XWA Upgrade

Awesome work on the updated craft and game engine improvements. Thanks to each of you who has put in all the time and hard work on this game.

I'm curious if anyone else has encountered mission bugs after the latest updates. I'm playing with the 1.4 update right now. For some reason the 1.5 update killed off my in-mission weapon and engine sound. I encountered weird behavior in the B5M7 mission (Attack Pirate Base). The X-wings leave the battle after eliminating the Hurrim fighters and spend the rest of the mission trying to attack the hyper buoy. After disabling the Hurrim shuttle. The Y-wings arrive and promptly destroy it.

After trying the mission a few times, I opened it up in AlliEd. Sure enough there were corrupt orders in nearly every Rebel flight group.

Maybe it was just my installation... Might be worth taking a peek at, though.

Interesting. I had experienced a similar bug with XWAU v1.3 update (or DSUCP v2.3) in Battle 5, Mission 7: the X-Wings Red attacked the Shuttle Lendros even when it was already disabled, or they attacked PLT/1 Hurrim Base and destroyed it before the base could be disabled, so the shuttle couldn't arrive.

However, I've never tried that mission with DSUCP v2.5 or XWAU v1.5.
I've just looked at that mission with Allied (DSUCP v2.5 installed) and I've noticed that the second priority orders of the flight group X-Wing Red 1 (3/92) are: attack any team except Rebel only if 15? 42 / attack any team except Rebel only if 15? 22.
15? 42 What does it mean?

15 means "any Flight Group except".

Whoa! You just happen to know that? ALLiED\Class.txt edited. But I don't know how to get it to dereference the FG in the next field or show a short version in the orders list (I'm guessing it would probably need a recompile).

After accounting for the offsets, FG 42 is the shuttle and FG 22 is the platform (and the hyper buoy is FG 41). I think XWAUP/DSUCP is only trying to change the backdrops in the mission, but it might be corrupting things. Wotan, did you retry installation? And I'm curious what the corrupt orders are...

the original missions should not be changed that much, there where originally some changes to certain missions due to resizing of craft and so on, but the main thing was just to add the backdrops to the missions

1b5m7g.tie has never been altered apart from adding the backdrops

The Mod History of the missions are :

• The original Mission Fixes where modified by Ol (Oliver Monk) due to the rescaling of certain Craft, such as the SSD and Shuttle, or the addition of the Tie Advanced X1 and the Home One-Class Calamari Cruiser.
  
  Below is a list of changes to the missions:-
  
  1B0M4FW.tie = Container Gs' no longer overlap and destroy each other.
  1B1M1G.tie = ATR and SHU no longer crash into the Calamari Cruiser.
  1B1M4G.tie = Fighters no longer crash when docking.
  1B4M5B.tie = SSD size.
  1B4M6B.tie = SSD size, changed the Independence to the correct opt.
  1B5M2G.tie = FRG Jericho no longer destroyed by freighters.
  1B6M6B.tie = Changed the Independence to the correct opt.
  1B6M7FB.tie = Changed the Independence to the correct opt.
  1B7M1W.tie = SSD size, Changed the Independence to the correct opt.
  1B7M2W.tie = SSD size, Changed the Independence to the correct opt.
  1B7M3W.tie = Changed the Independence to the correct opt.
  
  Though the original missions where edited by Ol, fixes by others may have been made since, but recalling who they where has eluded me.
  
  The Latest Fix to the original fixed missions was kindly done by DTM, (Aug 12, 2017) adding and altering the dimensions of his starfield backdrop and fixing the illumination problem with previous versions of the missions, thanks mate.

keiranhalcyon7 wrote: After accounting for the offsets, FG 42 is the shuttle and FG 22 is the platform (and the hyper buoy is FG 41).

I don't know what you mean with "offsets". Opening my 1b5m7g.tie file with Allied I see the Flight Group #42 is the Hyper Buoy to CRS Liberty and the Flight Group #22 is 2 waves of 2 Y-Wings Gold (3).

JeremyaFr wrote: 15 means "any Flight Group except".

Great. So the second priority orders of the flight group X-Wing Red 1 (Flight Group #3) are the following
Primary targets (linked targets): attack any team except Rebel only if any Flight Groups except the Hyper Buoy to CRS Liberty
Secondary targets (linked targets): attack any team except Rebel only if any Flight Groups except 2x2 Y-Wing Gold 3

Therefore what could have happened is quite simple: the flight group X-Wing Red 1 (2 X-Wings), after completing their first priority orders (attack Global Group 1 and M-CRVs Broadside and Plank), switched to their secondary priority orders.
So they searched for targets belonging to any team except "Rebel" (note that they could have attacked Dunari's crafts as well, if they were in the area). Unfortunately they didn't find any crafts satisfying this restriction, therefore they attacked the Hyper Buoy, the only exception according to their orders.

