[MP-Ryan]

Hey...

So, I'm starting to slowly learn my way around FRED, and while the tutorial is somewhat useful, it's missing a LOT of information.

So, my big question right now:  The debriefing editor.

Say I wanted to do something like the following:

Primary goal:  Ship X survives.
Bonus goal:  Ship Y survives.
Failure conditions:  Ship X does not survive.

Now, I want the debriefing to read as follows:

Part 1:  Congratulations!  Ship X survived!

Part 2:
2A:  Well done, you preserved Ship Y too!
2B:  Unfortunately, you didn't save Ship Y.

Part 3:  Blah blah.  Sleep.  Dismissed.

So, if you succeed in the primary objective, you get Part 1 and Part 3 all the time.  If you complete the bonus you get Part 2A in between, if you don't you get part 2B.

How do I do this?

This is a roundabout way of asking how the stages work.  Is each stage of the debriefing editor independent, or can I use the and/or operators to connect stages in a sequential fashion to craft a whole debriefing, and then still provide failure objectives at the end?

I've tried looking at some sample missions, but I have to find the ones that do this still.

Thanks.

[Admiral Nelson]

Every stage is independent of any other.  So you need to figure out how many possible stages you want, and a set of criteria that distinguish them from one another.  They will appear in the stage order specified.  So you put the messages in the order you want them to appear and assign the appropriate criteria to each one.

[Dark Hunter]

You can choose via SEXP which event in the mission will trigger each stage.

For example, in Events editor you may have something like this for Ship X:

Code: [Select]

Ship X Dies
    when
        |_
             is-destroyed-delay
                        |
                        |---- Ship X
                        |----- 0

Now in the Debreifing editor you put something this in Stage 1:

Code: [Select]

when
    |
    |---- is-event-false-delay
                         |
                         |-----Ship X Dies
                         |-------0

This means that whenever Ship X lives (rendering the "Ship X Dies" event false), Stage 1 will play. You'd do something similar for Ship Y, then in Stage 3 (which should be a "You failed!" stage), you'd put "is-event-true-delay": "Ship X Dies".... ta-da!

[karajorma]

Do I really have to point out that the AWOL debrief is missing along with all that implies? (Regulars will know exactly what I mean)


Basically there is a problem with the debriefs as Dark Hunter laid them out. What happens if I simply press Alt-J at the start of the mission? Well Ship X is still alive so as far as the game is concerned I've won the mission.

Basically that's why the AWOL debrief is important. You must always check that the player hasn't ended the mission early (or if appropriate simply fix the mission so that the player can't leave early). Every other debriefing stage must also check that the player isn't AWOl.

[Snail]

On that note, do not use is-event-incomplete-delay events because all events become either true or false at the end of a mission.

[MP-Ryan]

The reason why I asked is because of Warzone's Restoration.  A little debriefing problem is occurring in E2M1, aka the restored mission from hell.  It's been more work than the rest of the damn campaign

[TopAce]

Do I really have to point out that the AWOL debrief is missing along with all that implies? (Regulars will know exactly what I mean)

Basically there is a problem with the debriefs as Dark Hunter laid them out. What happens if I simply press Alt-J at the start of the mission? Well Ship X is still alive so as far as the game is concerned I've won the mission.

Basically that's why the AWOL debrief is important. You must always check that the player hasn't ended the mission early (or if appropriate simply fix the mission so that the player can't leave early). Every other debriefing stage must also check that the player isn't AWOl.

I remember when we talked about this AWOL thingy on ICQ, kara. I agree that this is a very common and pretty nasty mistake. But I think Ryan should learn how to make the simplest of debriefs before getting to the more complicated AWOL.

[karajorma]

Oh I agree he needs to learn the basics first but I think it only fair to warn him that there is a gaping hole in his missions.