This page is in perpetual evolution, feel free to submit questions and/or answers to me at slavelet@iinet.net.au Thanks to Colonel RogueWing for compiling most of these FAQs. 

Some caption texts of my briefing don't appear although I add them...

Make sure in the "Instruction List" screen of the briefing window that between each couple of "Briefing text" instruction there is a "page break" instruction (it appears as "===...==="). If you have been playing with the "move up"/"move down" commands, the page break instruction may be just after the "Briefing Text" one instead of just before. By the way, the "Review your briefing" page only displays the first "briefing text" instruction following each "page break".
 

My briefing crashes...

Either you did not follow the good format for your mission file name, or the <end marker> instruction of your briefing is missing. If so, the only known way to correct this is to erase all instructions...
 

I want to do a surprise to the player during the mission, but all the goals are already displayed at the beginning of the mission.

Use dynamic goal sequences.  On the FG Goal page, the box under the "must" selection box is labeled "Active sequence #" in the registered version; it allows you to create dynamic goals:

• goals numbered 0 or 1 will appear at the beginning of the mission
• goals numbered 2 appear when goal numbered 1 are completed
• goals numbered 3 appear when goal numbered 2 are completed,  etc
• goals numbered 7 appear when these goals are completed only

Active sequence #1: 100% of CRS Liberty must arrive with as text displayed:
Incomplete: "Patrol the area"
Success: "a Rebel CRS spotted !"

Active sequence #2: 100% of CRS Liberty must be inspected with as text displayed:
Incomplete: "CRS must be inspected"
Success: "CRS Liberty inspected"

Active sequence #3: 100% of CRS Liberty must be captured with as text displayed:
Incomplete: "CRS must be captured"
Success: "CRS Liberty captured"

You may want as well to have a prevent goal like "100% of ISD Challenge must not be destroyed" displayed during all the mission, then you will use:
 

Active sequence #0: 100% of ISD Challenge must not be destroyed" with as text displayed:
Incomplete: "Challenge must not be destroyed"
Success: "Challenge destroyed"

How do I make multi-container convoy ships ?

You can use condition 53 to make one of those cool convoys with a bunch of containers in-between the cockpit and the engine. The  arrival condition must be set to  "100% of Flight Group ? must 53" The ? is the cargo hauler you want to put the container in between. To make the hauler move, just give the move order to the hauler. The containers don't need a order to move, the cargo hauler pushes them along. Any ship can be hauled, not necessary cargos... To make long convoys, just make multiple containers in a flight group, and if you want a new flight group, just do the same thing (100% of Cargo Hauler must 53). They will be added according to which is first in the Flight Group list to have that Arrival order. So, basically, these ships are 53ed to a hauler... For example, if CON/A Alpha, CON/B Beta, CON/C Gamma are 53ed (in this order in the FG list), Alpha will be near the cockpit, Beta will be in the middle, and Gamma will be near the engine.

  How do I make ships defect ?

Use the "Defect" order, in the box marked "IFF?" and "Team?" you should place the number of the IFF (acquired by counting from 0 the IFFs in the list of them) and of the Team (countig from 0 the Teams as well). The "if defected" condition is condition 52, if you want to use it as a trigger.
 

How do I keep spelling errors out of my missions?

 

Buy a dictionary. But, seriously, unless you are VERY careful, spelling errors will usually creep in unless you run all of your text messages through a spell checker. It is usually a good idea to ask someone to test fly your mission to check it for spelling and grammar errors.

 

 

How do I add craft to the Mission Craft List at the beginning of the mission?

 

On the Arrival page, make sure that the first two arrival conditions are set to 100% of Flight Group (first FG listed) must (Always True). It is a good idea to only add craft that will have a direct impact on your mission. You don't want a bunch of freighters or extra ships adding to the list.

 

 

How do I keep warheads and countermeasures from appearing twice in the hangar?

 

If you assign the player's craft a warhead or countermeasure on the FG page, then don't highlight those particular items on the Options page.

 

 

Why aren't my hints showing up in-game?

 

You must have the symbol # at the beginning of the hints for them to show up.

 

 

When I try to hyper to another region, I never exit hyperspace. Why?

 

You probably have more than 96 craft in the region you are hypering to. You will not exit hyperspace until some of them leave that region or else some of them have been destroyed. There seems to be other limits in number of Flight Groups (around 100) and of Radio Messages (around 64).

 

 

How can I set it so that the player can call for reinforcements?

 

Create the FG that you want to be the reinforcements. On the Arrival page for them, set the arrival conditions to !00% of FG (player's FG) must be reinforced. If the player's FG is not the first FG that is listed on the FG window, you may have to set it to 100% of FG (first FG listed) must be reinforced.

 

 

How far away is the proximity trigger set to?

 

That depends. The first part of the condition (where it says 100%) determines the distance. The further down the list you go, the further away the proximity trigger will be.

 

How can I add a timer function to my goals?

The box that is circled in the screenshot below is now known to contain a timer function for FG goals. The numbers are the same as the numbers used for arrival times for messages. However, further experimenting is needed to see exactly how this can work.

EXAMPLE

 

My mission crashes between the briefing and the hangar. Why?

 

This is usually caused by a problem with either the player's craft or a custom opt that may be present. Double check all your settings on the player's craft. If they are all correct, try changing your custom opt to a different craft and see if that corrects your problem.

 

 

My briefing texts show up twice in the Review Your Mission Screen. Why?

 

This is a rare bug that occasionally shows up. There is no known cause for it and the only way to fix it is to completely erase all the briefing instructions and start over. However, it seems happen mostly with the unregistered version of Allied.

 

 

I completed all the goals and it said Victory. But when I landed, it said Mission Failed!?

 

This is a bug that a lot of people report with custom missions. It is believed that it may be several different bugs that all manifest themselves the same way. One reported way to fix it is to add a couple of dummy FG's that have arrival times of 100% of Player's craft must be destroyed. Then, assigned Bonus goals if they are destroyed. For some reason, this usually fixes the problem.

 

 

What's the easiest way to add difficulty levels?

 

The easiest way that I have found is to add a FG of enemy fighters and give them orders to attack the player's FG. Then set their arrival to Hard Level. Then, add a FG of friendly fighters and give them orders to help you attack the primary target. Set their arrival to Easy Level.

 

 

People complain that my briefing is too quick and hard to read. How can I make it better?

 

A good rule of thumb is to allow at least 5 seconds for each briefing text to be read. Remember, not everyone reads quickly and many people don't speak English as a native language so it takes them a little longer to read written English.

 

 

I gave the player the option to switch to another craft, but it doesn't work. What's wrong?

 

Apparently, this happens occasionally with early versions of Allied. The only way to fix it is to use one of the later versions of Allied to assign this option.

 

What and where are these EH Crests I keep hearing about?

 

Those cool pics that accompany your craft list, that's a Crest.  They are found under the Mission Parameters icon. You can find more information here and here.

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