"WARNING: This information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. Use at your own risk. Has been known to cause cancer in laboratory animals. Caveat lector." -EV Bible
Just one thing here: Make sure you have the main EV Data file in the same folder as Schmelta-V. Alternatively, you can put an alias to the EV Data file named "EV Data" in Schmelta-V's folder.
Editing EV missions is easy. Once you've started the program, choose "Open..." from the File menu and pick your target file. All the missions in this file will be displayed in a list. The Missions menu now provides you with two options: "Clear" deletes the selected mission(s) from the data file, and "New Mission" creates a new mission at the end of the list. Double-clicking a mission allows you to edit it. Edit commands also cut, copy, and paste missions. When using the paste command, the pasted mission will replace the currently selected mission, and if none is selected it will be appended to the bottom of the list. If you already have a current selection and want to paste a mission to the end of the list, select "New Mission" and then select the resultant "<No Entry>" before pasting.
See the last section for a complete description of the mission editor itself.
Many missions have text that go along with them. These can be edited via items in the Missions menu. The Introduction edits the text seen in the mission computer or in the bar when the mission is offered. The Briefing is the secondary text provided to give a better description of the mission after the mission is accepted. The Summary is the text seen in the dialog listing the player's currently active missions. The Cargo Text is the text shown at the Travel To destination only when there is also a Return To set. The Completion text is shown at the mission's end. A good way to get the feel for how these are used is by rummaging through existing missions.
Oh, and be careful about moving missions! EV allows more than one mission to link to a single desc text. This only happens in certain missions like "Rush Delivery" and "Cargo Delivery," but this can cause problems if you try to move missions. If you move a mission, its descs will be moved along with it, and any other missions with links to those moved descs will no longer have text associated with them. Schmelta-V should force the mission file to conform to its standards when descriptions are saved, so if you save all the other mission's texts before moving, you'll be OK. This doesn't make much sense, does it? Oh, well... Don't worry about it too much... Even if you run into problems here, EV won't crash on you.
Whenever EV displays a text resource related to a mission, such as the initial mission description, it performs one other special operation on the text. It searches through the text and replaces a few special "wildcard" symbols with pertinent mission information. This is extremely useful in setting up mission briefings that include random information that wouldn't be known when the description is written. These special symbols and their expansions are:
<DSY> The name of the destination system
<DST> The name of the destination stellar
<RSY> The name of the return system
<RST> The name of the return stellar
<CT> The name of the type of cargo to be carried
<CQ> The quantity of cargo to be carried
<DL> The date of the mission deadline, if any
<PN> The player's name
<PSN> The player's ship's name
<OSN> The offering ship name (only works when offering a mission from a ship)
<SN> Special ship name (Note: EV will screw up if you use this in the initial mission description, as it doesn't pick the special ship names until you actually accept the mission.)
EV 1.0.1 currently supports Plug-Ins. These are simply secondary resource files whose contents preempt those in the main EV Data file. Editing Plug-Ins works just like editing the main EV Data file, and both are done the same way. Schmelta-V now supports creation of Plug-In files. Just use the "New..." command in the File menu, and a brand new Plug-In will be created. Remember, though, that resources with the same ID in the main EV Data file and the Plug-In file will favor those in the Plug-In file. If you want to add missions to the existing EV Data file without preempting those already in the EV Data file, make sure to move you missions to higher IDs, above the last missions in the main EV Data file. (BTW, if you see a whole screen full of <No Entry> tags appear when you change a mission to a high ID, don't worry... That's just Schmelta-V's way of keeping track of all the open slots for missions. If you scroll to the bottom of the list, you'll find your mission.)
Also, you can now save your changes to the current data file as a separate Plug-In. Make all the changes you want to the main EV Data file and then use the menu option "Save As Plug-In..." to save all the changes you've made into a Plug-In file instead of the main data file. Schmelta-V still keeps track of your changes, though, so you can save to the main file as well if you'd like. Be careful... The warning dialog before closing the mission chooser still saves data to the current data file and not to a separate Plug-In.
