Noob at scripting, need 1 on 1 help!!!

[Stinger13]

Ive discovered  an overcoming interest in scripting, over an already powerful urning for mission creation.  Problem is, Ive just started to seriously sit down and try to use trial and error to make a simple map, within the first hour, im blazined with questions.    I have a complete mission- unit- placing with a complete mission plot and plan, but cant put it all together, I dont know how to make the player-tank (player as commander) follow a road without commanding to turn, or go hear or go there, or how to make a pair of Apache helis to come in to support the convoy after a certain (as called in via radio) action has started.  And I dont know how to make a soldier run and hide before he attacks the convoy.  All kinds of shit...that ultimately calls for scripting, triggers, etc.
      Ive read many tutes on scripting, triggers....doesnt make sense to me, I need to ask questions as  these things are explained to me.
   Can anyone help me out? :-\  

[m21man]

1. As long as the group of the tanks is in safe mode, they'll drive in a column along the road. To do this, type this setbehaviour "safe" in the init field of the leader of the tank group.

2. There are a lot of ways to make air support come in after a radio signal. One way is to spawn the choppers in real time, or you could just have a couple choppers sitting around somewhere, with their current waypoint requiring a radio signal to be completed. If you have a move waypoint, once they're finished idleing (When the waypoint is completed), they'll take off and head to their next waypoint.

The simplest way to do this is to put your chopper group in a secret place somewhere on the ground. Name the choppers (e.g. chopper1, chopper2), and in each chopper's init field put this setfuel 0. Give them a "Move" waypoint to the target area, then perhaps make a loop around the area so that the gunships will circle it. Now make a trigger, in the field that chooses who activates the trigger, select "Radio Alpha" and in the On Activation field put chopper1 setfuel 1;chopper2 setfuel 1. Now in the player's init field put 1 setradiomsg "Call Choppers". Now you have a radio option (0-0-1) that reads "Call Choppers". If you choose it, the choppers will take off and head along their waypoint path.

Note - You can do this much more efficiently with a script that creates the choppers and sends them to a location specified with a map-click.

P.S. - If you want to, you can PM me with any questions you've got about scripting.

[macguba]

You're facing a classic problem in OFP editing.     Knowing what you want to do but no idea how to make it come about.    

There is a highly successful way of dealing with this difficulty.

Step 1 is to break the whole thing down into individual problems.    

Step2 is obviously to attack them one at a time.   When solving one you will quite often learn something that will help you with another.

Step 3 is flexibility.    Can't solve a particular problem?   Fine, leave it and come back later.   Still can't solve it?   Fine, just tweak the mission a little to avoid it altogether.     You can often invent a slightly different plot line that is just as satisfactory.

Step 4 is to use the motto of Robert Watson Watt, the inventor of radar.   "Second best today."     In other words, fake it so that it more or less works today, rather than spending the next 3 months trying to create something perfect but in the meantime you don't have a working mission at all.     Until you have a mission that is functional you don't have anything at all .... once it sort of works it's much easier to bash it into shape.

At the risk of self advertisment I recommend the Tutorial Mission in the Editors Depot.    Play it then take it to bits in the mission editor - it was created to help people like you.    It has a few very simple scripts, but the important thing is that they are not isolated - they are integrated into a working mission, so they have a context.

[Stinger13]

Mac, thats good advice, Ill definately keep it in mind, I do have a very complicated mission in mind, and in progress...it more than likely will take time to perfect, but Im determined to get it right, I have high expectations for the mission Im creating.  Being a creative man, Im sure it will be a head turner...least I hope, fore it will require alot of work to make it do what Im planning.