Ship Simulator

English forum => Ship Simulator 2008 => Topic started by: CarlisleII on December 16, 2007, 20:36:50

Title: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: CarlisleII on December 16, 2007, 20:36:50
Hello,

I just got my mission editor installed and was wondering if I could create my own mission and develope ranks for my profile. I created a mission where you take the Red Eagle ferry through the solent to the ferry terminals and would like to develope passenger ratings through my own mission. If that makes sense :)


Thank you for the help
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Shipaddict on December 16, 2007, 20:51:25
Passenger point things? You can't make your own i'm afraid. VSTEP think that people would just "misuse" them :)
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: CarlisleII on December 16, 2007, 20:59:40
Im not exactly sure what passenger point things are, but what im trying to do is to get create my own ferry mission and get like captain on my rank, beacuse ive been playing the missions that come with the sim, and would like to create my own passenger missions and achieve rank from them
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Shipaddict on December 16, 2007, 21:00:49
I see. you can't set them yourself like I said. Only people like Rooster24 can :)

Sorry,
SA
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: CarlisleII on December 16, 2007, 21:04:25
Hrmmm can I acieve captain from the missions already set in the game?
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Stuart2007 on December 16, 2007, 21:16:39
You want your custom missions, when completed correctly, to count towards your rank?

If that's so... I don't know. I will try and find out.

Stu
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Traddles on December 16, 2007, 21:23:43
Hi Carlisle11
If you want to get to Captain, open up the missions list and see which missions score for which of the five shown in your profile. You CAN get to the top rank in all five just from the missions in the game. However Custom missions do not add to your rankings, or at least not up to now. I'm not sure about the future though. :) If you select a mission it tells you which of  the five ranks will be added to when you complete it. Hope that helps. ::)
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Stuart2007 on December 16, 2007, 21:28:14
Well done Angus...  :)
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Traddles on December 16, 2007, 21:30:21
Gee thanks Stu ;D ;D
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Stuart2007 on December 16, 2007, 21:32:43
Gee thanks Stu ;D ;D
flaming know it all  :D
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Traddles on December 16, 2007, 21:34:25
Stuart,
I wish I was, I could be rich then!! ::)
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Stuart2007 on December 16, 2007, 21:37:39
Wise man say "Money root of all evil" and he has a point, being rich isn't all it's cracked up to be... (I'm told)

But wise man live in cave in Tibet. Without electrickery and TV... So how wise can he be?
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Traddles on December 16, 2007, 21:45:30
I'd really like to try! Seriously though I have found a lot of pleasure out of just having enough. My cave is nice and warm, it has plenty of electrickery and some  smelly stuff that comes in a pipe! But you see at my age I can't afford to get cold. :'( ;)
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: mvsmith on December 16, 2007, 21:51:34
I think that a change is in the works for the way missions are submitted and checked. Possibly this may involve a better way in which rank is obtained from specific missions.
I don’t think that the creator of a mission should be able to gain rank from that mission.
There are some changes to the mission editor that could aid in making missions more cheat proof—specifically making it unnecessary to complete some EX waypoints to complete the mission. Another is correcting the fact that damage can be repaired by simply saving and restarting.
Marty

Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Stuart2007 on December 16, 2007, 22:35:22
I'd really like to try! Seriously though I have found a lot of pleasure out of just having enough. My cave is nice and warm, it has plenty of electrickery and some  smelly stuff that comes in a pipe! But you see at my age I can't afford to get cold. :'( ;)

They say 'age comes with wisdom'... My God, how I wish I was still stupid.

Stu
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: LucAtC on December 16, 2007, 23:03:49
Who will not resist to answer that?
Luc
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Stuart2007 on December 16, 2007, 23:21:53
Who will not resist to answer that?
Luc

Anyone who wants to keep his head in the approximate vicinity of his shoulders  ;)
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: mvsmith on December 17, 2007, 01:13:36
Even I would not touch that one.
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: [RWP]DJM on December 17, 2007, 09:08:35
They say 'age comes with wisdom'... My God, how I wish I was still stupid.

Stu

Even I would not touch that one.


