as well.

[Singh]

By not working, I mean the event is totally ignored for some reason.

[IceFire]

Just make all the ships protected and nobody will be shooting at anyone.  Except for beams...best to lock beams than to protect all from beams.

Look up the protect and protect-beam operators.

[magatsu1]

what cue are you using for the event ?
(ie; "has arrived delay" or "has time elapsed")

[karajorma]

From the FAQ
 I still can't get an event in my campaign to work

The first thing to find out is if the event is happening at all. Messages are the simplest way to do this. If the event has a message and you aren't seeing the message then it isn't being triggered for some reason. If there isn't a message add one and see if it goes off. By using this method you can trace the SEXP that isn't working.

[Singh]

Thanks for all the help and sorry for not replying.
If its not a bother, I'd like to just ask 1 more question. How do you get Alpha wing to jump out only at the node and nowhere else? Is there a SexP that allows such a thing or does it have to be fixed indirectly?

[Singh]

No matter- found answer in karajoma's FAQ. Thanks

Just a suggestion for the SCP guys- perhaps introduce that facility in Fred_open?

[diamondgeezer]

Well... perhaps a 'warp out at node' box might save a few SEXPs, but really it's more work than it's worth. I believe it is (or soon will be) possible to have a repeating SEXP fire more or less constantly during a mission, so you can check every second whether or not Alpha is in the zone and enable or diasable warpage

[Drew]

hmmm i need to start fredding again.....
where can i get the latest release?

[Singh]

Another slight problem. I tried to use the fix in Karajoma's FAQ, but it didn't work at all. Either the Warp never works despite being at the node itself, or the warp always work despite the distance.
Any idea how to fix this??