I've been working on a 10 mission 'Battle 8' that basically continues the story of Ace and the Azzameens into the post-Endor timeframe, which I plan to release when its done. (It's getting close)
The mission set is very story heavy, and I've been doing a ton of custom audio files for it, mostly for messages and commanders' briefings. For the first time ever I've run up against a hard limit of 64 custom messages in one mission. (Most have been averaging 40-50.) I was wondering if we have a hook or some other work-around that allows us to circumvent that? If not I'm going to have to go back and completely restructure this particular mission.
Custom message limit in XWA
-
batuta
- Posts: 156
- Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2020 1:34 pm
hey nice to hear that, congratulation for your work, waiting to play it, thank you very much.
-
jmarso
- Posts: 240
- Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2020 5:51 am
Reworked the one over-ambitious mission into... 3 missions, so the final count will be 12. Which seems egregious for one battle in XWA.
On the plus side, you, the player, will get to experience Nar Shaddaa in XWA, which you have not before now, unless you did it yourself. The vertical city, as experienced originally in Dark Empire and DF2 JK. To a degree. And it will be fun.
This is hands down some of the best work I've done over the years with AlliED and XWA, thanks in no small part to all the efforts you all have put in with the upgrade project, the hooks, super backdrops,new effects, planetary shipsets, and everything else that has kept this game alive for so long. I'm getting very close to the end and looking forward to the release. In a way, it should be a playable payoff for all the hard work every one else has done.
DTM gave me permission to use his OPT files and planets, so you'll reap the benefit of some of that as well, and he'll get to see some of his work used in a fairly big project. His contributions will be highlighted in the README file.
Look for a release thread in the pilot lounge in the next couple of weeks. It will be a hefty download, even zipped, almost entirely due to the custom sound files in the release. (Almost 40-50 per mission). Like I said, very story driven. The beauty of it is that it will be a copy-into-folder sort of install, using existing assets and hooks. You won't have to alter your executable or install new ships. Continuity, Adventure, Romance, Humor, and a few odd links to the old EU (Stackpole's Work) will be in evidence. I hope, for the community, it will become the 'head-canon' for what happened to Ace Azzameen after Endor, with more to come in the future. I released the first version of these missions years ago, back when we were playing XvT on 486 computers. This is the Uber Special Edition for XWA and the 2020 megapatch.
On the plus side, you, the player, will get to experience Nar Shaddaa in XWA, which you have not before now, unless you did it yourself. The vertical city, as experienced originally in Dark Empire and DF2 JK. To a degree. And it will be fun.
This is hands down some of the best work I've done over the years with AlliED and XWA, thanks in no small part to all the efforts you all have put in with the upgrade project, the hooks, super backdrops,new effects, planetary shipsets, and everything else that has kept this game alive for so long. I'm getting very close to the end and looking forward to the release. In a way, it should be a playable payoff for all the hard work every one else has done.
DTM gave me permission to use his OPT files and planets, so you'll reap the benefit of some of that as well, and he'll get to see some of his work used in a fairly big project. His contributions will be highlighted in the README file.
Look for a release thread in the pilot lounge in the next couple of weeks. It will be a hefty download, even zipped, almost entirely due to the custom sound files in the release. (Almost 40-50 per mission). Like I said, very story driven. The beauty of it is that it will be a copy-into-folder sort of install, using existing assets and hooks. You won't have to alter your executable or install new ships. Continuity, Adventure, Romance, Humor, and a few odd links to the old EU (Stackpole's Work) will be in evidence. I hope, for the community, it will become the 'head-canon' for what happened to Ace Azzameen after Endor, with more to come in the future. I released the first version of these missions years ago, back when we were playing XvT on 486 computers. This is the Uber Special Edition for XWA and the 2020 megapatch.
-
Random Starfighter
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2020 12:14 am
When I first saw the thread I wondered if it could be done. I had made some experimental changes in XvT that allowed a higher message limit. Turns out it wasn't quite so easy in XWA. The message system is a bit more complicated.
I was able to make a hook, but it involves nearly 40 separate code changes to transfer all of the required message arrays to new locations in memory. It seems to work, but I haven't thoroughly tested it. With so many changes, it's possible there might be a bug somewhere. In the coming days I might be able to clean it up and release it.
There's also the problem of mission editors. AlliED doesn't allow going beyond 64. It could be done in YOGEME after making the necessary code changes, but AlliED will crash when trying to load the extra messages.
Restructuring the mission was probably the smartest choice. It sounds like you've put a lot of work into it, and I'd wager the results are better for it.
I was able to make a hook, but it involves nearly 40 separate code changes to transfer all of the required message arrays to new locations in memory. It seems to work, but I haven't thoroughly tested it. With so many changes, it's possible there might be a bug somewhere. In the coming days I might be able to clean it up and release it.
There's also the problem of mission editors. AlliED doesn't allow going beyond 64. It could be done in YOGEME after making the necessary code changes, but AlliED will crash when trying to load the extra messages.
Restructuring the mission was probably the smartest choice. It sounds like you've put a lot of work into it, and I'd wager the results are better for it.
-
jmarso
- Posts: 240
- Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2020 5:51 am
Yeah, I like the end result a lot better than what I originally planned, and was able to expand on it a bit in terms of having more 'regions' to use than the four available in a single mission. It also enabled me to use pre and post-mission briefings to disseminate story information that was killing me in the message log, which is how this whole thread got started. I was originally trying to pack way too much into a single mission. The only thing I don't like about it is that missions 9-11 out of 12 are 3 'Family' missions all in a row, although story-wise it works out. There is only one other mission (the first one) where you fly the Otana, but that mission is 'official' (for the New Republic) and not a family one. So the final count will be 12 missions in the battle, 4 in the Otana and the remainder flying X-wings as Blue Leader.
I finished up the final mission yesterday except for the briefing, which I'll get done today. I start a trip tomorrow (I'm a real-life pilot) so it'll all get put on hold for 5 days, then when I get back I'll do a final round of testing then start putting together 'the package' and writing the README file. I'll post a thread on it all in the pilot's lounge when it's done, with some detailed descriptions, maybe a couple of screenshots, and a download link for the whole enchilada.
I finished up the final mission yesterday except for the briefing, which I'll get done today. I start a trip tomorrow (I'm a real-life pilot) so it'll all get put on hold for 5 days, then when I get back I'll do a final round of testing then start putting together 'the package' and writing the README file. I'll post a thread on it all in the pilot's lounge when it's done, with some detailed descriptions, maybe a couple of screenshots, and a download link for the whole enchilada.