I think this problem could have survived from the original game. X-Wing Alliance is famous for its mission bugs too.
There are probably many other missions with similar problems.

This is what I would do:
1) Name the asteroid defensive platforms (can they be recognized as targets if nameless?)
2) Use the "link targets" option as little as possible
3) If the "link targets" option is absolutely necessary, avoid using an "except" condition in both the linked targets because it causes bugs
4) Delete all orders referring to Hyper Buoys and rewrite them

Those are all good suggestions. It's quite possible that it is just a problem in my installation. My installation is more than a little "frankensteined" after many years. I'm probably due for a completely clean install.

It is also possible that the backdrop changes screwed something up as some of the flight groups of rebel ships also had orders to attack the backdrop...

At any rate, I fixed the mission on my version in AlliEd. I reassigned targets using Global Groups. The mission needed some "re-balancing" anyway since I chose to lift the laser limit in the 1.4 installation. Now, as in most missions with a Star Destroyer, rebel capital ships get torched really fast. I was able to tweak it enough to make it competitive again.

Mark_Farlander wrote:

keiranhalcyon7 wrote: After accounting for the offsets, FG 42 is the shuttle and FG 22 is the platform (and the hyper buoy is FG 41).

I don't know what you mean with "offsets". Opening my 1b5m7g.tie file with Allied I see the Flight Group #42 is the Hyper Buoy to CRS Liberty and the Flight Group #22 is 2 waves of 2 Y-Wings Gold (3).

That field starts counting at 0, but the FGs are numbered starting at 1, so there's an offset of 1. I guess I should say that field value 42 points to FG 43.

You talk a load of jibber jabber about a bug in this mission, but I don't see any fixed missions being posted!!!

I'm not good with AlliED, so I haven't a clue how to fix it, if it's not fixed it will remain the same in the installers

I'm working on a mission update now.
It should be ready in 2 days, maybe even this afternoon if I'm a bit lucky...

Update 1 (02/23/2018): I have fixed all the orders. I have tested it and there are no bugs caused by orders.
However, there is still a little problem I'll fix tomorrow: ISDII Corrupter keeps destroying everything, even the Hurrim Base, because when it shoots to rebel fighters and they avoid the lasers... guess what gets hit behind.

Update 2 (02/24/2018): Star Destroyer issue solved, but now the victory condition referring to FRG Jericho coming back to the Liberty doesn't trigger anymore. Hope this is the last problem.

Update 3 (02/25/2018): Fixed all bugs. Now it runs fine (tested at Medium). However, there is still one last thing you probably don't like: all crafts emerging from hyperspace in Region #1 (Task Force Liberty) are placed in the same point. I'll see what I can do, but AlliED seems to be useless for this.

JeremyaFr wrote:15 means "any Flight Group except".

I've had this marked as a question on my end for a number of years but I haven't just gone and tested it. Has this been confirmed to be the function?

This hasn't been tested.
There are also more values:
Community project: AlliED "unknowns" repository

This is not my final release.
I've fixed all bugs and I was able to complete the mission 3 times consecutively at Medium.
Basically I've reassigned all orders using Global Groups, Global Units and Flight Groups.

BUT
1) I haven't solved the singularity in region #1 yet
2) Since this mission had tons of bugs, an extensive overhaul was necessary

I repeat: this is not my final release. There are many things, such as the ATR entry points too closed to the station, the ATR waypoints, and the ISDII Corrupter now probably emerging too far from the station, that still need work and testing.
Yes, you have understood: the ATRs caused problems. You sometimes got the "Mission failed" when an ATR came back to the Jericho, so now the ATRs and the Y-Wings emerge from hyperspace. Sorry, I won't change this, but I'll surely make an update for my final release to make the ATRs emerge outside the asteroid field without compromising mission "timings".

Please, don't ask me any questions and don't include the mission in any installers before my final release.
I need a few more days, then I will answer to all your questions.
Just tell me if you can complete the mission now, at least at Medium. Feedback is always welcome.
Now you must be very quick disabling the SHU. And don't go head to head against the TIE Interceptors without the aid of your wingmen.

Edit: I forgot to remove this early, awful release. Now Battle 5, Mission 7 update v2.0 is available.

