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Author Topic: Tips for creating missions  (Read 6135 times)

Avan

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Tips for creating missions
« on: May 04, 2011, 02:34:14 PM »

So I've already made a couple missions so far (they still need some fluff-text polish before I will release them), but just in general, from my experience:

- you can ignore the missiondefinition.class file; you only need to change the missiondefinition.java, mission_text.txt, and descriptor.json for the mission itself, and the directory name
- don't forget to add your mission to the missionlist.json file in the ../missions/.. directory, or it won't be loaded
- if you get a crash on load, you probably have an error in your missiondefinition.java; if you go to the ../starfarer-all/.. directory, you will find a file starfarer.log, which will contain the debug output; check that.
- if you get a crash when selecting the mission, it means you likely have an invalid ship type specified

You'll notice that the missiondefinition.java file has on its first line the name of the mission, which you will need to change to the name of your mission.

Ivaylo

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Re: Tips for creating missions
« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2011, 02:44:38 PM »

I'm kinda in the same boat. Here's some text for the mission I am working on:
Quote
Location: The Mediosolar Expanse
Date: 199.11.01

Admiral Sonnel has signalled the fleet: THE HEGEMONY EXPECTS EVERY MAN TO DO HIS DUTY.

Take control of the Hegemony fleet in this, the final battle with the Coalition forces. The enemy outnumber you in men and ships, but morale is high, and the Admiral is a brilliant tactician. Earlier, at a meeting of his captains, he suggested a double line formation of Onslaught-class ships, that would pierce the middle of the Coalition forces.

Deal the Coalition a crushing defeat and render their naval presence in the sector nonexistent. This will establish The Hegemony as the master of the space lanes and the de-facto ruler of the entire sector.

The HSS Victory is under your command.
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Alex

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Re: Tips for creating missions
« Reply #2 on: May 04, 2011, 02:53:24 PM »

So I've already made a couple missions so far (they still need some fluff-text polish before I will release them), but just in general, from my experience:

- you can ignore the missiondefinition.class file; you only need to change the missiondefinition.java, mission_text.txt, and descriptor.json for the mission itself, and the directory name
- don't forget to add your mission to the missionlist.json file in the ../missions/.. directory, or it won't be loaded
- if you get a crash on load, you probably have an error in your missiondefinition.java; if you go to the ../starfarer-all/.. directory, you will find a file starfarer.log, which will contain the debug output; check that.
- if you get a crash when selecting the mission, it means you likely have an invalid ship type specified

You'll notice that the missiondefinition.java file has on its first line the name of the mission, which you will need to change to the name of your mission.

Thanks for posting these! Just wanted to mention that in the next release (which won't be too far off), there will be a way to more easily distribute custom-made missions. Probably something along the lines of a zipfile that the player just has to drop into a folder.
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Avan

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Re: Tips for creating missions
« Reply #3 on: May 04, 2011, 02:54:42 PM »

Cool! That would make things quite a bit more convenient.