[5thAce]

Pretty Cool campaign, just finished it. Just a couple questions about the ending however:

Spoiler:

After the Archangel destroys the royal Sathanas, what happens to the Shivans? Did the GTVA effectively take control of the Shiva system at that point? Did GTVA forces attempt a landing on Shiva or maybe open a dialogue with the Shivans after their emperor's death? Do the Shivans even have anymore ships after that point? Part of me was thinking that the Archangel was going to give Shiva the Vasuda Prime treatment  .

Anyways, great campaign, had a lot of fun playing it - especially the Avenger. Can't wait for the sequel!

[CT27]

Herkie may or may not tell you more, but for now I'll say some of those questions will be answered in the sequel.

[herkie423]

NEW UPDATE RELEASED

The Journal System and the HUD Message Box feature has been added. There will be an additional file named "AF-Extra.vp" in the mod folder. Please note that by downloading this update, your campaign progress and unlocked weapons and intel in the "Techroom" will be reset to the beginning. This is my fault and I apologize. The original campaign file name had spaces in it --- "The Aftermath.fc2." The journal script line locating the campaign file do not support spaces. So I have to rename it. In the game start up screen, the "Main Hall," you will recieve a Pop up box directing you to select a campaign or to select a pilot profile. Just re-select the same campaign title, "The Aftermath" or you might want to create a new profile.

The OP is updated. A new item with the name "AF-Extra" is added to the list of Download Links. The old item that that is updated in the list is the "AF-Root." Download this item (filename: "AF-RootMain005.rar") and the new item added in the list (filename: "AF-Extra.rar").

Update Changes:

- The Journal System and the HUD Message Box feature has been added.
  The missions were updated to accommodate those features.
- Minor adjustments to some weapons. Shivan torpedoes are faster now.
- Minor re-balancing to some missions

I tweaked the placement of the Message Box and changed the look...

[CT27]

Herkie, I think you need to change the OP a bit on something.


What you have listed in the OP as the alternate ending (which is now the canon ending that leads to Blue Guardian) is listed as AFCampV2.  However, when I put the new AFCampV2 in the folder I got the old "Reboot" ending.
To get the more upbeat (now canon) ending I had to put the new "AF-Missions1" back in.



I also PMed you about some technical issues involving "Dragon Slayer" and didn't post them here because they involved spoilers (maybe I just remembered it now, but I think that the error where the Avenger's AA cannons in first person view fired like it was third person view also happened in the version before this update).

[herkie423]

Really? I will check. I'm pretty sure that the updated AF-Mission1 is with the upbeat ending.

Regarding the Avenger. If you see your ship (only the front of it), its intended. I placed a flag to make your ship visible in First Person View. Sort of like a cockpit view. BP did this with the Karuna. You do not control the AA cannons directly. Did you set their turret gruop mode to "track?" If so, they will shoot only at your selected target.

Maybe you are referring to the first capship mission where you are piloting a Boreas. It is armed only with AA guns.

[CT27]

When I looked in the tech room and was playing with the new AF-Mission1, the correct (more upbeat) cutscene was listed as the correct one "A Sacrifice".  However, when I played "Dragon Slayer" through the techroom, that mission played as if it were the original downer version.

Does that make sense?



As for the Avenger, I played "Dragon Slayer", and in first person view I didn't see any of the ship.  Maybe that's part of the problem?

[herkie423]

Yeah, another mistake. The way I copy-paste things. I have not thought that one of the difference between the two versions includes the mission "Dragon Slayer." Anyway, it will be quick fix. I will update the OP and take out the AF-Root for the moment.

If you reached this far now, you are fast.

[CT27]

Yeah, another mistake. The way I copy-paste things. I have not thought that one of the difference between the two versions includes the mission "Dragon Slayer." Anyway, it will be quick fix. I will update the OP and take out the AF-Root for the moment.

If you reached this far now, you are fast.

(I also said this in the PM) In the techroom under missions, press Ctrl+Shift+S and it shows the whole list of missions/cutscenes in a campaign and you can play any single one you want.

[herkie423]

WARNING

Do not update now.