I will ;D

You know what they say Stu "Be careful what you wish for, you may just get it" ;)

I suspect that you may have been wishing for that one too much already :P :D

:o Did I really say that in public :o
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: steveboston on December 17, 2007, 13:29:05
Anyway - when you do get to be a whole Captain type person be sure to save a backup of your profile before going online to update it or this might just happen:-

"Yesterday I reached the rank of Passenger Captain. Today, after a few missions I still had this, plus improvements to the Motorboat class and Tug class (I can't remember exactly what but the symbols showed extra decoration.
All well and good, but I have just connected to the internet and uploaded them. (I did this with my other computer which is where I play SS08). Before connecting I exited the programme to arm my firewall etc. and then restarted it.
To my horror the act of uploading has somehow demoted me to First Officer - Passengers and robbed me of a star and a stripe elsewhere. Restarting the game has confirmed that things have now 'stuck' at that. By the way I haven't damaged anything or missed any waypoints etc. in today's missions.
Oh well - back to scrubbing the decks I suppose!"

I ain't sure if it was an act of God, of VSTEP, or Firefox (a sneaky update at the wrong moment perhaps). In any case beware. (By the way I think Marmite (in moderation) is a good thing).
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Stuart2007 on December 18, 2007, 14:44:21
I will ;D

You know what they say Stu "Be careful what you wish for, you may just get it" ;)

I suspect that you may have been wishing for that one too much already :P :D

:o Did I really say that in public :o

I can wish away, but stupidity always eludes me. I wonder if anyone can donate their stupidity to me... There appears to be an awful lot of it in society these days.

(Present forum company excepted of course).

Anyway, apologies for going off topic. I shall remove myself from it worthwith.

Stu
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: TerryRussell on December 18, 2007, 16:19:18
Hi Stu.

Did you ever find if there was a way that ranks could be assigned from "home grown" missions? I understand why Vstep would want to keep that facility to themselves, but here's a thought:

If the Global Moderrators or some other assigned set of people thought a new mission was good enough, could they be granted the power (or software) to modify the mission and assign rankings? That would surely promote the buy-in of this community to stratospheric levels. It would also help improve the level of programming and testing in some cases (I exclude everyone who ever reads or hears about this message from that group, of course)

Hey, you! Get that ship out of the stratosphere!
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: TerryRussell on December 18, 2007, 16:21:59
And the more dedicated amongst us should be prepared for the submission and ranking process, of course. This would take time and effort from those involved, but contributes to the standing of those sumitting the missions.
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: LucAtC on December 18, 2007, 16:36:28
Hello,
Nice ideas, indeed. Taking the same words, as [RWP]DJM said:
"Be careful what you wish for, you may just get it",
Do you intend to make your missions public too?
Regards,
Luc
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: TerryRussell on December 18, 2007, 16:53:18
Hi Luc.

Yes, I think I would do that.

I have just worked on my first ever mission. I took DJM's first-ever mission and with his agreement, added AI, trigger points, fog bank around Alcatraz and so on), and I think it was quite good - "San Francisco Emergencies2" - needs add-on pack. I am now working on "Hovercraft in San Francisco", partly because DJM said he likes the hovercraft but mainly because I love the hovercraft.

I have produced many "missions" for MS Train Sim, and the Ship Sim is similar in concept. So the learning curve won't be too steep, I hope. Also, I am an experienced skipper (South Coast of England, living in Selsey, at the eastern end of the Solent) so I hope that will bring some realism to my missions.

My pet hate is missions that have so much AI that it is impossible to move. The sea just isn't like that (except around here during Cowes week).
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Traddles on December 18, 2007, 20:06:05

My pet hate is missions that have so much AI that it is impossible to move. The sea just isn't like that (except around here during Cowes week).
Hi Terry,
You obviously have never been in the Inland Sea of Japan. You need eyes in the back and sides of your head. :o
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: mvsmith on December 18, 2007, 20:33:41
And, Angus, you need to dodge the big bulkers as they slide down the ways at Mitsui Shipbuilding and Engineering’s Tamano yard.
I once watched the launch of one; before the entire keel was wet, the crane was setting a  new hull section on the ways.
Marty

The Strait of Malacca can get busy also. Plus, you have to watch out for pirates.
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Traddles on December 18, 2007, 20:39:32
Hi Marty,
A bit like the Hyundai shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea. They build them in the drydock there, 4 at a time, and as they float them out the double bottom assemblies for the next ones are ready on the dock side to be lowered in.
Angus
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: mvsmith on December 18, 2007, 20:49:12
If they don’t watch out, they will build them faster than they sink. They will reach market saturation. :)
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: TerryRussell on December 18, 2007, 22:52:30
"You obviously have never been in the Inland Sea of Japan."

