This AlliEd looks very promising. I'd be interested in hearing from those of you who have created missions/battle sets using this software. Specifically, what are your top 5 tips or quirks to watch out for when using this editor? I've created well-balanced skirmishes galore, but I'd like to take the next step and create actual missions/battle sets. Any and all help would be appreciated to the Nth degree.


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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

When it comes to making excellent missions for your XWA game, AlliED is the editor to go with! http://www.xwingalliance.com/forums/smile.gif)

Actually, I'm a little biased, as I was a beta tester and I watched it go through the changes. Most bugs have been worked out, and if there are any left, they really haven't been found yet.

As for things to watch out for...

Do not start a mission with a bunch of FG's and then add in all conditions and arrivals and orders, as this will mess you up. Since you have all the FG's in already, and then the mission doesn't work, you'll be hardpressed to find your error. Always start with a minimal amount of craft, and add in more as you move along, making sure everything works the way you want.

To make briefings work, you have to name your mission file correctly, or you can be booted to the desktop quite easily.

Sometimes, on some systems, if you put a backdrop in any team 'other' than Team 10, the game crashes when you enter the region that the said backdrop is in. This 'game bug' is tempermental with user machines, and not the mission maker, because some people have never had these probs. I did, and so did Troy Dangerfield.

Do not try to make a bunch of missions at the same time. Do a layout of a storyline that you want to do first, and write it out on a piece of paper...etc. Then make one mission at a time.

You'll most of the time never catch all your own errors in any given mission, so beta testing help on the net is essential in most cases.

Overall, there really isn't a downside to AlliED. Just take your time, look at existing missions, and you'll do alright.



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Official Staff-Lacky at <A HREF="http://xwlegacy.outpostd34.com"") TARGET=_blank>
XWing: Legacy</A>

"Man who stands on toilet, is high on pot"

Some non-technical suggestions:

Keep the scenarios logical. I know it may sound simple, but you'd be surprised.

Some examples:

-In the SW universe there were very few TDs and Missileboats...so don't have the missions crawling with them unless there's a reason in your story to have them. Fighting hordes of TDs stops being fun after a while.

-Don't have a gazillion waves of TIEs coming out of a single Star-Destroyer.

-Try to put in surprises, but not illogical ones.

-Come up with a story first, divide it into scenarios, then build the missions around them.

-Test your missions until you are so sick of them that you dread the words "Play X-Wing Alliance"! Believe me..there will always be something you've overlooked!

Have a look at the battlesets we've done, see link below. They may help.



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gototalon@home.com
http://members.home.net/gototalon)

Try to avoid much too typical missions like "4 B-Wings attack a VSDII"... what about 4 Headhunters ??? http://www.xwingalliance.com/forums/smile.gif)
no, to be honest, the big malus of these space sims (no matter if Wing Commander or X-Wing...) is that you build up a peak, a climax... you start with normal missions and it gets harder and more illogical... the last missions are the attack on big capital ships... that might be great for some people but it gets boring...

And concerning AlliED:
Except from JED (Jedi Knight) I know no better editor for 3d games... you can actually feel the love and care Troy puts in it...

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Only 3 more months in the army...

I'd like to make a mission, save it as a skirmish file, and surprise a few people playing on the Zone who were expecting just another humdrum cooperative skirmish. Would this be possible?

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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

The only possible way for you to do that is if others have the .tie file, then they rename it to temp.tie and put it on read only. It *might* work if you did that on the server side, but i do not know about the server side. The temp.tie way only works where there is no hypering or a direct assualt on the deathstar. I found the 2nd and 3rd deathstar missions very enjoyable, and its abosulety fun.