Discovering Mission Table Workings: My Plan
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- Col.Kell
- House Steiner Archon
- Posts: 868
- Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:44 am
- Location: An Isolated Tennessee Valley.
Discovering Mission Table Workings: My Plan
Because mission tables are a very complex and important role in the mechwarrior 2 games, I have decided to dedicate a thread to them here.
What I am in the process of doing right now is "decoding" the mission objectives in the SCN1 files by reverse-engineering; I am using a program made by allmhuran, Endymion (Edward Wong), and two others called MW2 Mission Editor 3D, compiling several near-identical missions with minor changes as to recognize what bytes serve what porpouse.
In doing this, I am not only hoping to understand just how they work, but also back-track and look at mission tables from pre-existing MW2 levels. And remembering how the objectives and gamepieces play out and behave in certain levels, I can then recognize the newly known info, and figure out how the declarations and objectives are pieced together in what order, and discover how info is arranged to make the AI or objectives behave in specific ways.
After putting those puzzles together, we can then rearange data to make scenario modding/making easier and simpler to understand!
This is my plan and hopes on discovering the mission table inner workings.
What I am in the process of doing right now is "decoding" the mission objectives in the SCN1 files by reverse-engineering; I am using a program made by allmhuran, Endymion (Edward Wong), and two others called MW2 Mission Editor 3D, compiling several near-identical missions with minor changes as to recognize what bytes serve what porpouse.
In doing this, I am not only hoping to understand just how they work, but also back-track and look at mission tables from pre-existing MW2 levels. And remembering how the objectives and gamepieces play out and behave in certain levels, I can then recognize the newly known info, and figure out how the declarations and objectives are pieced together in what order, and discover how info is arranged to make the AI or objectives behave in specific ways.
After putting those puzzles together, we can then rearange data to make scenario modding/making easier and simpler to understand!
This is my plan and hopes on discovering the mission table inner workings.
Last edited by Col.Kell on Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.
MechWarrior 2: 31stCC
- Skyfaller
- Clan 1st MechWarrior
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Re: Discovering Mission Table Workings: My Plan
Good luck.
I can see why this interests you. If you see it through to the end, you may obtain knowledge on MW2 that no had since the game was programmed. Please post everything you find here, and document the involved BWD tags carefully, it's interesting for me too.
Call for help if you need to, like I did with the MW2 textures. If we get stuck, as a last measure, one of the game programmers has an account here. We can contact him on this, but first let's see how far you/we get on our own.
This may also help.
I can see why this interests you. If you see it through to the end, you may obtain knowledge on MW2 that no had since the game was programmed. Please post everything you find here, and document the involved BWD tags carefully, it's interesting for me too.
Call for help if you need to, like I did with the MW2 textures. If we get stuck, as a last measure, one of the game programmers has an account here. We can contact him on this, but first let's see how far you/we get on our own.
This may also help.
- Col.Kell
- House Steiner Archon
- Posts: 868
- Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:44 am
- Location: An Isolated Tennessee Valley.
Re: Discovering Mission Table Workings: My Plan
You mean Ed Wong and "Hammer" both have an account on here. I haven't noticed any activity from them in the last couple of months... I could use their help right about now, this is hard...
And yes, I am recording what I come across on the mission tables, I don't want valuble knowlege to slip away back into the void of time. So far I have figured out the bytes that control priority (primary, secondary...), requirment, shown/hidden, and what star "owns" the objective.
And yes, I am recording what I come across on the mission tables, I don't want valuble knowlege to slip away back into the void of time. So far I have figured out the bytes that control priority (primary, secondary...), requirment, shown/hidden, and what star "owns" the objective.
MechWarrior 2: 31stCC
- Skyfaller
- Clan 1st MechWarrior
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Re: Discovering Mission Table Workings: My Plan
Did you report that in another thread already? Otherwise, please give more detail. Post the resonsible BWD tags, and where you found the data (offset, data type). That way, I won't have to duplicate your work.Col.Kell wrote:So far I have figured out the bytes that control priority (primary, secondary...), requirment, shown/hidden, and what star "owns" the objective.