Tried it once, but the boat ran out of fuel just past Margate.
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Stuart2007 on December 18, 2007, 23:29:00
"You obviously have never been in the Inland Sea of Japan."

Tried it once, but the boat ran out of fuel just past Margate.

Does the RAC have boat patrols with cas of diesel then?  :D

Stu
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Traddles on December 18, 2007, 23:35:20
Tell you what though, that kind of traffic is a damn good cure for constipation. :o ;)
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: mvsmith on December 19, 2007, 14:57:04
Angus, sometimes an opposite reaction is observed and the pucker factor can help delay a trip to the head.
As an occasional “fly on the wall” on the bridge, I could be an objective observer and not get emotionally involved. :)
Marty
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Cobrattack on February 23, 2008, 08:51:40
This is the only post I could find in an hour of searching.  (really need to clean out these forums!!!)  But still haven't seen a definate answer.  I'll of course find out on my own by trial and error when I can play again in a couple days but with the release of 1.3 and all and with VSTEP rating custom mission, I'll repeat the original question,,,,,  Do Custom Missions add to your rank???
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: mvsmith on February 23, 2008, 09:16:18
They shouldn’t. When we test them, we don’t set any value on the relative difficulty of a mission, so any ranking would be pretty meaningless, as are the times. The missions included in updates by VSTEP do, I think, contribute to rankings.
Marty

Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: TerryRussell on February 23, 2008, 10:37:31
This is the only post I could find in an hour of searching.  (really need to clean out these forums!!!)  But still haven't seen a definate answer.  I'll of course find out on my own by trial and error when I can play again in a couple days but with the release of 1.3 and all and with VSTEP rating custom mission, I'll repeat the original question,,,,,  Do Custom Missions add to your rank???

That question has been answered at least three time in this thread alone.

Hi Carlisle11
However Custom missions do not add to your rankings, or at least not up to now. I'm not sure about the future though. :)

Passenger point things? You can't make your own i'm afraid. VSTEP think that people would just "misuse" them :)

I see. you can't set them yourself like I said. Only people like Rooster24 can :)

Were these posters not clear enough?  ;)

No, using Custom Missions, you can't affect the rankings. But, there is a strong desire from some of the Mission Creators to get Vstep to make this step in the not too distant future.
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Mad_Fred on February 23, 2008, 10:59:25
Hey guys..

Custom missions will not have ranking. Simply because it will not be reliable. People can alter these missions, using the mission editor. They could make them really easy, and thus achieve higher rankings without having to do all the hard work.

Maybe, in the future, some of the finest custom missions out there could be bundled together and made into nice mission packs which then will become proper single player missions with ranking, but there's no concrete plans to that effect as yet.

We have discussed this possibility amongst the CMM's though. We'll see where it eventually might go.

Regards,
Fred
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: TJK on February 23, 2008, 11:36:49
Hey guys..

Custom missions will not have ranking. Simply because it will not be reliable. People can alter these missions, using the mission editor. They could make them really easy, and thus achieve higher rankings without having to do all the hard work.

Maybe, in the future, some of the finest custom missions out there could be bundled together and made into nice mission packs which then will become proper single player missions with ranking, but there's no concrete plans to that effect as yet.

We have discussed this possibility amongst the CMM's though. We'll see where it eventually might go.

Regards,
Fred
HI Fred
those costom missions as uplodet with mission editor and testd arn't they locked to?
TJK
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Mad_Fred on February 23, 2008, 11:56:07
Not to the creator, they're not. (And not to some, really inventive players, I woul think)

Ah.. my mistake.. I meant to say "people can alter THEIR missons"  ..not THESE...  sorry.


