[jr2]

Hmm, I was testing to see if a small change would make the Equinox behave normally... that was the mission that this problem appeared in, correct?  I'd check myself, but my FreeSpace computer got a bad BIOS upgrade, this one can play it, but refuses to do so (minimizes FS, when you click on it to restore, it resets the computer).

[Mobius]

Oh...

May I damage the Nicolas a bit? Resp.

[Admiral Nelson]

Sure.  Do as you think best.

[MP-Ryan]

Sure.  Do as you think best.

Precisely.  At this point we've gone beyond a simple restoration into a full upgrade.  So long as the story and missions remain true to the original authors, I see nothing wrong with tinkering with the missions to increase immersiveness and produce better gameplay.  Most of the Warzone missions are fantastic, but a few have a coupe glaring errors that we've managed to identify and fix... and then *gets back up on soapbox* there's that infernal final mission with so much potential and so many problems.

I'm really looking forward to re-working that sucker.  It should be a desparate battle to the finish, not a friggin' Sunday drive.

Anyway, back to the original point, the Nicholas should have some damage when it shows up, they engaged a Moloch.  Similarly, we could add damage to few other cap ships in some other missions - the Equinox takes a serious battering a few missions earlier, 100% hull integrity seems odd.  To top that off, the Leonov (in the mission where you nuke the Revial, can't remember the name.... it's the one with the Eleris and britannia) could also be a little worse for wear when it shows up.

[Admiral Nelson]

Precisely.  At this point we've gone beyond a simple restoration into a full upgrade.  So long as the story and missions remain true to the original authors, I see nothing wrong with tinkering with the missions to increase immersiveness and produce better gameplay.  Most of the Warzone missions are fantastic, but a few have a coupe glaring errors that we've managed to identify and fix...

Yep.  All of our changes have really amounted to a paint job and a couple nice coats of wax on a classic car.  We don't need wholesale changes, just tweaks.  The Nicolas itself is perhaps the biggest departure from the original, but even there from reading the mission in FRED it is clear that the ship had always been intended to be in mission.

I have a couple of more small tweaks I have found in E2M3.  There are no "protect freighter" directives, so I will add these myself.

I'd also welcome any and all other feedback on any of these missions.  I think we are close to nailing everything but the final mission down.

[Mobius]

Something I forgot to tell you before: in mission specs, except for the first mssion(s?) and many others, no squadron is specified in the proper field.

The Hull integrity(as well as the subsystems' integrity)of both the Equinox and the Nicolas has been randomized.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[MP-Ryan]

Precisely.  At this point we've gone beyond a simple restoration into a full upgrade.  So long as the story and missions remain true to the original authors, I see nothing wrong with tinkering with the missions to increase immersiveness and produce better gameplay.  Most of the Warzone missions are fantastic, but a few have a coupe glaring errors that we've managed to identify and fix...

Yep.  All of our changes have really amounted to a paint job and a couple nice coats of wax on a classic car.  We don't need wholesale changes, just tweaks.  The Nicolas itself is perhaps the biggest departure from the original, but even there from reading the mission in FRED it is clear that the ship had always been intended to be in mission.

I have a couple of more small tweaks I have found in E2M3.  There are no "protect freighter" directives, so I will add these myself.

I'd also welcome any and all other feedback on any of these missions.  I think we are close to nailing everything but the final mission down.

Before we declare everything but the last one finalized, I think we need another WIP with all the recent changes to test (and freeze changes while its tested).  Once that's complete, we do the final mission.

Frankly, rather than the quick fixes I posted earlier I think that entire mission could be re-written and re-FREDed from the ground up - in keeping with the plot events of the original, but updated as a more fitting climax action-wise.  IF we decided to go that route, I'd be happy to write/script out a proposal for the mission proceedings and post it here for critique before we do it.

[Mobius]

Uhm no I think it would be exaggerated. I think that the idea of adding some single missions is already enough to revamp the campaign.

[Admiral Nelson]

Okay, the Nicolas seems to work as envisaged now.  However, we do need to fix Equinox's strange spinning.  I also noticed something off with Taurus wing.  Its second wave warped in something like 8 clicks from the convoy.  So far away, in fact, that the convoy had all departed by the time it could get within firing range.  The result was a long wait and pointless battle just to trigger the arrival of the Nicolas.  Was something changed in Taurus wing?

[Mobius]

No, I changed nothing in Taurus.

Also, I forgot to replace the Nicolas(since is just one the SReds that fires at it now). Its y coords were 400(the same is for the waypoints). Please fix it.

What about the squadron logos?

[Admiral Nelson]

Taurus problem was related to the fact that it was designated to appear near Theta 1 -- the first convoy ship to depart.  Since I was stooging around and not properly killing things off, Theta 1 departed before the second wave of Taurus could arrive, causing that problem.