See below for the download link.

P.S: Be ready for a future release (v2.1) which will solve a few remaining issues.

I apologize for being a bit rude in my previous post.

My official release is almost ready. I'll call it v2.0. A document will be included with the full bug list and all the modifications I've done to correct them.
A few days ago I've found a bug in the victory conditions too (in addition to the other 14 bugs).
This bug caused you didn't get "Outcome: failure" if PLT/1 Hurrim Base or SHU Lendros were destroyed before ATR Storm Unit could have finished docking.
It is not fixed in v1.0 (the mission I've posted), but it will be corrected in v2.0; v1.0 was only for "can't wait" pilots, so I released it as soon as I had it ready.

Edit: By the way, in "Orders" 20 almost surely means "any Global Groups except".

Sorry for the triple post, but I finally managed to discover what caused the "Singularity" in Region #1: there is simply no Entry point.
I will surely add it, at least in Region #1 ("From Region #2"). I thought I could use the Rendezvous Buoy to make it different from the "To Region #2" Hyper Buoy, but I'm not sure this will not cause further bugs.
However, this will be the last fix.
Then the mission will be yours.
I promise.

Edit: Using the Rendezvous Buoy instead of the Hyper Buoy hides all the incoming crafts.

What do you mean by "singularity"?

Mark_Farlander wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 22, 2018 10:19 am

However, there is still one last thing you probably don't like: all crafts emerging from hyperspace in Region #1 (Task Force Liberty) are placed in the same point. I'll see what I can do, but AlliED seems to be useless for this.

The point is (0, 0, 0) in Region #1.
I've called this a "Hyperspace Singularity".

Update (3/14/2018): Adding a new buoy to act as an entry point is not necessary. The old buoy to Region #2 (Hurrim Base) can be used as an entry point from Region #2 too. The mission designer did the same thing to the buoy in Region #2 (CRS Liberty).

2 "Tactical Roles" can be selected for each FG in AlliED, not just 1.

At last, it’s done. This is the updated mission. I’ve called it B5M7 update v2.0.
I wrote a Word file with the full bug list, the solution I applied to solve each bug, the other adjustments needed to “improve” the mission and the message rework.
I also explained what could have caused the 1st bug reported by Wotan Weave.
I only omitted the text tweaks: “Dreadnought” replaced with “Dreadnaught”, “CRS Liberty” replaced with “L/CRS Liberty”.

Well, there are actually 3 other bugs I don’t know how to fix:
1) The 1st page of the briefing is voiceless
2) PLT/1 Hurrim Base is a PLT/2 in the briefing (not sure this is a bug, it could be explained by a lack of info provided by the Alliance intelligence)
3) The Marauder corvettes are invisible when they are farther than 4.5 klicks (not sure this is a bug, it could be explained by the presence of a cloaking device)

This is not intended to be a “rebalance”, but only an update (bug fix + minor improvements).
I didn’t touch the AI levels and I didn’t change any arrival conditions, with the exception of the bugged ones.

I hope you enjoy this updated mission.
Please, let me know what you think about these changes, in particular if you don’t like some of them, and I will see what I can do to make you have a “custom” version of the mission.
And ask me whatever you wish on the mission, the bugs and the solutions I applied.

Edit: I forgot to write "Download link":
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/f8glzvvjmypr ... y7bPa?dl=0

P.S: I'm not so sure the Hurrim could have developed a cloaking technology, but I guess this could be an interesting subject of discussion.

Item 3 is a LOD issue with the opt I believe.

I confirm. The invisible Marauder corvettes come from the opt. At a distance superior to 1809.45154 m, the ship becomes invisible because the opt hasn't a low detailed lod version at an infinite distance.

I'll fix that for the next release, until then you can download the fixed version below

Thanks

Thanks, Admiral Darksaber.
As for the voiceless Page #1 of the briefing, I checked the Wave/Frontend/B5m7 folder and I found that the audio-track is simply missing.

JeremyaFr wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 26, 2018 6:28 pm

I confirm. The invisible Marauder corvettes come from the opt. At a distance superior to 1809.45154 m, the ship becomes invisible because the opt hasn't a low detailed lod version at an infinite distance.

Relative to my stuff, incidentally I don't know how to make LOD models. So this may affect my stuff too... but then I haven't noticed any issues.

Don't worry it won't, you have to set the distance that it becomes invisible, or if it had a LOD you would then seen the LOD, If the distance hasn't been set the full detailed model will be visible at any distance.