Much of the confusion I've encountered in users involves mission bits. Mission bits control availability of missions; you can set a mission so that it will not become available until a certain mission bit is "set." There are a few hundred mission bits (as in, "eight bits to a byte") in the EV Data file, each of which can be "on" or "off," 1 or 0, "set" or "clear." Each mission bit is labeled by a number, starting from 1. EV 1.0.1 uses about 114 of the mission bits, and there are plenty more available above that number that are never used in the included scenarios.
Mission bits control availability through the "Availability" section of the mission editor. There are two fields: Bit Set and Bit Clear. For the mission to be available, the mission with the number in Bit Set must be set and the mission with the number in Bit Clear must be clear. All mission bits are initially clear.
Bits are changed by other missions, and bit setting and clearing is controlled in the "Completion/Rewards" section. There are two Bit to Set (Win) fields, and the bits identified by these fields will both be set upon successful completion of the mission. The bit identified in the Bit to Set (Fail) field will only be set if the player fails or aborts the mission (and, naturally, the "Win" fields will be ignored if the mission fails).
You'll notice all fields involving checking to see that a bit is set or setting a bit have a "Clear Instead" checkbox beneath them. If you check this box, Schmelta-V will treat the field above as "Bit Clear" or "Bit to Clear." So, for example, if I put 98 in Bit Set (in "Availability") and then clicked "Clear Instead," EV will check to see that bit 98 is clear before offering the mission. Likewise, if I set the Bit to Set (Win) field (in "Completion/Rewards") to 99 and click the "Clear Instead" option below this field, bit 99 will be cleared if/when the mission is completed successfully.
In all cases, if a field involving a mission bit is set to -1, it is ignored.
Schmelta-V now provides the ability to set several settings in the Preferences dialog. Most are self-explanatory, but there are a few that need a little extra explanation:
The base ID field is the ID that will be used when creating a new mission in a plugin file that currently has no mission resources.
The fast save option speeds up saving a bit. If you experience problems (i.e. crashes) while saving, try turning this option off.
The new mission ID option allows you to tell Schmelta-V whether newly created missions (whether via the "New Mission" option or the "Unique ID" button in some dialogs) are placed at the first open resource ID above the first ID in the file ("First Available") or at an ID one greater than the highest mission in the file ("End of File").
The default file option allows you to set Schmelta-V's behavior on startup if no plugin file or data file is dragged and dropped on Schmelta-V to open it up. There are three options: do nothing, present the "Open..." dialog, or open a specified file. If you'd simply like to change the file that is automatically open, use the "Choose File" button.
The following is a quick description of all the options in Schmelta-V's mission editor, helpful for beginners trying to figure out what all this stuff does in EV. Most of the following is text taken straight from the EV Bible, a document created by the game's author, Matt Burch, to help edit the game's data file. I have cut out irrelevant parts of the text (mostly numerical crap for which a popup menu has been substituted). In some cases, where popup menu text might not be as clear as possible, I have left some of the descriptions intact to further clarify the effect of each choice.
I hope all you aspiring mission makers find this document useful while using Schmelta-V.
Systems:
Available: Which stellar objects (i.e. planets) the mission is available at.
Travel To: Which stellar object the player must go to during the mission.
Return To: Where the player must return to in order to complete the mission and receive payment. If this is "None," the mission ends at the "Travel To" stellar.
Availibility:
Bit Set: Which one of the mission flag bits, if any, must be set for this mission to become available. If "Clear Instead" is checked, this mission bit must be clear.
-1 ignored
0-255 this mission bit must be set
Bit Clear: More info on how EV should offer the mission.
-1 ignored
0-255 mission is available only if this mission bit is not set
Location: Where on a planet this mission is available
Legal Record: What your legal record in this system must be for this mission to become available. This can be either a numerical value (as described below) or based on the player's domination of systems.
0 ignored
positive value record must be at least this high
negative value record must be at least this low
Good Scale: Evil Scale:
0 Clean 0 Clean
4 Decent Individual 1 Offender
16 Good Egg 4 Criminal
64 Upstanding Citizen 16 Felon
256 Role Model 64 Fugitive
1024 Pillar of Society 256 Public Enemy
4096 Honored Leader 1024 Prime Evil
4096 Galactic Scourge
Combat Rating: What your combat rating must be for this mission to be available. Your combat rating is based on the number of kills you have made, which is the sum of the crew complements of all the ships you have destroyed.
