?

Hello all,

I’m working on a plug-in, and I’m not quite sure about the use of silent missions. For a large battle I can see having a silent mission for each group of ship or düde type that will be in the battle. Having looked at Nova and Arpia mïsn resources, it appears that the main mission has Sxxx in various fields, i.e. OnAccept, OnShipDone, and OnSuccess that adds other düde ships into the mission. What’s the difference between the use of different fields?

What other uses are there for Silent Missions?

Also, when is ShipDone, er, done? I know that, when the player boards, destroys, etc the special ship, the ship is done. However, I have also noticed that start mission, dialogs and other bit maniputators are put in the ShipDone field, when there is no special ship involved, and I can’t really figure out why. If there is no special ship, then is ShipDone done when the ship leaves the initial planet?

As usual I have checked other sources for answers with little luck, so I’m asking you all. Any advice is appreciated.

Oh, and one more question. What are "on default nav. " 1 - 16, that one selects for spec. ships to appear on? I thought at first they might be planets, but, as there are 16 of them, I'm no longer sure.

Thanks in advance,
TR

This post has been edited by TonyR : 28 August 2009 - 11:28 AM

QUOTE (TonyR @ Aug 28 2009, 03:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I’m working on a plug-in, and I’m not quite sure about the use of silent missions. For a large battle I can see having a silent mission for each group of ship or düde type that will be in the battle. Having looked at Nova and Arpia mïsn resources, it appears that the main mission has Sxxx in various fields, i.e. OnAccept, OnShipDone, and OnSuccess that adds other düde ships into the mission. What’s the difference between the use of different fields?

First, mission settings: the difference between these fields concerns the moment at which you want to start a new mission, be it "normal" or "silent". If you want a silent mission to accompany a normal mission, use the "OnAccept" field. If the mission is the second part of a first one, then use "OnSuccess" or "OnShipDone" according to the first mission.

Second, are you sure you want to use silent missions? In many cases, it's not necessary, because you can assign "AuxShips" too, as long as the düde resource is in the first 80 or so düde resources (I can't remember exactly, but I think that düde 195 is the last you can use as an "AuxShip").
In ARPIA2, for example, I was almost "forced" to use silent missions to get major battles working, because I used düde resources well beyond the AuxShip düde limits.

QUOTE (TonyR @ Aug 28 2009, 03:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What other uses are there for Silent Missions?

You can use them for ships (enemies or allies), for additional steps to fulfil in a mission, for parallel missions, for "auto-aborting" missions (see for example the X Investigation in ARPIA2 - most steps are what one could call "silent missions", because there is no QuickBriefText nor CompletionText), …
Basically, a mïsn can be used for pretty much anything - it all depends on what you wish to achieve.

QUOTE (TonyR @ Aug 28 2009, 03:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Also, when is ShipDone, er, done? I know that, when the player boards, destroys, etc the special ship, the ship is done. However, I have also noticed that start mission, dialogs and other bit maniputators are put in the ShipDone field, when there is no special ship involved, and I can’t really figure out why. If there is no special ship, then is ShipDone done when the ship leaves the initial planet?

I'm not sure whether ShipDone can happen if there is no special ship. Do you have any examples?
I've used ShipDone a lot with the "Observe" requirement, because it allows you to make something happen in space without there having to be an ally or enemy.

QUOTE (TonyR @ Aug 28 2009, 03:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh, and one more question. What are "on default nav. " 1 - 16, that one selects for spec. ships to appear on? I thought at first they might be planets, but, as there are 16 of them, I'm no longer sure.

You can have up to 16 nav spöbs set, so this allows you to place a ship above one of those planets/stations/…, but only if you have determined the spöb in question.

Thank you Pace. That is very helpful.

QUOTE

Second, are you sure you want to use silent missions? In many cases, it's not necessary, because you can assign "AuxShips" too, as long as the düde resource is in the first 80 or so düde resources (I can't remember exactly, but I think that düde 195 is the last you can use as an "AuxShip").

I have a few missions that are large battles involving a number of allied and enemy factions, and I think I need six or seven silent missions for the various ships. Also, as the dudes are new dudes, their dude numbers are high. In one other misn I have a rescue mission, using a special dude ship that needs to be boarded, and I'm running a concurrent silent mission for the special dude's escorts, that attack the player. As far as I can see, according to MC, the aux ships field just assigns ships to mill about and add ambiance to a system and not to really do anything. (yes, I'm aware of the split infinitive.)

QUOTE

I'm not sure whether ShipDone can happen if there is no special ship. Do you have any examples?

As far as the ShipDone thingy is concerned, I had a dialog desc assigned there by mistake, but with no ship mission, and it popped up when the ship left the planet, At first that confused the hell out of me, but it seemed kinda neat. So, I wound up using it that way for another mission, where I wanted a dialog to pop in upon take-off and say something silly like, "Dude, we forgot the beer!".

This post has been edited by TonyR : 28 August 2009 - 04:59 PM

Auxilliary ships follow their düde AI, so if they belong to a gövt that dislikes the player, they will attack.

I hadn't thought of that, but that makes sense. Thanks.

Man, coordinating battles is really difficult. Especially when you want the various fleets to fight each other as much as (or more than) the player.

I have one staged battle in EVN Firefly where one group is trying to evacuate a planet because an Alliance fleet is bearing down on it. And then a third fleet arrives, hostile to the evacuees, but in the confusion they exchange fire with the Alliance as well.

Darn thing still doesn't work quite right, despite my best efforts.