X-ED: Mission Creation
The Tactical Officer's
review of
Troy Dangerfield's X-WingŪ Mission and Briefing Editor
Contributed by Scott (A'Kula) Schimmels,
Kalidor 3 (TacO) for Kalidor
Squadron
(continued)
Briefing Pages:
The briefing editor is the heart and soul of what made X-WingŪ so enjoyable and intriguing to play. Here is where the mission creator (MC) develops the details of the mission and tells the story. The briefing tells the pilot what the mission objectives are (to whatever level of detail the MC chose), and what this mission is about (i.e. the story). Several missions strung together form what was known as the Tour of Duty (TOD). Each mission tells a small sub-plot to the TOD, and form a continuous arc - if enough forethought, planning and detail are given to the briefings. A decent mission will be difficult to fly, but usually has very poor details or story in the briefing. An excellent mission will be challenging to fly, and have a great story/theme to it.
Briefings in X-WingŪ have some elements not used in X-WingŪ vs TIE FighterŪ (XvT). First, X-WingŪ briefings consist of several Pages, usually with the first being the Map animation page, and the rest being pages of full text. Secondly, the FGs shown in the Map are a separate list from the actual FGs in the mission, so that Briefing FG list can be a duplicate of the Mission's FG list, or it is possible to have different ships in the Briefing from those in the mission.
An Animation Page uses basically the same instructions as XvT briefings, with an additional one, Clear Text which must be added before changing the briefing text, otherwise the previous text will not be overwritten. X-WingŪ briefing maps also have 2 sets of co-ordinates for the icons, and the default is usually number 2.
Full Text pages only need 2 instructions; Title Text and Briefing Text. Text pages can also be "Hint" pages, the format for these will be constructed automatically when you choose "Add a Hint Page" from the "Page" page, using strings that will be automatically generated when the MC makes a new briefing.
An X-WingŪ briefing basically consists of a series of instructions, carried out in sequence, which tell the Briefing map which animation action to carry out or which piece of text to display. Instructions have the form:
[Time] [Instruction] [Index] [X co-ord] [Y co-ord] |
The Index, X, and Y values are required only in certain instructions.
In X-ED these instructions can be added from both the WYSIWYG page, and the Instruction list page. If added from the WYSIWYG page, they will be inserted at the current playback time. If added from the instruction page they will be inserted at the currently highlighted position of the instruction list.
"WYSIWYG" Page Parameters:
X-ED Briefing - WYSIWYG Page
The MC can view the briefing pages to ensure the briefing is complete and works properly. Instructions are implemented as specified from the Instruction Page using icons from the Setup Page and tags and text from the Strings Page.
The main feature of this page is the Briefing Playback Map. This where you can view the Briefing (close to) how it will appear in the game. You can also drag the icons, or map Tags when they are visible, around on this Map to adjust their positions. Icons come from Troy's XvTED development. To grab a Tag, click near its left hand end.
This determines the increment of icon movement in either x- or y-directions. Default is off for both coordinate axes.
The MC can specify different coordinate systems for FG and Briefing Maps. Default is 2. Low res map option gives true view of X-Wing@reg; briefing icons. FG names can be shown or not - default is not shown (only in X-ED, not in game).
The MC can specify the total time for briefing.
The MC can view the briefing using these controls:
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Loop Back | Loop back to the beginning of the Briefing and begin playing. |
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Stop | Stops playback and returns to the beginning of the briefing. |
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Pause | Pauses playback at current position, or releases pause if already on. |
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Play | Continues playback from current position. |
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Step Forward | Advance the current Time by .05 seconds (the smallest increment). Pauses if playing. Useful for accurate placing of instructions. |
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Next Instruction | Advances to next instruction. Continues playback if already playing. |
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Play Fast | Fast forward through Briefing. |
"Instruction List" Page Parameters:
The MC sets up the various briefing pages using this window. The first page is usually the animated (icon briefing) page, so it will contain most of the instructions. Simple text pages usually follow the animated page.
X-ED Briefing - Instruction List Page
Lists all instructions for the briefing page being edited. Instruction time and type are shown.
This determines what type of instruction is inserted into the briefing page, and at what time increment within the total briefing time set on the WYSIWYG Page. The MC can also specify the increment of time between instructions, update all following instruction time increments when new instruction is inserted, and zoom controls for icon briefing page.
The mission creator specifies whether current briefing page is animated icon or simple text page.
The MC can add a new page, create a mission hints page, or delete the current page.
"Strings" Page Parameters:
X-ED Briefing - Strings Page
The MC sets up the icon tags, animated text strings, and full text strings on this page. These will be pulled into the Instructions Page and shown on the WYSIWYG Page.
Name tags for use with icons on the animated text page.
The MC writes animated text or full text strings. To highlight a word or phrase, simply enclose the desired text with a pair of brackets [].
List of all text strings to be used in the briefing. Text strings must be edited in the Edit Briefing Text window.
"Setup" Page Parameters:
X-ED Briefing - Setup Page
The MC sets up what FGs are to be included in the briefing, the type of map (deep space vs Death Star) and the number of lines of text included in the animated briefing file. FGs included determine what tags need to be created in Strings Page and what icons are included in WYSIWYG and Instruction pages. The number of lines of text included determine length of animated text strings created in Strings Page. Map background determines type of briefing shown in WYSIWYG Page.
Determines which FGs are included in the briefing.
The MC decides whether this mission is a deep space mission or a mission conducted on Death Star surface. Note: this must agree with Mission Editor setting.
The MC determines the number of lines of text included in animated briefing page(s). MC must be aware the more lines of text, the less space for icon representation during animated portion of the briefing.
