Mission Creator Version 1.0 ____________________________________________________________ This file contains: Introduction to Mission Creator Walkthrough Writing the Mission Profile Saving and Importing a Mission Script Scripting Cooperative Missions Assigning Ships to Cooperative Missions Triggering Conflicts The Overlays See also the "Command Guide" file for a detailed description of all the commands and how they can be used. ____________________________________________________________ Introduction to Mission Creator You can use this program to construct mission scripts which can then be imported into Warp 2 and used to test the ships in your fleet. HOW IT WORKS. While you are dragging and dropping the icons from the Palette on the right to the Flow Chart area on the left, the program in the background is writing out a script using a language we call SSML (StarShip Mission Language). Rather like HTML, but unique to Starship Creator. Note that at the top right is a pull-down menu which begins saying Officer Commands, but can be expanded to list subheadings like Goals, Mission Flow, Flight, etc. The icons below each subheading can be physically dragged into the flowchart area. When they are 'dropped' there their Dialog Boxes open up for you input what you want - all the way from the command you want the Captain to give to where certain planets and enemy ships should be. The "parameters" and "messages" unique to each command are presented with little pop-up menus or fill-in text fields. THE DIALOG BOXES. Many of the "Message" fields appear during the mission itself and are used to deliver dialog or other information as you see fit. Normally you'll use one of the Officer Speaks icons for that, but many other icons also have optional Message fields. ABOUT THE MAP COORDINATES. The most common fill-in text field in these Dialog Boxes is for coordinates on the mission map, expressed as "X" and "Y" coordinates, with the X going first. You should know that the map is 2000 units wide and 1000 units high, measuring from the upper left corner as 0:0. Thus the lower right corner's coordinates are 2000:1000, and the dead center of the map is 1000:500. Notice that this is not the arrangement you learned in geometry class! The X coordinate refers to the left-right axis of the map, or its width, which goes from 0 to 2000 units beginning on the left. The Y coordinate refers to the up-down axis of the map, or its height, which goes from 0 to 1000 units beginning at the top. Every place on the map grid is defined by the combination of these two coordinates. The map represents any rectangular area of space you want it to. It does not necessarily represent the entire Star Trek galaxy with its four quadrants. In fact, you could think of it as a much smaller chunk of space -- say, the amount of area a ship might traverse in one episode of the show, or the theatre of a specific battle in space. Also, you can make ANY coordinates represent ANY place in space. So, for example, the exact center of the map does not necessarily represent Sector 001 (Earth) unless YOU decide to put the Earth there. Conversely, you can put any planet, space station, or anomaly at those coordinates, or anywhere else on the map you want. And you can locate the map in any quadrant of the galaxy, from Alpha to Delta. It's totally flexible. OTHER FLOW CHART HINTS: Double-clicking on an icon on the flow chart reopens the related dialog box. Icons can be dragged to new locations in the flow chart. Single-clicking on an icon (or SHIFT-clicking to select more than one) allows you to COPY the icon, CUT, or PASTE. Use the usual C, V, and X keys. When pasting, a special icon appears which you can move to the desired location simply by rolling the mouse. Click to drop the group of icons into the new location. Undo (with multiple levels) using the Z key. Every time you start Mission Creator, the program opens a simple default mission. (The program uses the file "SimpleMission.txt".) This presents the basic command sequence needed to get a ship out of starbase, fly to a spot elsewhere, and fly home. In the following section, you'll see how easy it is to modify this mission to suit your own designs... ____________________________________________________________ Mission Creator Walkthrough * To make this first mission creation session as simple as possible, we will add some commands to the default mission flowchart which opens when you start Mission Creator. * Explore the very simple flowchart that appears on the left side of your screen. Note that rolling your mouse over each icon causes to appear at the bottom of the screen text which describes what each icon does. For instance, rolling your mouse over the second icon reveals that it is a command which causes the Captain to speak, and his or her message is 'Let's get under way.' * If you want to change this message, simply doubleclick the icon. That opens the Dialog Box associated with that icon's command. Erase 'Let's get under way' and write something else. * First you want to name your mission - doubleclick the PHASE 1 yellow box and write your own mission title in the Mission Name box. That's the name that will show up in the list of available missions in the program when you import this script. Don't worry about any of the other boxes for now. Click Done. * The next few steps involve everything you need to get your ship up and flying: the Powering Up/Undocking Sequence, setting the ship's Destination, Engaging Warp and then Waiting for Arrival at Destination. * The destination would be far more fun if there was something actually there, so let's place a planet at the coordinates already set: 1000, 500. (Note again here that this is the exact geographical center of the map.) * Go to the upper right portion of your screen to the mission components pull- down menu and choose Screen Events. * Roll your mouse over the icons there until you find the one called Place Icon. * Click and drag that icon over the Engage Warp box on the left, flowchart side of the screen. Drop it. * A Dialog Box pops up basically asking you what sort of icon to put where. Choose Earth from