[Droid803]

I'm having a bit of trouble implementing this. Can I do it all in FRED or do I need to mess with the hud_gauges.tbl?

You need hud_gauges.tbl

[mjn.mixael]

Didn't the old Freespace 1 alpha version have a percentage-based shield system display on the HUD? I seem to remember that it did. If so, I would suggest getting your hands on that mission and picking it apart to see how they did it. Might help a bit.

I highly doubt that was done in FS1 Alpha with sexps. It was probably a code chunk that was later removed or changed.

[Legate Damar]

I'm having a bit of trouble implementing this. Can I do it all in FRED or do I need to mess with the hud_gauges.tbl?

You need hud_gauges.tbl

Eh...

I'll fiddle around with it later and figure it out.

[IronBeer]

Just to chime in with a sort of general FREDding statement: learning how to do conditionals in FRED will be like becoming a FRED Super-Saiyan. I kid you not; the things you can do with conditionals are a helluva lot stronger and elegant than any other comparable solution. In my work for BtA, Mjn helped me learn how to use conditionals, and already the things I can do with SEXPs are much more complex than anything I previously thought possible.

Gauges, however, are still kind of arcane. Maybe try popping onto the IRC channel for some "live" help.

[Droid803]

Gauges are not arcane if you just want to display a string from a variable or something, it's actually rather straightforward.
Hardest part is figuring out where to place the goddamn thing.