Mustang Missions 2 complete!

[mustanger]

Hi all, just a quick update. The second custom mission is complete, and has been sent to the saga team. Hopefully, it will be posted with their next site update!

There is a downloadable description, however I am also going to post it here.

Transport Raid - The Mustang Missions part 2

Hello all, a brief writeup of the second in a hopefully long and interesting series of the Mustang Missions! I've enjoyed making these missions, so I hope that everyone is enjoying playing them! As always, you can give feedback on the mission at the wcnews.com forums, or send them to me via e-mail at lonewolf_c@yahoo.com.

Description: Following the capture destroyer mission, the TCS Yorktown is now charged with capturing supplies in order to repair the vessel. You will be flying a Hellcat in this mission.

Difficulty: I hope it is difficult enough to keep everyone entertained! A little backround is available on your humble mission designer... I am a keyboard pilot, and have been since the beginning. I really want a joystick, but I do not have one at the moment. I play one step down from the hardest difficulty when testing the missions, so people who are better than I should bump it up a notch.

Run time: Approximately 15 minutes

Bugs: None that I am aware of, but if someone finds one, please let me know!

Unfinished: Much like the capture destroyer mission, this one does not incorporate voice acting. It could (and hopefully will) be added at a later date, but for the time being make sure to read the messages when they pop up as the plot is all within game!

Special thanks: These missions wouldn't be possible without the saga team, so thanks to those guys!

Requests: My biggest request is feedback, honestly. If you played the mission and liked it, a little blurb saying "yeah, it was cool" is fine. If you hated it, please let me know! This stuff is a lot like art, and is there for people to enjoy. Your feedback could help me make better, more fun missions in the future. Also, I am the only one really testing these missions before release (although Starman did help me with some things on the Capture Destroyer mission, many thanks for that ). If you find any bugs, let me know so I can fix them!

Fiction: I will definately consider doing fan-fic for this series (written only, much like secret ops or the saga prologue, released with each mission). Again, this is largely based on both interest and time, so feedback will help in this decision.

Enjoy the mission, and good luck pilot!

 

[Drakon]

I very much enjoyed the first mission you made. It was challenging at each stage of the operation, and instead of having a simple objective like busting the destroyer after taking down that Fralthi II, you turned it into something engaging and unique compared to normal mission types. I look forward to checking out this and any future missions you produce.

 

[mustanger]

Thanks for the response!

Although the Saga team is going to have a page for posting the missions, if anybody simply can't wait, you can e-mail me for the second mission.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

We're happy to post these to the CIC - just e-mail the files and whatever information you want published with them to news@wcnews.com

 

[mustanger]

Okay, excellent! I went ahead and sent both missions. Thanks!

 

[Tolwyn]

I've updated the website.

http://web122.cologne146.serverspot.de/

Still no ETA when the saga domain is back in business. Our host screwed up and now domain is not pointing to our webspace. Should be fixed till the end of the week though.

 

[Tolwyn]

A few things I noticed while looking through the mission file

- used ships:

$Name: Alpha 1 ;! Object #1
$Class: F-86A Hellcat V

should be

$Name: Alpha 1 ;! Object #1
$Class: F-86C Hellcat V

Same goes for Angel 1, Angel 2, CAP 1 and CAP 2

$Name: Yorktown CAP 1 ;! Object #70
$Class: F-96D Arrow

should be

$Name: Yorktown CAP 1 ;! Object #70
$Class: F-96B Arrow
//we'll incorporate new Arrow's designation (F-27) into the upcomming patch.

$Name: Foxtrot 1 ;! Object #40
$Class: F-66B Thunderbolt VII

should be

$Name: Foxtrot 1 ;! Object #40
$Class: F-66A Thunderbolt VII

same goes for Foxtrot 2

- In the sexp set-camera-facing-object be sure to remove any values besides object name.

- While launching a wing, position the player at the back. Create three sexps, that will launch three wingmen separately in short intervals.

- If you want to avoid the FOV bug (field of view, related to cutscene bars) remove cutscene-bars sexp.

- In the background editor add following: starfield.pof (skybox). That will add nice stars you can see in the prologue.

- There are no goals at nav 2 (such as "Destroy Kilrathi Forces")

- A small nitpick: I doubt that a Zartoth could launch from a light destroyer

- Another small problem I've noticed. You are using nav-visited sexp for arrival cue. Better use
<
distance
Alpha 2
waypoint
5000

Also, try to place Alpha 2 900 clicks away from the waypoint.

