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Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

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Author Topic: Campaign Missions  (Read 25212 times)

Alex

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Campaign Missions
« on: March 26, 2015, 05:08:31 PM »

Blog post here.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2015, 05:10:23 PM by Alex »
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Jmdelrio

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Re: Campaign Missions
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2015, 05:25:29 PM »

Can enemy factions compete on a contract that I want to take?  That could get interesting and foster hostile shipping lanes and piracy :)
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Alex

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Re: Campaign Missions
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2015, 05:29:43 PM »

Can enemy factions compete on a contract that I want to take?  That could get interesting and foster hostile shipping lanes and piracy :)

Depends on whether that's coded into the mission. Playing around with some piracy-related meddling in the "procurement contract" one, but not satisfied with the results of that yet.
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MShadowy

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Re: Campaign Missions
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2015, 05:36:06 PM »

Well, I see you're having fun.  Now this is definitely something I've been looking forward to for a long time now; should give some interesting tools to us modders... to say nothing of your teasing us with the other parts of the update.

Heh, keep it up.
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FasterThanSleepyfish

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Re: Campaign Missions
« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2015, 05:37:15 PM »

Oh boy, contracts! Can't wait to make Citadel snap up jobs!

Do these missions use the rules.csv exclusively?
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Alex

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Re: Campaign Missions
« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2015, 05:48:52 PM »

Well, I see you're having fun.  Now this is definitely something I've been looking forward to for a long time now; should give some interesting tools to us modders... to say nothing of your teasing us with the other parts of the update.

Heh, keep it up.

:) Having fun indeed!


Do these missions use the rules.csv exclusively?

In modding terms, a "mission" is an event with a "MISSION" type. It also has a pre-event stage where it's available but not yet accepted; there's a separate plugin for that stage. It also needs a script that handles actually creating instances of the mission and making them available.

As far as rules.csv, it's used for conversations with people. I added a "CallEvent" command that can be used from rules.csv - basically, what it lets you do is have certain "commands" built in to the mission event code instead of having it float around as separate custom commands. So far, it's working out very well, in terms of not taking too long to code up - part of that is me getting used to how to work with that framework, and part of that is the CallEvent command, which makes running custom java code from rules.csv a breeze.

For example, when you complete a mission, one of the lines in the script is:
CallEvent $mpm_eventRef performDelivery

And then in the mission class, there's:
Code: java
public boolean callEvent(String ruleId, final InteractionDialogAPI dialog, List<Token> params, Map<String, MemoryAPI> memoryMap) {
String action = params.get(0).getString(memoryMap);

CampaignFleetAPI playerFleet = Global.getSector().getPlayerFleet();
CargoAPI cargo = playerFleet.getCargo();

if (action.equals("performDelivery")) {
cargo.removeItems(CargoItemType.RESOURCES, mission.getCommodityId(), mission.getQuantity());
...
...
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Protonus

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Re: Campaign Missions
« Reply #6 on: March 26, 2015, 06:01:16 PM »

I'm taking bets for Amassed Blue Cargo trades and Red's explicitly high demand of slaughtering countless lives just for the taking.
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The cookies are a weird one, okay.

Cycerin

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Re: Campaign Missions
« Reply #7 on: March 26, 2015, 06:02:18 PM »

Excellent stuff. Add in exploration and we'll have made the Escape Velocity games completely redundant.

Quote
In other news, I’m in a bit of a rare situation where there’s actually a backlog of things to talk about. I’m rather excited about the next blog post (well, rather, the features it’ll talk about). I’ll give you two hints – it’s related the the infrastructure laid down during the mission work, and it’s not something I was planning to add in this release. Past that, my lips are sealed, so don’t even ask!

You complete bastard.
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Alex

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Re: Campaign Missions
« Reply #8 on: March 26, 2015, 06:14:53 PM »

You complete bastard.

Not a question, so we're good.
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CrashToDesktop

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Re: Campaign Missions
« Reply #9 on: March 26, 2015, 06:40:53 PM »

I say planet interactions?  Seems logical, since you're adding NPCs and missions to stations, planets shall follow suit with situations like invasions.
I can dream too!

Overall exciting update. :) Although Megas (being the munchkin that he is) might not enjoy the more lore-oriented part of it, I'll love it.  I still feel like the backstory (the Collapse, the ensuing chaos and everything about it) needs to be explained more in the game.  This seems like a very good time to start on that. :)
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Xanderzoo

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Re: Campaign Missions
« Reply #10 on: March 26, 2015, 07:01:04 PM »

This is going to be awesome.  ;D
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Zaphide

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Re: Campaign Missions
« Reply #11 on: March 26, 2015, 07:03:35 PM »

As usual, looks great Alex :)

Perhaps the tease is something to do with the fact that we now have persistent NPC's with roles/memories and <stuff>... Hmm I wonder where this could also be useful... :D

Anyways, one thing I would really like to see possible is the ability to chain missions into an arc, and have the availability of missions in an arc dynamic/deterministic so that performance in previous missions affects the availability and content of subsequent missions.

e.g. a structure something like:
 - Event: Pirate attack on [outpost]
 - Mission 1: Transport [goods] to [outpost]
   - If completed within 20 days, make Mission 2 available, else straight to Mission 3
 - Mission 2: Collect and bring [weapons/ships/supplies] to [outpost]
 - Mission 3: Track down and destroy responsible pirate
   - [Mission dialog loads to custom battle]
   - If Mission 2 was completed then a small number of AI-controlled friendly ships joins the fight
   - If Mission 2 was completed and no AI-controlled friendly ships were destroyed then receive [greater reward]

A simplistic example (and you have probably already considered most of it), but I think the notion of 'missions' could fairly easily become 'story arcs' with a lot of depth, similar in the way that EV Override and EV Nova had numerous large story arcs to be discovered and experienced.

And, then there could be mods that consist entirely of new missions/story arcs to add to the game and/or other mods :D
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Alex

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Re: Campaign Missions
« Reply #12 on: March 26, 2015, 08:13:19 PM »

Anyways, one thing I would really like to see possible is the ability to chain missions into an arc, and have the availability of missions in an arc dynamic/deterministic so that performance in previous missions affects the availability and content of subsequent missions.

That sort of thing is definitely possible, as missions are created and accepted via mod code. You could easily have some logic when one mission is completed either make new missions available or just add them to the missions the player has taken on.
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orost

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Re: Campaign Missions
« Reply #13 on: March 26, 2015, 08:33:08 PM »

HYPE DRIVE ENGAGED

Looks really good, this is the exact kind of thing that Starsector badly needs!
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Aeson

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Re: Campaign Missions
« Reply #14 on: March 26, 2015, 08:37:14 PM »

It occurs to me that the bounty system we presently have isn't much different from an "open" mission (i.e. one which doesn't need to be accepted and which is on offer to anyone who can complete it). Will the bounty system be rolled into the mission system (and perhaps expanded upon), or will it remain a separate thing?

Will missions allow you to get around faction-level port lockouts? E.g. the dock master at Baetis has a soft spot for Volturnian lobster, and if you bring him some he'll turn a blind eye to the fact that you're parking an Atlas in his backyard when you're not supposed to be allowed docking space even for a personal shuttle due to past smuggling convictions, piracy, whatever.
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