Mission editor/creator...

Something easy, point and clickish, that everyone can use? No, not really. At least none that would enable to do anything that could be considered as interesting missions.

There is a very advanced mission tool for WCP/WSCO, BUT this is a programming language without any interface. Its also quite hard to learn as there is no manual for it.
 
Unfortunately there are very few space sims with a (easy to use) mission editor.

There is one for Freespace2, which is quite nice and free, just like the game itself, so you could do Wing Commander missions for the WC Saga Prologue, but the original Wing Commander games don't offer such a tool.

(If you want to take a look at the one mentioned above, just ask.)

Another possibility is learning the one from WCP which cff mentioned. But it is really not that user-friendly.


EDIT: fixed typos.
 
If you just want missions with simple goals try Wing commander Academy(the game)
 
Visual interfaces are overrated, they only slow you down :). I understand that it's impossible to work on an FPS or any game with a complex world without a really good visual interface. In the case of space sims, though - what's the point? If you can't position a few ships without a visual interface, you won't be able to make a good mission in any case.

Anyway... there is, as a matter of fact, a decent mission editor for WCP/SO available right now - MED, the original mission editor used by the WCP team. Like with WCPPas, it suffers the problem of having no documentation whatsoever, but it does have a visual interface. That said, I would still recommend WCPPas to anyone interested in WC modding - yes, it's harder to learn, but at least you can ask for advice and hope to get an answer, which obviously won't be the case with MED.

Apart from that, it's worth noting there are fan-made mission editors for WC1, WC2, and WC4 out there. I think there was one for WC3 as well. I only ever tried the WC1/2 editors, though, so I don' know how the others work.
 
If I ever get around to learning how to handle data within visual basic (mainly converting formats and big/little endian) I have researched the WC1 file enough to make a fairly decent editor.

I'm just way too busy in my life to do this (so anyone who wants to explain how this is done, this is a nudge in YOUR direction)
 
I wish I could get a crash course in visual basic, since my programming experience is limited to Basic ~~~. However, what is the mission editor for Freespace 2, I am very interested.

Also the MED editor where can I get it, I'll work at it until I can understand it.
 
If not installed as a link in the start menu (in the FS2 directory) in your main FS2 directory there should be a program called Fred2.exe
That is the editor. Before doing anything you should read all the documentation on the editor, especially the bits on the sexpression trees and mission branching.
I know what you mean about a crash course in VB. I used to program in AMOS on the Amiga and if I could use that, I know for certain I could create a WC1 editor with an easy to use GUI.
I'm actually looking at a PC tool called Playbasic, which might be similar and easier for me to learn.
 
Don't start with something so complex. Just use the beginnner tutorials and create a simple mission to learn the basic things, without mission branching, many goals or SEXPs. Then you can move on.

But if you want to use the engine Prophecy used, then you have to try MED.

Whatever you choose (perhaps both), have fun, and don't let you be discouraged by some minor problems in the beginning!
 
Don't start with something so complex. Just use the beginnner tutorials and create a simple mission to learn the basic things, without mission branching, many goals or SEXPs. Then you can move on.

But if you want to use the engine Prophecy used, then you have to try MED.

Whatever you choose (perhaps both), have fun, and don't let you be discouraged by some minor problems in the beginning!

Also, get some fan made missions and do some reverse engenieering, it's really easier to learn things from the ready-and-working material than from documents. Also, if you will try FRED start with going on with the mission described in help material step by step and comparing it with finished version. it's really the best way to get a hang of it.
 
I've packaged up only the necessary MED Files in two packages for download:

http://mark.intertainmentgames.com/Prophecy MED.rar (WC:p)
http://mark.intertainmentgames.com/Secret Ops MED.rar (WC:SO)

These are direct download links (right click, save as, you know the drill).

A few notes:

1) MED Currently has severe issues with placing ships properly. The WC Pascal coding options for mission creation offer much finer control over the positioning of ships in the game. It's worth noting that this is because of our limited understanding of MED, and can probably be worked through.

2) It IS currently possible to work with adding custom ships into MED to use in missions, but it's somewhat tricky. I will see if I can find my notes.

3) Unlike the WC Pascal MED will allow you to directly edit the game files for your game - meaning you can immediately change the number or type of ship used in a mission (or even turn the Cerberus into the Midway if you really wanted to).

4) MED will also allow you to view the source code of the WCP/WCSO missions which can be helpful when learning, there is only a small amount of WCP Pascal material to be used.

5) MED files and WC Pascal files are incompatible (As you would expect!). Both are useable in their entirety.

6) Even when editing with MED many of the community tutorials about ship creation and EXE editing and COMM Editing are still very important, as those elements don't necessarily use anything specific to WC Pascal.

IF you're interested in messing around with the game for a while, use MED - if you ever want to put out something worthwhile use WC Pascal. As noted above, it's better supported by the community and much better understood by the few programmers we have around the community.
 
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