- For wing names you could use NATO alphabet (Alpha, Bravo.... X-Ray, Yankee, Zulu), for enemy warships Unknown Contact Am B...

- You could also assign alt names to ships: for example Light Destroyer or Heavy Carrier

- if you move the camera a bit closer to proxy fighters (and a bit higher, the animation will look more dynamic)

- if you want the destroyer to send death scream, then make it "guardian" and when its hitpoints get below 2% it will send the death message. Chain another event to this one with, let's say 5 seconds delay, which contains self-destruct (or sabotage-subsystem hull) sexp. And now that I think of it: in some cases FRED tends to delete sound names and animations. Go over messages one more time in FRED.

- There is little action at nav 3 once all fighters are eliminated, at first I was not sure what I was supposed to do. A message or two would do wonders here.

- The "End Mission" sexp looks a bit weird to me. The mission should end
a) if you lose yourktown
b) if you land within 30 seconds (there should be a distance check)
c) yourktown departs

In my case I landed within 30 seconds, after which the screen turned black and... nothing happened. This is the only real bug I encountered. I took a look into the mission code: you've included fade-out sexp there.

Whew… If you’re still reading this, I commend you. There’s a metric ton of text up there. Anyway, all in all the mission is full of action - you are getting better.

 

[mustanger]

Thanks for the response, I'll have to incorporate some of this...

What is the difference between the fighters with different letter names (eg: Arrow F-96B and F-96D), if I may ask? I've never really worried about it in the past. (except avoiding the no afterburner arrow)

A small nitpick: I doubt that a Zartoth could launch from a light destroyer

-The Zartoths originally came in with the Destroyer as an escort, not launching from it's flight deck. I had changed it for gameplay reasons, but I didn't really consider the size issue. Is there any information on how many fighters it can hold? I would also like to know this for the Cruiser's as well.

- In the sexp set-camera-facing-object be sure to remove any values besides object name.

- I assume this is the cause of the camera sometimes "jerking" up during the flyby scenes?

There is little action at nav 3 once all fighters are eliminated, at first I was not sure what I was supposed to do. A message or two would do wonders here.

- I think you are right in this case. This should be easy to fix.

In my case I landed within 30 seconds, after which the screen turned black and... nothing happened. This is the only real bug I encountered. I took a look into the mission code: you've included fade-out sexp there.

- Really? It is supposed to go to a cutscene at the end... that is probably why the end-mission looks strange, but basically once you land it switches to a cutscene, then is set up to end when the cutscene is over. I would like to know why it crashed on you, however. If anyone else has this problem, please let me know!

 

[Tolwyn]

Thanks for the response, I'll have to incorporate some of this...

What is the difference between the fighters with different letter names (eg: Arrow F-96B and F-96D), if I may ask? I've never really worried about it in the past. (except avoiding the no afterburner arrow)

Afterburner fuel. Player modification has limited fuel, AI fighters have a very limited fuel amount, but it recharges over time. In the upcomming patch player fighters will have a P designation (e.g. F-86C Hellcat P)

A small nitpick: I doubt that a Zartoth could launch from a light destroyer

-The Zartoths originally came in with the Destroyer as an escort, not launching from it's flight deck. I had changed it for gameplay reasons, but I didn't really consider the size issue. Is there any information on how many fighters it can hold? I would also like to know this for the Cruiser's as well.

About 6 Darkets, I presume. The Cruiser should be able to carry about 15 fighter craft, although this is just a wild guess. I have to check my docs to be sure.

- In the sexp set-camera-facing-object be sure to remove any values besides object name.

- I assume this is the cause of the camera sometimes "jerking" up during the flyby scenes?

Yes

In my case I landed within 30 seconds, after which the screen turned black and... nothing happened. This is the only real bug I encountered. I took a look into the mission code: you've included fade-out sexp there.

- Really? It is supposed to go to a cutscene at the end... that is probably why the end-mission looks strange, but basically once you land it switches to a cutscene, then is set up to end when the cutscene is over. I would like to know why it crashed on you, however. If anyone else has this problem, please let me know!

Nope, it did not crash, but turned to black. I presume that you should remove fade-out sexp.

