[ReeNoiP]

Since the Extended Walkthrough was as good as it was I only have two questions at this point.

1) I am trying to make a "protect convoy" directive that can be seen at the start of the mission and is completed when a certain wing is destroyed and the escort ships are not destroyed. So I set up an event like this:

I am not sure if I should use and or if any of it is right at all. Anyway it does not show up at any point during the mission.

2) How can I look at missions from usermade campaigns or the main FS2 campaign for that matter? There are no mission files in the mod folders.

Thanks in advance.

[Mobius]

1) Try this:

"Mission success"

and
   is-event-true-delay
    Libra destroyed
    0 _{(I suggest 3-6, goals are never that immediate and I assume there are messages at that point)}
  not
   percent-ship-destroyed
    25
    Reuil
    Crane
    Emmerich
    Atlas

In order to boost the effect chain this event to another event that becomes true upon the beginning of the mission, but only if the convoy is already on station. If you don't have one, create it:

"Beginning"

when
  has-time-elapsed
  2

do-nothing


Place "Beginning" right before "Mission Success" and use the interface part located at the center of the Events Editor to chain "Mission Success" to "Beginning". Add a chain value of 0-1...that should work. I haven't tested this(I usually have separate directives, destroying a wing and protecting a convoy are two separate things) so let me know if it doesn't work.


2) The mission files are placed in the Root VP file in your root FS2 folder. You need a dedicated program to open VP files, like this:

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Vpview32

[karajorma]

That's not going to work Mobius, you've made the classic mistake of using is-event-true-delay in a directive and not using the optional 3rd argument.

ReeNoiP, what you have to do depends on whether you are using the retail version of FS2 or FS2_Open. In retail you simply can't use is-event-true/false-delay for determining when a directive is complete. FS2 treats the use of this SEXP to determine when the directive will appear rather than when it is completed or not. In retail you would simply check if Libra has been destroyed using is-destroyed-delay and check for the destruction of the other ships using something similar to Mobius' suggestion.

FS2_Open on the other hand does allow you to add a 3rd line to the is-event-true-delay SEXP which tells the game whether to use this determining when the directive should appear or if it should be used to determine if the directive is complete.

[Mobius]

So it should be:

  is-event-true-delay
   Libra destroyed
   0
   True

Right?

I wonder when this feature got added to FRED2 Open since I've never noticed it(might have been added even before I joined HLP, for that matter), just like the hits-left-subsystem 3rd argument. I used to learn the basics with FRED2 so new additions that lie in FRED have a good chance of remaining "undetected".

EDIT: At this point, I want to know the exact number of secret 3rd arguments lying in FRED2 Open.

[ReeNoiP]

Can't make it work 

Maybe I am going about this the wrong way. What I have is a science convoy sitting in the nebula conducting an experiment. The shivans attack. After libra is destroyed the experiment goes wrong (some chatter and effects) and the mission ends with a red alert after a little while.

The directives I want are:
"Protect science group" during all of the mission.
"Destroy -" as shivan wings appear. This works fine.

Actually if the directive could just be there during the mission, I do not need it to "complete" before the end.

[Mobius]

Is the science vessel supposed to survive? Is the mission supposed to fail if the experiment fails?

In that case you could use the classic "has-departed-delay" for that event: it will appear automatically and will also fail should the science cruiser go down.


Let me think...you could use "has-departed-delay" even if the science cruiser isn't supposed to be destroyed. If you have a red-alert you may use it in conjunction with an event to proceed to the other mission without satisfying the directive. It's not wise, but it's a simple way to do the job.

"Protect science group"

when

  or
 
     has-departed-delay
     <Science Cruiser>
     0

    is-event-true-delay
    "Success"
    <insert delay>
    true

do-nothing


Plus the one posted above:


"Success"

and
   is-event-true-delay
    Libra destroyed
    0 (I suggest 3-6, goals are never that immediate and I assume there are messages at that point)

  not
   percent-ship-destroyed
    25
    Reuil
    Crane
    Emmerich
    Atlas


And then this:


"Red Alert Trigger"

when
  is-event-true-delay
  "Success"
  <insert delay>

red-alert


You may also chain the following event to "Red Alert Trigger" in order to make the red-alert more realistic:

when
  true

force-jump

[ReeNoiP]

It works!  Hurray

Thanks for the help.

If you want to have a look at the mission (maybe critize some of the FREDing) i put i up here: http://files.filefront.com/mission1fs2/;13309755;/fileinfo.html

You will need this custom ship to run the mission: http://www.freespacemods.net/download.php?view.239

This is the first mission in my "learn-to-FRED" campaign. Next one I will try to get better at using large ship movements and learn to link missions.