the Icon pop-up menu and enter 1000 and then 500 in the location boxes. Click Done. * Now there should be a Place Icon box right after the Engage Warp box! See how easy this is? * But wait, let's make the mission even a little more fun. In the same group of icons on the right side of the screen, choose the Play Insert Icon, and drag it over the Place Icon box and let go. Choose energyWave from the drop-down box. Note: Inserts are little video clips that show exciting things happening on the screen during the mission. * And wait, what if someone else on the ship has something to say? Go to Other Crew Messages on the mission components pulldown menu on the upper right side of your screen. Click 'n' drag Helm Speaks over to the mission - anywhere you want. In the box, have him or her say 'Full speed ahead, Captain.' * Hm. Go back to Screen Events and choose Play Flyby. Drag it over the Standard Orbit box. Let's see your ship approach the planet you placed - Earth - by choosing EarthBG as the background and #ByOut as the move! * Ok, that's enough for now. * Click View SSML on the bottom of the page to see what you wrote. Whew! Complicated, huh? * Click Done. Then click Save SSML. Point it to your Warp2 directory in your Program Files folder on your hard drive, and save it by any short name you wish. It's a good idea to name it similarly to the name you titled it in the Phase 1 box so you can find it later if you need it. * Quit Mission Creator by hitting CTRL-Q. Run your mission! * Start Warp2, log on, choose a ship and go to the Fleet screen. * Open the control bar on the right side of the screen if it is not already open. Click Import Mission and then Proceed. * It should open you up to the same directory where you saved your mission, but if not just point it to it and then doubleclick your mission. * Select your ship and doubleclick on your mission, which now appears in the list of available missions at the bottom. * Run it and watch! See your energyWave video clip, your ships flying around the earth? You did that! There are a lot more complicated parts to Mission Creator; we have barely scratched the surface! You can set mission goals, test to see if the ship has the right equipment to complete a mission, have Klingons decloak and attack, and more! Experiment and enjoy! ____________________________________________________________ Writing the Mission Profile The Mission Profile is the short description of the mission, its goals and rewards, that is available on the Missions screen in Starship Creator. This appears when you select a mission in the list of missions. Double-clicking the "Phase One" anchor icon on the flow chart opens the Mission Profile dialog window. Fill in the fields here to help users of your mission understand what to expect and to define the name and credit value of a successful mission. The "Mission Name" is the name of the mission as it will appear when imported into the list of missions in Starship Creator. The "Value" is the total amount of credits rewarded if all the goals defined for the mission are accomplished. (see Set Goals in the Command Guide file) The other fields are strictly informational. It is helpful, if you are defining particular Specialized Tasks in the mission, that you mention them here. That will help users understand what Tasks should be specifically assigned to different ships, if the user chooses to run a cooperative mission. ____________________________________________________________ Saving and Importing the Mission Script Mission Creator saves a plain text file, which you can name in any way you wish. Adding a ".txt" at the end of the name will be helpful if you ever wish to edit the script in a word processor. The script which you save needs to be IMPORTed into Starship Creator. On the FLEET screen, use the "Import Mission" button to find the text file you saved out of Mission Creator. You will probably want to run your new mission a few times to work out the bugs and refine some details. In Mission Creator, just open the text file you saved previously, and make your changes. Back in Starship Creator, before re-importing on the FLEET screen, it's helpful to "Remove Mission" , otherwise you'll get duplicate mission names in the list of available missions. Not a problem, but potentially confusing. ____________________________________________________________ Scripting Cooperative Missions 1. In the main flow of a mission (the Phase One, Phase Two, or Phase Three flow chart), insert an EXECUTE TASK icon and select which type of Task you wish to be carried out at that point. 2. In the OVERLAY menu (Overlays are explained in detail below) pull down to "Specialized Task" and wait for the side menu of tasks to appear. Select the type of Task which you previously indicated in the main flow of the mission. 3. You will be presented with a new flow screen, labeled with an anchor for the type of Task you selected. 4. Build the command sequence for that Task on this screen, just as you would the flow of the main mission, by dragging icons into the flow. 5. Important: At the end of the Task flow, insert a FINISH TASK icon, and make sure it indicates the type of task you are running. You should also indicate using the popup field whether the Task was accomplished successfully. (HINT: Usually a Decision Branch is placed after the critical part of a Task, with two FINISH TASK commands, one indicating success, the other indicating failure.) At least one Finish Task icon must be present in each Specialized Task. If particular Tasks are critical to the outcome of a mission, you may, in the main flow of the mission (Phase One, Phase Two, or Phase Three) insert PREREQUISITE tests for particular task types. Follow a PREREQUISITE with a Decision Branch to handle the outcome of the Task, whether success or failure. Prerequisites are optional. After you have imported the finished mission into Warp2, you can assign two ships to run this mission cooperatively. ____________________________________________________________ Assigning Ships to Cooperative Missions In the Fleet screen in Starship Creator Warp 2, when you "add to mission" a