- Col.Kell
- House Steiner Archon
- Posts: 868
- Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:44 am
- Location: An Isolated Tennessee Valley.
Re: Discovering Mission Table Workings: My Plan
No, it's not in any thread yet. I was simply giving examples of what I know so far, I am recording these down in a text file; byte, type, porpouse, distance/length, options, etc.
But when the text is complete, I will post it on this thread.
...But yes, I wouldn't want to condem anyone to repeat anything like this
But when the text is complete, I will post it on this thread.
...But yes, I wouldn't want to condem anyone to repeat anything like this
MechWarrior 2: 31stCC
Re: Discovering Mission Table Workings: My Plan
I thought I remembered Ed making or getting hold of a program which converted the bwds back into plain text, but I know he can't remember or find it. I think it would be easier to build missions as described in the various FAQ's that can be found around here. Start with blank notepad files, or files from the sample mission which are still in plain text form (dem1.mwm), or the uncompiled mission files that come with one of the 3d editor downloads. Of course, it would be nice to be able to extract a prebuilt environment in its entirety and change a few settings around to make a new mission out of it, but then it loses something in terms of orginality. I recommend you start the way I and I think most everyone else did: With a very simple, blank mission. The mwm version of "hello world". A single mountain, a single nav point, a single objective to go to the nav point. Building that will get you familiar with what the various different important plain text files do (xxxWLDx.wld, xxxPLTx.wld, xxxAREx.wld, xxxSCNx.wld, etc), as well as teaching you which ones you can pretty much just copy in unchanged (except for renaming). Then you wasm.exe it up, drop it in your missions dir (for mercnet at least) and you're set. Of course, if youre editing the prj directly... well... abandon all hope
Oh btw, I was Axe, not Hammer
Oh btw, I was Axe, not Hammer
- Col.Kell
- House Steiner Archon
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- Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:44 am
- Location: An Isolated Tennessee Valley.
Re: Discovering Mission Table Workings: My Plan
Thank you for the response, but, do you have a mission table saved or something? I am trying to take different missions with actual working objectives, and compile them into BWD to see what they look like, that way I can be familiar with all the SCN1 bwd stuff in the prj.
Can you do a special favor for me, Don? Could you create 3 different mission tables for the userstar using MW2EDIT3D? All three being Destroy, Recon, Defend; and the target objective is just an xxxxAREx? And the mission terminates when the objective is successful, and post them here? I would be ever so greatfull to you if you could do that, even just one mission table would be great too. Please?
Private Message me your email and I can send you pictures of MW2:31cc PRJ experimentations. Or you can look at my build-a-world thread or Col.Kell's Trial of Grievance map packs 1 and 2 here in the Development sections.
Can you do a special favor for me, Don? Could you create 3 different mission tables for the userstar using MW2EDIT3D? All three being Destroy, Recon, Defend; and the target objective is just an xxxxAREx? And the mission terminates when the objective is successful, and post them here? I would be ever so greatfull to you if you could do that, even just one mission table would be great too. Please?
I HAVE done this, I CAN prove you wrong. I HAVE PROOF. Doing this is completely possible, as long as the new file doesn't exceed the file size of the prj file you are replacing.allmhuran wrote:Of course, if youre editing the prj directly... well... abandon all hope
Private Message me your email and I can send you pictures of MW2:31cc PRJ experimentations. Or you can look at my build-a-world thread or Col.Kell's Trial of Grievance map packs 1 and 2 here in the Development sections.
hehe... sorry Axe, my bad.allmhuran wrote:Oh btw, I was Axe, not Hammer
MechWarrior 2: 31stCC
- Sir MMPD Radick
- Clan Nova Captain
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Re: Discovering Mission Table Workings: My Plan
As can I .. I have edited the prj with some results as well.. here
James 3:5-10: My Reminder
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
- Col.Kell
- House Steiner Archon
- Posts: 868
- Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:44 am
- Location: An Isolated Tennessee Valley.
Re: Discovering Mission Table Workings: My Plan
My notes on human mission tables in .BWD form:
- --- What Kell knows so far about mission tables for humans ---
MechWarrior 2: 31stCC