[Shark333]

Hi all,

I recently ran into a problem while playing through Derelict.  It appears several of the red alert mission aren't storing my ship/loadout data correctly, and I'm getting the wrong setup on the following missions.  I initially thought this was due to not creating a new pilot profile, but this is also occurring on the new pilot I created.

It's gotten me stuck on the "chase the Shivans" sequence, as it loaded the Myrmidon/low ammo setup from earlier in the campaign.

Is there a way to manually modify my loadout to something else?

[LoneKnight]

There seem to be a lot of issues associated with Red Alerts. I'll be interested to know why...

[LHN91]

IIRC the pilot code is notorious for messing up red alert missions. Out of curiousity, did you start a new pilot when you started Derelict? At the moment, that's most recommended way to avoid errors like those, at least until the new pilot code is finished up over in Antipodes,

[Shark333]

IIRC the pilot code is notorious for messing up red alert missions. Out of curiousity, did you start a new pilot when you started Derelict? At the moment, that's most recommended way to avoid errors like those, at least until the new pilot code is finished up over in Antipodes,

I originally did not, and had problems on the first red alert mission.  I then created a new pilot, did not have problems on the first couple red alert missions, and have now reached a second set of red alert missions that keep pulling loadouts from the first set.

If it's a pilot file error, is there a way to tweak the file in a hex editor to fix the issue?

[LHN91]

There..... *might* be, I seem to remember someone posted about it before, but I'm not sure when that was, or how to be honest. May have to wait for one of the more experienced support ninjas to show up.

Admittedly, I've almost never had an issue with red alert missions, despite the apparent regularity with which the issues show up.

[niffiwan]

I've done some simple hex edits to fix some pilot files, but I've got to say that for your situation, it's quite a difficult task.  For each ship on your team in the mission-before-the-red-alert-mission you need to set name, class, hull damage, subsystem damage (for each possible subsystem, i.e. 64), and finally weapon data for the possible 7 banks a ship could theoretically have.  And you need to set the number of ships the red alert data is stored for.  And all the references to ship classes and weapons are mod specific.  And it's all got to be in the right order without anything missing.  And the ints are of course read LSB to MSB, and I've never bothered to work out how floats are stored on disk so I can't help you there!  (note - all the hull & subsystem damage values are floats)

If you only want to modify your ship, and only the weapon loadout that you have, and you fully accept the risk of completely trashing your pilot, and you're familiar with reading C/C++, then have a look at the function red_alert_read_wingman_status_campaign in missionui/redalert.cpp to find the order in which everything is in the file, and give it a go (naturally, backup your pilot files 1st!).  Otherwise, forget it, as it would be faster to replay the campaign   Or perhaps more relevant to your case, just live with the messed up ship & its loadout for that one mission.

[Jeff Vader]

Or edit said missions to be not red-alert and have a proper loadout?

[Shark333]

Or perhaps more relevant to your case, just live with the messed up ship & its loadout for that one mission.

I would have just done this, but it put me in a Myrmidon with PromRs and 80 Tempests, and told me to go take out a Lilith main cannon while under fire from 3 cruisers' flak guns.   

It sounds like Jeff Vader's suggestion might be the simplest fix...get into the VP archives, edit the mission in FRED to not be a red alert, and allow decent loadout equipment?  Are there any drawbacks or things to look out for with this approach?

[LoneKnight]

Is there a method to get a Red Alert briefing, but not deal with any of the other red alert settings? Like the mission is a standard, but the briefing is the only thing different.

I ask because Red Alerts caused a bunch of issues in Burning Heaven, and I had to change them to normal missions. I really liked the briefings.

[Shark333]

I ended up cracking open the VPs and turning off the red alert option for that mission, which solved the problem.  Thanks everyone for the help!