-1 ignored
0+ rating must be at least this high
Kills: Rating:
0 Harmless
1 Mostly Harmless
100 Fair
200 Average
400 Above Average
800 Competent
1,600 Noteworthy
3,200 Excellent
6,400 Dangerous
12,800 Deadly
25,600 Ultimate
Random Factor: A randomization factor, to ensure that some missions aren't available all the time. Mission randomizing values are recalculated each time you warp into a system.
100 always available
1-99 available this % of the time
Can Abort: If this is unchecked, the mission can’t aborted, and you must go to the Return stellar in order for it to "go away" and become inactive. If this flag is checked, the mission can be aborted at any time. Also, the mission "goes away" and becomes inactive at the moment it fails (e.g. you're scanned when you aren't supposed to be, etc.).
Cargo:
Amount: What amount of cargo must be carried. If "Vary ±50%" is checked, the amount you enter in this field, which must be 2 or greater, will... well, vary by 50%.
-1 Ignored (no cargo)
0 and up This many tons of cargo
Type: What type of cargo must be carried.
Pickup Mode: Where the cargo is to be picked up.
Dropoff Mode: Where the cargo is to be dropped off. [Note: don't set your cargo to be picked up and dropped off at the same place, as it may cause EV to behave strangely. If Schmelta-V detects strangeness here, it'll try to help you out.]
Enemy Govt: Which government considers your cargo illegal. If "Fail if Scanned" is checked, the mission fails if you're detected carrying the cargo. This only works when approached by "interceptor" type ships, which means this feature usually only works for the Confederation.
Ships:
Amount: The number of special ships for this mission.
-1 Ignored (no special ships)
0-31 This number of special ships
Type: What dude resource to use to determine the special ship's types and characteristics.
Location: Which system the special ships will appear in.
Objective: The mission goal associated with the special ships. (The following is a more detailed explanation of the popup menu that you'll see in Schmelta-V.)
None (no specific goal for the special ships)
Destroy all the ships
Disable but don't destroy them
Board them
Escort them (keep them from getting killed)
Observe them (you just have to be in the same system with them)
Rescue them (they start out disabled, and you must board them)
Chase them off (either kill them or scare them into jumping out of the system)
Behavior: Defines any special actions you want the ships to take. (The following is a more detailed explanation of the popup menu that you'll see in Schmelta-V.)
Ignored (they use their standard AI routines)
Special ships will always attack the player
Special ships will protect the player
Special ships will hyper in all together after a short delay
Special ships will hyper in and attack the player
Special ships will hyper in and protect the player
Name STR#: Tells EV how to name the special ships.
-1 Ignored (special ships have normal names)
128 and up Pick a name from this STR# resource
Completion/Rewards:
Reward Gov't: Which government to use in determining how your record changes on completing this mission.
Record Change: How much to increase your record with Reward Gov't.
(any value) Increase record by this much. If you have a Reward Gov't and reward defined and you fail the mission, that govt will take it personally and decrease your record by 1/2 the amount specified in this field. This is useful for making missions whose success is considered vital by a certain party. If "Change by -5x on Abort" is checked, the player's record will change by (-5 * this value) if the player aborts or fails the mission.
Bit to Set (Win): Which mission bit will be set on completion (there are two such fields, both of which operate independently). If "Clear Instead" is checked, this mission bit will be cleared instead of set.
-1 Ignored
0-255 Set this mission bit
Bit to Set (Fail): Which mission bit to set upon failure. If "Clear Instead" is checked, this mission bit will be cleared instead of set.
-1 Ignored
0-255 Set this mission bit on failure
Time Limit: Like it says.
-1 Ignored (no time limit)
1 and up This number of days
Reward: What you get if you're successful and you return to the Return stellar.
None: No pay, just the satisfaction of a job well done
Cash: The specified number of credits
Clear Record: Clean legal record with this govt
Item: Give the player this item
Item at Start: Give the player this item at the start of the mission (if "Remove Item on Abort" is checked, the item given to the player at the beginning of the mission is taken away when the mission fails)
Auxiliary Ships:
Aux. Amount: How many aux ships, if any, to activate for this mission. If "Reincarnate" is checked, there will be an infinite amount of auxiliary ships in the universe, up to this amount at any given time.