 

[Drakon]

I haven't the slightest on how this works coding-wise, but it liked this mission.

*Spoiler?*

If anything I found it a little dissapointing how capable Caernavens are in combat. ~~~, the first time I died it was because it fired a missile at one of the Dorkathras and hit me in the stove pipe by happenstance. It's a robust little capship and cries havoc with anything that gets too close to it during the mission. Maybe if the Frawqirg was alowed to close with it a bit more so that they could exchange blows before the thuds sweep in to torp it things would be a touch more intense, but all-around I didn't see anything that took away from the pure, Prologue-expanding goodness. The end cutscene worked for me, not sure what happen to you Tolwyn.

Hehe, the kamakazi Dralthi and torpedo stike on the aft of the carrier were nice I though, and I was impressed - never having seen a cutscene featuring a jump sequence simutaneous with combat. Very cool.

 

[mustanger]

Glad you liked the mission

SPOILERS!!!!




Yeah, the Caenaven is pretty stout. It's too much work to smash transports in Hellcats (read: too many strafing runs make Homer crazy) so that is it's real purpose in the mission. It doesn't stand a chance toe-to-toe with a destroyer though

As far as the Destroyer, it was a balance issue more than anything. Usually, having to take it down without the thud's torpedoes meant using a lot of afterburner, and being really shot up for the final Nav point.

/SPOILERS



The cutscene took a long time to make, so I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll probably get better at making them as I go along, too. I am disappointed that it didn't work for Tolwyn, but I wonder if it is a memory/system issue. I remember when I was making the mission originally, I did have some problems with freezing/crashing during the cutscene (which caused me to have to terminate the program). However, I reduced the number of ships by one or two, and didn't have those problems anymore...

Anyway, I'm just going to watch it for the moment, and see if there is any pattern to the failure.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Tolwyn]

Glad you liked the mission
The cutscene took a long time to make, so I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll probably get better at making them as I go along, too. I am disappointed that it didn't work for Tolwyn, but I wonder if it is a memory/system issue. I remember when I was making the mission originally, I did have some problems with freezing/crashing during the cutscene (which caused me to have to terminate the program). However, I reduced the number of ships by one or two, and didn't have those problems anymore...

Might be related to my dataset and/or experimental exe.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Query for the general Saga population - will we see a website update now that there's a canonical designation for the Arrow (F-27)?

 

[mustanger]

$Name: Yorktown CAP 1 ;! Object #70
$Class: F-96B Arrow
//we'll incorporate new Arrow's designation (F-27) into the upcomming patch.

There was a lot going on in this post, but it was stated above by Tolwyn


EDIT: ... I didn't read your question quite closely enough LOAF, but I took this to mean an update of in game and website files...

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Whoops - that's great news!

... although I'm betting it won't be the last such change in the near future...

 

[Tolwyn]

Query for the general Saga population - will we see a website update now that there's a canonical designation for the Arrow (F-27)?

http://web122.cologne146.serverspot.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=87

 

[Thunderbolt]

Nice work on mision 2. The only improvement that I could see would be to have voiceovers to show the emotion and desperation of the confed pilots when the Yorktown is being attacked by the Kilrathi fleet. But othere than that the mission is awesome. Having the kilrathi responding to the confed assaults by for eg launching a cruiser at the carrier is a great idea. It shows that both sides are taking the iniative wherever possible to suprise attack each other where possible.

 

[Sphynx]

Whoops - that's great news!

... although I'm betting it won't be the last such change in the near future...

We think you're right on this point, and we've already committed to changing any designations as they become official. It's just the proper thing to do, as I'm sure you agree.

 

[mustanger]

Nice work on mision 2. The only improvement that I could see would be to have voiceovers to show the emotion and desperation of the confed pilots when the Yorktown is being attacked by the Kilrathi fleet. But othere than that the mission is awesome. Having the kilrathi responding to the confed assaults by for eg launching a cruiser at the carrier is a great idea. It shows that both sides are taking the iniative wherever possible to suprise attack each other where possible.

Thanks for the reply!

I really believe you are right as far as the voiceover's are concerned. I would like to add them in the future, but unfortunately I just don't have the time and ability at the moment

 

[Kilrathikiller]

im sorry for this cuz it seems everybody gets it easily. i can't seem to get the missions to work, i had to create the missions folder myself if that helps since i found it weird myself.