is it nessesary to have scrips

[renegade798]

do you need to have scripts.

[8 Ball]

Yes

[gundernak]

 

yes...I agree

Off course it depends on what you wanna do...

If it is the first time you are starting to bulid a mission, you should edit it in the editor.
A lot of possibilities you will find.
Later sure you will find a situation which you simply will not able to handle in the editor, therefore you will have to call a script...

Anyway basic scripting is not as weird as it looks like at the first sight...

You have to understand the syntax of executing a script...

Get a command reference and a basic tutorial of scripting as soon you can...

[macguba]

There are 3 levels of scripting:-

1)  A single line of code in a few triggers, waypoints or init fields.    This is essential for a respectable mission.

2)  Straightforward .sqs files.    These are essential for a really good mission.

3)  Highly complex scripts created by scripting gurus.    These are only required for sophisticated effects and really have more to do with programming as a hobby than OFP mission design.


That of course is a totally arbitrary split and the edges are not well defined.   The point is that even a very small amount of scripting gives an enormous "bang for your buck" in terms of mission quality.

If you haven't already, have a look at the tutorial mission in the Ed Depot.   This includes some of the very basic scripting required for a half decent mission.    All you have to do is copy it into your own mission.

Now stop trying to weasel your way out of reading the tutorials I've suggested in other posts, and get on with it.     If you actually want to create OFP missions, it will be well worth it I guarantee.    

[renegade798]

I swear on my life I have read a tutorial about scripting, and the reason I keep trying to get around scripts is that I'm really confused about them, I know what they're for and that they need to be in your mission file, but I don't know how to make one or.....really anything else. So I dunno what else to say.

             -thanx

[asmodeus]

Well, a long time ago I never used scripts and I made some pretty fun missions IMO!   ;D  

So, unless there's something you're stuck on, you don't necessarily need a script right now.  If you really get into OFP things naturally progress to where you use scripts, make addons, Islands, and beyond!    :beat:

Have fun and good luck

Asmo

[Chris Death]

If your question is: do you need to have external scripts
like xx.sqs files?

Then i say: no - you do not need that

There's nothing, that cannot be done from inside the editor
(except stuff from description.ext, briefings, stringtable.csv
and event based scripts).

Off course: scripts may help you to get some stuff working
easier for global use like doing the same stuff for whatever
objects you gonna pass to it.

If you just meant: do i need to know about scripting?

Then i say: YES - without knowing about how to script, it
will be even harder to do the same stuff ingame, than doing
it by external scripts.

group1 = group this

in a unit's init field already is SCRIPTING

~S~ CD

[macguba]

Ach, don't worry about it .... it will all become clear in due course.    One of the difficulties in getting started in OFP mission creating is that there is awful lot to take in in one go ... and A depends on B which depends on C which in turn depends on A.    It's the same for everybody, it'll suddenly all come together one day soon.

Get the Tutorial Mission from the Ed Depot.    Play it first then take it to bits in the mission editor.  There you will see a working mission with a few simple scripts which hopefully will help you understand what's going on.

To make a script file, just nick one of the ones from the Tutorial Mission, move it to the right place, change the name and delete the stuff already in it.  Bingo, you now have a blank script file ready to use.

[The-Architect]

Is it necessary to have scripts?

No.

(If you want to have a good mission that poeple will want to play. Yes.)

[Chris Death]

hmm - in Trip 2 Hell 3 i was using only one single script,
and even this i could have done with a gamelogic and
it's waypoints.

Once more i say: you don't really need scripts to make good
missions.

There's not much stuff, what couldn't be done without the
use of scripts.

Look at BIS' missions, they tried to avoid using scripts, wherever it was possible.

Surely a script can make the whole thing easier to get an
overview, than using a lot of gamelogics + their waypoints.

As Asmo already posted before i did - you can make very
good and playable missions, without using one single
script.

OK, a waypoint type scripted might not make any sense without
a script being attached to it, but then again: i haven't seen
too many ppl using this waypoint, even if it's one of the most
powerful waypoints.

Anyway - if you don't know about the possibilities of what
can be done ingame, then how can you say: one must use
a script?

Therefore IMHO the first duty should be: learn everything
from inside the editor, and when you're on half way, start
with using scripts, and decide then, what's better to use
in which case.

~S~ CD

[macguba]

Therefore IMHO the first duty should be: learn everything
from inside the editor, and when you're on half way, start
with using scripts, and decide then, what's better to use
in which case.

My feelings exactly.

[PsyWarrior]

Greetings,

I concur. Scripting is a vital part of the Mission Editing process for me, but my first 4 or so missions were done completely in the editor, with out any scripting at all! After that, I did several missions only using basic scripting (titleText and so on).

No, you don't need scripts, but once you've done your "first duty" and learnt the inside of the editor, scripting rapidly becomes a vital part of mission creation. Making conversations without scripting is bloody difficult (and I should know - I used to do it with dozens of triggers -one for each line of dialog!). Things like artillery are impossible without scripts, and proper combined arms operations are also enhanced by scripting.

Luckily, the OFPEC has a load of scripts you can use with only basic knowledge of scripting, and many good tutorials. When you feel you have reached your limit in the mission editor, the Editors Depot is the best place to go to increse your mission-editing abilities.

Good Luck... :thumbsup:

-Supreme Commander PsyWarrior
-Psychic Productions

[macguba]

The "smart" way to do conversations is with a gamelogic and waypoints.    At least that's the way BIS did it.   You don't need either scripts or lots of triggers.  

Bet you wish you'd known that at the time.  ;D

[Chris Death]

The "smart" way to do conversations is with a gamelogic and waypoints.    At least that's the way BIS did it.  You don't need either scripts or lots of triggers.  

That's exactly what i was goin to answer to Psy Warrior,
when i read things like:

Things like artillery are impossible without scripts, and proper combined arms operations are also enhanced by scripting.


Really, when i made my first artellery support in a multiplayer
mission, i did that all with gamelogics and their waypoints.

Hell the guys from my squad were impressed like hell about
those kewl effects on the map (i should mention that this
was around OFP v1.30 or so).

Very soon i noticed that alot of guys were telling me that
they do really like my use of scripts, and i was wondering,
what scripts they were talking about  
That's off course because the majority of the editors do just not know what's possible ingame.

And that's what i want to point out here:

Almost everything can be done ingame, and when playing
this stuff with others, it looks for them like it must be an
external script.

It took me a long time, until i started making my own scripts,
as i tried to figure out what all these buttons and options
are for inside the editor.

Maybe (for sure), this is the reason, why i feel able to say:

i know a lot of stuff in the editor, because i took me some
time to concentrate only on that

P.S: i'm also doing a lot of external scripted stuff, but i do that
only if i feel i could get an advantage of that, or to be honest
i'm sometimes using scripts, just because i feel to lazy to build
that up in the editor.

And to add one more important thing:

especially when it comes to multiplayer mission editing, i had
to learn one thing very soon:

using ingame stuff often worked more efficient than using
scripts - that means: very often when using scripts, i had
to find a lot of workarounds, to get things to work, which
did easily work when doing the same thing ingame.

~S~ CD