There is a mistake in just two of the mission files. Thanks CT for bringing this up. Hold the update first until I tesolve the problem which will be quick. The AF-Root item is taken down for now.

For those who already downloaded the update and started it, continue the campaign then stop in Act 9 so you won't lose your progress when you update again. Re-download the item AF-Root when I fix it.

By the way, CT. You should start at the beginning or your journal will not be updated.

[CT27]

I'll start over when the update is ready.


By the way, what exactly do you mean by "Journal" in this campaign update?
I think I may have an idea but I just want to be sure.

[herkie423]

UPDATE FIXED AND READY FOR DOWNLOAD

Everybody can download now...

That was a quick fix. Whew!

[herkie423]

I'll start over when the update is ready.


By the way, what exactly do you mean by "Journal" in this campaign update?
I think I may have an idea but I just want to be sure.

The Journal Feature used in BP, BTA and many new campaigns. There is a pair of new buttons in the briefing room (Campaign Mode and not Single Mission Mode). I have posted some images of those screens in my previous replies.

Oh yes, the AF-MissionsV1 is the original Reboot and and the alternate AF-MissionsV2 is the cannon upbeat version. just like before. So I no longer need to revise the OP. The files in Mediafire were replaced but the links are the same.

[CT27]

I think I figured out why I couldn't see the Avenger in 1st person view in "Slaying Dragons" (the new name for the "Dragon Slayer" mission) the other day.



When I couldn't see the ship in first person, I was playing the recently released FS0 3.8.0 RC3.  I tried switching back to FS0 3.7.4 Final and I could see the ship in first person view now.  I'm not sure how to fix it in the new version but at least I found a reason why things might be different.

[bonusbartus]

First I want to say: Great work, nice campaign!

Sadly I'm stuck in the "Double crossed" mission.. I always end the mission with some warning that I am not allowed to shoot on friendlies...
am I doing something wrong, or am I just running into a bug because I'm using the latest 3_8 release?
I start by finishing off the fighters, then I disable the engine of the transport. Lastly I hunt down my two wingmen, who turn on me...

also, is there a way to make hud elements and text larger? I'm running this on a laptop with a 1920x1080 resolution and a 15.6' screen. for the mediaVPs I added the Ax2HUD which seem to work nicely, but not with this mod..

thanks!

[CT27]

If that's the early mission I'm thinking of where you try to raid a transport and eventually your wingmen turn on you...

I first destroyed the enemy fighters then disabled the transport.


However, you have to wait for your wingmen to turn red before it's okay to fire on them.

[bonusbartus]

If that's the early mission I'm thinking of where you try to raid a transport and eventually your wingmen turn on you...

I first destroyed the enemy fighters then disabled the transport.


However, you have to wait for your wingmen to turn red before it's okay to fire on them.

Thanks, I think that last point did it.. not sure what I did before, but following your advice seems to work

[theperfectdrugsk]

Hey there,

I'm really enjoying the mod so far, but I've run into a problem with the Client Rescue mission.

The Corsair keeps getting stuck after Donald gets on board.  It just sits there, the named enemy wings spawn, I kill them until no more spawn...and then nothing.  The continuously spawning enemy wings keep spawning, and the enemy cruiser sits there to the point where all it's weapons mounts are destroyed..and so the Corsair just hangs out by the Denver, shooting piddly lasers at things.

EDIT: nevermind, I'm just an idiot.  I had been using build 3.8.0 for another mod, and forgot to change it back to 3.7 for this mod.

[PIe]

Spoiler:

This campaign is very pretty, with beautiful planets and mission backgrounds.  Some of the retextured ships are quite well done.  The loading screens are gorgeous and the mainhalls are pretty nice as well.  However, though the ships may be individually good looking, they make no sense when composed into an entire fleet.  The model styles are often completely mismatched and many of the capships are one-offs, with relatively few ships having widespread deployment.  Was it really necessary to use the Raynor, Erebus AND Solaris in the same fleet?  It feels odd being in the GTVA flying off of a UEF capship fighting alongside a Tev capship.  Even the ship races were sometimes mismatched (The Enterprise was fictionalized as a Vasudan ship while clearly being Terran).  Besides this, it's completely implausible that the GTVA could innovate so much in only three years after Capella.  I know about the technroom entries, but those are ridiculous as well.  The GTVA enslaving more than half of the galactic population?  Really?
However, this isn't the worst part of the campaign.  I don't know how else to say this, but the mission design is atrocious.  Every mission has a ridiculous number of fighters and it's extremely tedious to kill them all.  I can't emphasize this enough.  It makes the mod nearly unplayable.  This mod has Battle of Endor syndrome like nothing else, with 300+ fighters and 40+ destroyers in one mission alone.  I get that the mod aimed to be epic, but having that many ships in a single mission is the farthest thing from epic.  It becomes even less so (if that's possible) when every single mission has insane numbers of ships.  It's impossible to start at the climax and try to keep the climax for the entirety of the story.  Since it's all relative, it just ends up not having one at all.  Making the terrible missions even worse is the fact that most of them are completely redundant and identical to play, to the point that cutting at least seven out of the ten acts would be a massive improvement.
The remotely activated jump drives seems awfully like a lazy way of avoiding the AWOL debriefings.
The story itself was quite disjointed, mentioning The Faction early on and then never again.  The conclusion was clearly a cheap knockoff of Age of Aquarius, from the mysterious protector figure to the player's character being mysteriously rescued after being stranded in a space suit to the final cutscene featuring two alien ships talking to each other.
As for the United Pirate Coalition, that storyline was completely unbelievable as well.  It's an oxymoronic name for a pirate band and considering that it conquered Deneb in one day, it's at least a terrorist organization and at most a warring state.  Having a superdestroyer and four corvettes parked outside the GTVA police station beggars belief. 
Another part of this mod that I disliked immensely is the reference to Christopher Snipes.  It's impossible to replicate him in any mod and there's enough talent in the community to write interesting new characters without having to resort to cheaply resurrecting someone from retail.
In all, it seems that this mod was created with very little thought put towards good gameplay or storytelling.

[CT27]

I'm helping with the writing for the sequel.  I wasn't involved with the production of this campaign except for some minor writing toward the end.


All I can say is we'll try to fix some of those issues in the sequel.  The sequel will only be about in the mid-30s (maybe) as far as missions go.  There will still be big fleet battles but not as many so as not to overwhelm the player with BoE syndrome.


In defense of one of the points you made though,

Spoiler:

  when you talked about '40 destroyers'...if you're talking about the missions I think you're talking about, those were with the new superships the GTVA developed.  I think they were meant to show the GTVA had a weapon that could possibly help combat the massive numbers advantage the Shivans had.  There were only three of them IIRC.

As for the other issues, you'll have to wait for the creator/leader of the project to address them and I have no idea when he'll be back (it says he hasn't been on since September).  He's with the Philippines military right now (he gave me permission in the past to mention this) and they've got some harsh stuff going on over there.

[SL1]

I'm having a really hard time with The Hornet's Nest.

Spoiler:

It just doesn't seem possible to save the Kamikaze once the Nahemas jump in. Even if I can stop the first Nahema wing from destroying the Kamikaze, the second Nahema wing just swoops in from the other side and finishes the job. And that's if I can stop the three wings of Maras from ganging up on me and stopping me from shooting any Nahemas down in the first place. Trebuchets don't reload fast enough to shoot down all the bombers at standoff range (and I don't have enough of them for all the bombers anyway), and it certainly doesn't help that one of my gun banks is inexplicably occupied by a Subach, making it take even more time to shoot down a bomber at close range. I don't know why I'm not allowed to customize my loadout. The briefing doesn't give any explanation why. Being able to load up on Widowmakers might make this mission doable. Hiding the wing names on the HUD is another inconvenience. No recommendations in the debriefing, either.

Is the Kamikaze supposed to activate that deflector shield the briefing mentioned? Because that's not happening. I did find that the comms menu has ships called "protect", "detonate", and "escape", which I thought might mean that I can order the Kamikaze to turn on the shield by choosing "protect", but that doesn't seem to work. I'm guessing they're stealthed Pegasuses at the edge of the mission area that are there for some FRED thing and aren't meant to be communicated with.

Really great campaign up to this point, but this mission just doesn't seem winnable.