Fred
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: TerryRussell on February 23, 2008, 19:13:05
Custom missions will not have ranking. Simply because it will not be reliable. People can alter these missions, using the mission editor. They could make them really easy, and thus achieve higher rankings without having to do all the hard work.

H Fred.

What I would really like, is for the CMMs to ba able to add the rankings as a matter of course when they review and approve Custom Missions.  Originally, this was sort of suggested would happen, but.....
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Mad_Fred on February 23, 2008, 19:48:42
Yup Terry, I had similar thoughts, but the author could still open and edit his/her mission that way, as he/she does not really play the one that we got, but the original one.

Which is of course the same.. UNTILL he/she decides to gain rank fast and takes out everything and just makes it a one-boat-one-waypoint-2-minute mission.  ;D

So this way the ranking system could be compromised. But such things did come up in the backstage discussions.  ;)

I personally suggested making a mission addon pack evey now and then in which the best custom missions are bundled. Which would be locked to everyone and would just go into SP missions, not the custom ones.
Some 'colleagues' thought it was a good idea, but it's too early to tell if that will be picked up by VSTEP at all.  As you know, they are quite busy atm..   ;D

We'll see..

Regards,
Fred
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Cobrattack on February 23, 2008, 21:06:51
Correct me if I am wrong but weren't those answers in this post from before the latest patch and the first one did mention the possibility in the future???  Anyway I understand why they don't now since VSTEP won't lock them once they approve them. 
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: TerryRussell on February 23, 2008, 22:31:33
Anyway I understand why they don't now since VSTEP won't lock them once they approve them. 

No, that''s not quite what Fred meant, I think. Vstep DO lock them, but because the creator of the mission has the unlocked source code, they could conceivably change their unlocked version and gain un-earned rankings by simplifying their mission.

To avoid that possibility, Vstep don't assign rankings to the Custom Missions.

As if I would, Fred....  :'(  :'(  :'(
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Mad_Fred on February 23, 2008, 22:54:24
No, that''s not quite what Fred meant, I think. Vstep DO lock them, but because the creator of the mission has the unlocked source code, they could conceivably change their unlocked version and gain un-earned rankings by simplifying their mission.

Correct!

As if I would, Fred....  :'(  :'(  :'(

Well, not everyone is as honest as you, mate.  ;D
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: TerryRussell on February 23, 2008, 22:55:39
Correct!

Well, not everyone is as honest as you, mate.  ;D

Nah. I'm just jolly convincing! Of course, I'm just blowing my own horn now.  ;D  ;D  ;D
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Mad_Fred on February 23, 2008, 23:14:15
 ;D

I'm not gonna say anything..  That would be inappropriate for our younger members...
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: mvsmith on February 23, 2008, 23:36:57
Fred,
I think we should mention this just in case there is some confusion about who approves and locks missions:
VSTEP approves and locks those missions that come with the simulator and in add-ons.
CMMs approve (accept) the missions that are submitted from within the Mission Editor. Those missions are already locked—by the uploading process—when the CMMs receive them. CMMs don’t have the ability to unlock them.

Missions, however, are still sent by the constructors to the Missions board in ZIP form. Those missions are unlocked. Missions may also be distributed via other “Fan” sites. Therefore, many of the missions that may be downloaded in-game also have evil twins that may be manipulated.
Regards,
Marty
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: Mad_Fred on February 23, 2008, 23:52:45
Fred,
I think we should mention this just in case there is some confusion about who approves and locks missions:
VSTEP approves and locks those missions that come with the simulator and in add-ons.
CMMs approve (accept) the missions that are submitted from within the Mission Editor. Those missions are already locked—by the uploading process—when the CMMs receive them. CMMs don’t have the ability to unlock them.

Yes you are right.. but I figured too much detail would not change the underlying message. And as the uploading system was made by VSTEP, VSTEP  IS actually locking them..   :P

We just give 'em the quality check.   ;D

 ;)

Fred
Title: Re: Custom missions and ranks???
Post by: TerryRussell on February 24, 2008, 00:18:47
;D

I'm not gonna say anything..  That would be inappropriate for our younger members...

Sorry, I meant "trumpet". Got ship's horns on the brain right now...