second ship, the Cooperative Mission submenu will open. Each ship can be assigned to carry out specific Tasks, if they are scripted in the mission. Any Tasks not specifically assigned to a particular ship will be attempted by whichever ship reaches that Task first in the flow of the mission. Also, if a Task is assigned to a particular ship, but it fails to accomplish that task, the other ship will volunteer to attempt that task. NOTE: Only scripts specifically scripted for particular Tasks will be sensitive to these assignments. Those scripts are indicated with a [c] in the list. ____________________________________________________________ Decision Branches When you script a mission, you are actually putting the assigned ship(s) through a test, to see if they have been built and crewed in a fashion appropriate to the given tasks in the mission. The way you, as the author of the script, can introduce those tests into the mission is through the use of the DECISION BRANCH icon (available in the Mission Flow palette). A Decision Branch can be placed after almost any command icon. With it you can cause the path of the mission to change based on the outcome of the command icon above it. The path to the right is the path the mission simulator will take if the preceeding command gives a "true" (or "success") result. The path straight down is the path the mission simulator will take if the preceeding command icon gives a "false" (or "failure") result. Either way, the flow of the script resumes after the point where the two paths reconverge. (Programmers call this an "if-then/else" structure.) For example, say you want different things to happen depending on the skill ranking of whomever has been assigned to be a vessel's Chief Engineer. (Skill rankings are an inherent part of a crewmember's biography, both those already available and those you may create in Starship Creator.) So, at the appropriate point in the flow of your mission, drag the TEST CHIEF ENGINEER SKILL icon (from the Officers Skill palette) onto the flow chart. Then go to the Mission Flow palette and drag a DECISION BRANCH icon to the point just below the Test Skill icon. See how the branching structure is already laid out for you? Now the fun starts. What do you want to have happen "if" the Chief Engineer is defined as skillful? Let's have the Captain say, "What do you think of the situation, Chief?" in expectation of a wise reply (which you would script next!). So drag a CAPTAIN SPEAKS icon onto the right-angle arrow to the right of the Decision Branch and type the Captain's words in the message field of the Captain Speaks dialog. Now, if the Chief Engineer is defined as... well... not skillful, let's have the Captain say, "Hmm. This is a tough problem. Science, do you have any suggestions?" hoping that the Science Officer will be smarter than the Chief. So drag another CAPTAIN SPEAKS icon onto the down-pointing part of the Decision Branch and type the Captain's alternate words in the message field of that Captain Speaks dialog. You can continue building those alternate branches with additional comments and actions as long as you like. The Decision Branch will continue to grow as you add commands down either path. Continuation arrows will fill in automatically to keep the structure even. Hint: It is a good idea to always resolve the twin branches with a single command following the Decision Branch structure, when the alternate paths end. For details about the nuances of using the DECISION BRANCH with many of the commands, see the "CommandGuide" html document. ____________________________________________________________ Triggering Conflicts In the Defense icon palette, drag the ENCOUNTER ADVERSARY icon onto the flow chart. In the dialog box that opens, you can specify the following details: The class of the enemy (this is a list of ship icons which are available) Whether you are activating or canceling the existence of this enemy The location of the enemy on the mission map in X:Y coordinates The level of its shields and weapons, and its maneuverability The posture of the ship (only "hostile" triggers a conflict) When conflict is triggered the simulator automatically engages in battle between the enemy and the Federation ship running the mission. The simulator attempts to use the best weapons available. Shields on each ship deplete based on the strength of the hits from the other vessel's weapons. The first vessel to have its shields drop to zero will withdraw, causing the other vessel to win. In your mission script, you should put a DECISION BRANCH just after the ENCOUNTER ADVERSARY icon so as to handle the success or failure of a battle. __________________________________________________________ The Overlays Certain chunks of information need to be defined for a mission which are not specific to the linear flow of the script you are building. That's what the "Overlays" are used for. All of them are optional, unless... ...If you are performing sensor scans, you need to define SCAN MAP rectangles. These are areas of space which contain "something" for the various sensors to detect. There are different "rects" for each type of scan. ...If you are launching probes, you need to define PROBE MAP rectangles. These are areas of space which contain "something" for the various sensors to detect. (There are up to 10 of these Maps, but usually you only need to define one or two, depending on how many different scans you are making, or how many different probes you are launching into different areas.) ...If you want two ships to run the mission cooperatively, you should define SPECIALIZED TASKS which the user can designate be assigned to different ships. There are seven types named in the menu. These are names only for convenience; you can script any sort of activity within a given task. TIME EVENTS. LOCATION EVENTS. You can define specific moments (in mission cycles) or locations (in map coordinates) for certain commands to be executed, regardless of what else is happening in the mission. FAILURE RESPONSES. In the event particular weapons do not fire, you can specify another weapon to fire instead. -o-