-1 No aux ships
1-31 Place this many aux ships in the universe
Aux. Type: The specific dude resource to use to set up the aux ships.
Aux. Location: What systems to place the auxiliary ships in.
Flags:
Auto Abort: Marks the mission as an auto-aborting mission, which will automatically abort itself after it is accepted. (sometimes useful to create special ships) Any mission bits pointed to by the mission’s Bit to Set (Win) fields will be automatically set when the mission aborts.
No Red Flag: Don’t show the red destination arrows on the map.
Can't Refuse: Can’t refuse the mission.
Show Green Arrow: Show green arrow on map in initial briefing.
Offer First in Bar: Critical mission (will be offered before all others in the bar).
The pers resource defines the characteristics of an AI personality - that is, a specific person the player can encounter in the game. These AI-people have their names (which are also the names of the associated përs resource) displayed on the target-info display in place of the name of their ship class. When ships are created, there is a 5% chance that a specific AI-person will also be created. Obviously, as AI-people are killed off, they cease to appear in the game. The first field tells EV where a certain person can be encountered:
Appearance:
Location: Which systems the person can be created in.
Government: The person's governmental affiliation.
AI Type: The person's AI type.
Agression: The person's agression, i.e. how close ships have to be before the person will attack them.
Flee When Shields Below: At what percent of total shield capacity will the person run away from a fight? e.g. a value of 25 would cause the person to retreat when his shields dropped to 25%.
Holds grudges: AI will hold a grudge against the player when he is attacked, and he will attack the player on sight at all subsequent meetings.
Uses escape pod: When the AI's ship is destroyed, he'll pull a Darth Vader.
Hailing:
Comm Dialog Quote: Index number of an entry in STR# resource 7100, to be displayed in the communications dialog.
Shows disaster info: When checked, AI brings news of disasters when hailing.
Game Screen Quote: Index number of an entry in STR# resource 7101, to be displayed at the bottom of the game screen (i.e. over the radio).
Show when player is hated: When checked, the quote is shown if the AI has a grudge against the player.
Show when player is liked: When checked, the quote is shown if the AI likes the player.
Show when AI attacks: When checked, the quote is shown if the AI attacks the player.
Show when AI is disabled: When checked, the quote is shown if the AI's ship is disabled.
Show quote only once: Like it says.
Only if mission available: The hailing quote will only be shown if the ship's linked mission is currently avaialble to the player. (Good for making ships offer missions over the radio.)
Linked Mission:
Mission Bit: Which mission bit this person is linked to.
0-255 Only have this person show up if this mission bit is set
-1 Ignored
Link to Mission: What mission to activate when the ship is boarded or hailed.
Replace AI with special ship: If the linked mission has a single special ship, the AI's ship will be replaced with the mission's special ship when the mission is accepted. This makes it easy to make "Escort me" missions.
Deactivate AI after accepting: The AI won't show up anymore after its linked mission is accepted.
Offer when boarding: The mission is offered when the player boards the ship rather than when the player hails the ship. Great for decoy/trap missions.
AI leaves after mission accepted: Like it says.
Don't offer if player ship is...: Each ship the player can fly has a certain inherent AI type. You can set the ship categories to which the linked mission will be offered.
Ship and Extras:
Type: Person's ship class.
% of Base Shields: How much to increase/decrease the person's shield capacity, in percent. For example, a value of 130 entered here would make the person's ship have shields that are 30% stronger than if he were flying a stock ship. Similarly, a value of 70 would make his shields 30% weaker.
Credits: How many credits the person carries.
0 ignored (no credits)
1 and up This many credits, ± 25%
Weapon (x4): Weapon types to add or remove from the ship.
Amount to Add (x4): How many of each of the above weapons to add (Note: This is in addition to the standard weapons already included with the ship. Standard weapons can be "removed" by entering their ID numbers in the WeapType fields and entering the negative of their standard load for the given ship class in the WeapCount field.)
-1 or 0 None
1 and up Add this many
Ammo to Add (x4): The standard ammo load for weapons that need it, or ignored for those that don’t.