The mission didn't work properly the second time I ran through it -- Remehaz again turned back towards the Nicolas and beamed it to death.  Perhaps Remehaz needs waypoints to force it to turn towards and stay focused upon the Tatenen.

Insignia we should add to the checklist for a final run through / clean up.

[Mobius]

The mission didn't work properly the second time I ran through it -- Remehaz again turned back towards the Nicolas and beamed it to death.  Perhaps Remehaz needs waypoints to force it to turn towards and stay focused upon the Tatenen.

That's impossible, the Nicolas has beam protect ship activated! Maybe I forgot to set it again(remember, the alternate mission...).

Taurus problem was related to the fact that it was designated to appear near Theta 1 -- the first convoy ship to depart.  Since I was stooging around and not properly killing things off, Theta 1 departed before the second wave of Taurus could arrive, causing that problem.

Then we should replace Taurus near the node or the Tatenen. If there's Theta 1, it jumps near it as normal. If the freighter has either departed or has been destroyed, it will jump near the Tatenen.

[Admiral Nelson]

Well, I tried once more, and this time Remehaz again turned away from Tatenen and towards Nicolas.  It fired its oher weapons at Nicolas but not its beams.  Remehas really needs to be prevented from turning again to face Nicolas.  It should focus on and attack with its beams Tatenen.

[MP-Ryan]

Well, I tried once more, and this time Remehaz again turned away from Tatenen and towards Nicolas.  It fired its oher weapons at Nicolas but not its beams.  Remehas really needs to be prevented from turning again to face Nicolas.  It should focus on and attack with its beams Tatenen.

I have an idea, perhaps more realistic than that.

Let's face it - the Shivan corvette is assurred of wiping out the cruiser, so it would probably do that if it could.  The destroyer, by contrast, will make short work of a corvette.

Why not change the coordinates.  Have the Nicholas jump in, and the Moloch hop in after it and fire one beam.  Then jump the Tatenen in BETWEEN the corvette and the cruiser.  That way the corvette can't beat up the Nicholas further and it'll get shot down by the Tatenen.  Might be a little more dramatic, and interesting.  Plus, then you can jump one of the Shivan fighters in near the Nicholas on the other side of the Tatenen, and away from the convoy.

Just a suggestion.  Only trouble is, will a Hateshphut fit between them?

[Admiral Nelson]

Might be a bit tight -- a Hatshepsut is BIG.  Perhaps even setting the corvette to kamikaze would achieve the desired end?  It really isn't there as a mission challenge, but just there to blow up dramatically.

Attached are more revisions to E2M3 and M4.  Changes to M3 as described before.  In E2M4 the arrival of the Kirosi was only set to occur when the Shivan destroyer blows up.  This meant that the Warlock could still be destroyed by Shivan bombers, and Russik would be having a nice chat with the Warlock's captain even as the ship explodes around him.  Changed so that Kirosi only arrives if the destroyer and all bombers are destroyed and if the Warlock is still intact.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[MP-Ryan]

Might be a bit tight -- a Hatshepsut is BIG.  Perhaps even setting the corvette to kamikaze would achieve the desired end?  It really isn't there as a mission challenge, but just there to blow up dramatically.

Hrmmm.

Is it possible to force the Tatenen to destroy the weapons subsystem of the corvette after it fires it's first beam cannon?  Then lock the beams on the Moloch (to simulate weapons failure), and let the Tatenen rip it to shreds?  That'd work too.

[Admiral Nelson]

The issue was really with the corvette flying the wrong way.  Changing it to a kamikaze seem to have gotten the job done.  It barrels in on the destroyer firing its beams and gets blasted to bits.

[Mobius]

The issue was really with the corvette flying the wrong way.  Changing it to a kamikaze seem to have gotten the job done.  It barrels in on the destroyer firing its beams and gets blasted to bits.

Urgh...what if it manages to complete its kamikaze runs? No messages mentioned a kamikaze run, and it may become noticeable once the corvette points to the Tatenen.

I would like to remember you that the Nicolas' hull integrity is a bit randomized, so chances it could be destroyed by the Rehemas. The Nicolas wasn't present in the old Warzone, consider it as our way to play a bit with the campaign

Attached are more revisions to E2M3 and M4.  Changes to M3 as described before.  In E2M4 the arrival of the Kirosi was only set to occur when the Shivan destroyer blows up.  This meant that the Warlock could still be destroyed by Shivan bombers, and Russik would be having a nice chat with the Warlock's captain even as the ship explodes around him.  Changed so that Kirosi only arrives if the destroyer and all bombers are destroyed and if the Warlock is still intact.

Good. One time, the Ravana took down the Warlock with its last beam shot before it exploded...in the following chat, all messages were sent by Command...

[MP-Ryan]

We almost ready for a semi-final WIP release?

[Mobius]

I'm doing nothing, I'm waiting Admiral Nelson's edited E2M1...