Ryleh 2 : The Hounds of Tindalos Readme

Title | : The Hounds of Tindalos
File Name | : Ryleh 2.fsm (includes Ryleh 2a.fsm)
Version | : 1.4 12/01/98
Designer | : Michael Diedrich (Zarathud)
Email Address | : diedrich@megsinet.net
homepage | : www.megsinet.net/~diedrich/
| : descent.gamestats.com/
Other levels by author | : Ryleh 1 (Ryleh Rising)
| : Ryleh 3 (Lurker at the Threshold)
| : Ryleh 4 (Thing on the Doorstep)
Additional credits to | : Volition, Inc. for Descent: Freespace
| : Interplay Productions, for some excellent recent releases

* Mission Description *

After a terrorist attack by the Hammer of Light (in Ryleh Rising - Ryleh 1.fsm), Rlyeh Station conducts some much-needed repairs. While the Station is defenseless, the Hammer of Light is sure to unleash its Hounds of Tindalos. Alpha must desperately defend the Repair Crew and the Station until reinforcements arrive.

* Mission Ratings *

Hounds of Tindalos has creeped its way onto and off Xanadu's Top 10 list from time to time. It has been very well-received by the FreeSpace community at large and has long been on the User Top 20. Unfortunately, Ryleh 2 hasn't been as well received as my first mission Ryleh 1. Its reviews by players have consistenly hovered around 78-80%. But enough of the advertising, go play it and see for yourself. I think the additional tweaks I've worked into it have made it a better mission.

* Play Information *

Single Player | : yes
Multi Player | : no
Training Only | : no
Difficulty Settings | : no
Campaign | : yes
New grapics | : no
New sounds | : yes
Known Bugs | : Enemy fighters sometimes get "stuck" in the nooks of the Arcadian station. Think the Gs took a toll on the AI brain.
| : Slows down slightly due to number of ships in play, especially on slower systems

* Installation *

Unzip the zip file into the proper drive. The mission should automatically be transferred to the mission folder, and any sounds to the appropriate voice folder.

* Author's Comments *

This mission should be completed at long last. If you have ANY problems, please tell me about them so I can try to fix them. No promises, but I'll do my best. Tell me about any inaccuracies (weapons out too soon, etc.), imbalances (too hard or too easy?), performance issues (tested on a P200MMX with 64MB RAM and Diamond Monster 3D), or outright errors. Your feedback is important to me.

This mission creates a reasonable threat to an Arcadia Installation without going too crazy with the capital ships. In my opinion, it does a good job at this, which is harder than you'd think. The event tricks aren't as interesting as Ryleh 1, but the number of events creates a dynamic environment that changes based on the action around you. My goal here is to remind the player that, even with the arrival of shields, they are mortal and vulnerable. I think the mission does a great job of that. If you find the mission a little too difficult, check out the strategy tips below. Version 2a exists for the campaign, with some additional challenges and assistance for those who know all of the secrets of Ryleh 1. If you are an expert, try to get the medal...it's tough to accomplish.

If you played an earlier version, let me know how this revision compares. I had a few complaints about it being too difficult, so it should be "slightly" easier unless you prove yourself able to handle version 2a. Is it too hard now? Just right? Let me know.

You must visit the Descent Chronicles site at http://descent.gamestats.com/, which contains the FRED FAQ at http://descent.gamestats.com/freespace/fred/index.shtml, Xanadu's Mission Archive at http://descent.gamestats.com/xanadu/, and the FreeSpace Review at http://descent.gamestats.com/review/.

* Mission Notes *

As you can see above, I've found an interesting AI issue, where enemy ships get all nice and cozy with the Arcadian installation they're *supposed* to be attacking. Don't know what gets into their little AI brain sometimes, but if anyone has any suggestions, *please* let me know. Or just take a screen shot everytime you see it. Sometimes it's amusing...just to see what these buggers are doing. Maybe someone at Volition can fix it sometime, maybe they'll just laugh with us. In the meantime, I think the "waypoints" command will fix most of the annoyances.

This mission uses capital ships. However, the usage of multiple capital ships sometimes causes Freespace to crash during intense missions. It seems to crash more using software mode (CPU usage issue?). In this mission you can find up to 3 small capital ships in play at one time, but the GTI Arcadia installation is probably the largest ship in the game. It's fortunate the action was *too* intense, so I could adjust the reinforcement timing to space out the attacks to keep everything running smoothly. IF THIS MISSION CAUSES FREESPACE TO CRASH OUT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL FIX THE MISSION.

I've complained enough about software publishers putting out crappy code, so I will fix it as soon as possible. If you've watched the progress of Ryleh Rising (version 1.5), you know that I fix stuff that's broken.

For kicks and giggles, watch the repair ship. Let me know how she handles the impromptu "docking" with the station. Arcadian stations do not have docking ports, so this maneuver was created through trial and error. Hope you like it, because you won't normally have time to watch.

* Strategy Tips *

If you're getting mowed down by capital ships, I have 3 suggestions for you: (1) TAKE OUT the fighters first, (2) NEVER take on a capital ship alone and (3) ALWAYS take out the turrents first. If you have problems fighting capital ships, just make sure the repairs to the Station are completed. The Arcadia can pulverize ships when everything's back online.

Special Thanks to:

Everyone who provided feedback on the earlier missions, especially Pastel. Thanks also go out to my wife Bkwyrm, my old friend Jason Lazar, H.P. Lovecraft for the inspiration of Cthulhu and the other Elder Gods, Volition Inc. for creating such an incredible game, the Freespace Developer's League and Peter Drake for getting me started on FRED design. And, finally, I thank YOU for playing this mission.

* Legal Stuff *

You may distribute this mission for free, as long as you include this text file and give the author credit. If you want to distribute this mission on a CD or in a Collection you MUST contact the author first and obtain approval. Any distribution of this mission shall act as an acknowledgement of the author's moral rights granted under applicable laws.

You may edit this mission, but cannot redistribute the edited mission without the permission of the author.

Certain rights to this mission are retained by Volition, Inc. and Interplay Productions. Use of this mission by any third party must conform to the copyrights and license terms of its creation.

* New Sound Files Supported *

> voices/special/

> r2_algot.wav

> r2_alrit.wav

> r2_comdg.wav

> r2_cover.wav

> r2_destd.wav

> r2_dock.wav

> r2_dwait.wav

> r2_hits.wav

> r2_help.wav

> r2_hits.wav

> r2_HOLsh.wav

> r2_hulbr.wav

> r2_jumpn.wav

> r2_kilin.wav

> r2_nomak.wav

> r2_oshit.wav

> r2_postn.wav

> r2_rstnc.wav

> r2_sensr.wav

> r2_srndr.wav

> r2_whyy.wav

> r2_whooho.wav

> r2_yog1.wav

> r2_yog2.wav

> voices/briefing/

> r2_mb01.wav

> r2_mb02.wav

> r2_mb03.wav

> r2_mb04.wav

> r2_mb05.wav

* Prior Sound Files Supported *

(All released with Ryleh 1.fsm)

> r1_HOL1.wav

> r1_prot1.wav

> r1_dmg1.wav

> r1_return.wav

* Release Notes *

v 1.0 Private Release 7/19/98

> Identified Freespace crash issue

v 1.1 Public Release 7/22/98

> Fixed (?) Freespace crash issue

> Reduced difficulty by adjusting timing

> Tweaked weapon loadouts on all ships

> Added reinforcements coming out of the fighter bay

> Tweaked friendly AI to remove "kill me now" target stickers

> Changed erroneous capital ship briefing icons to cruiser icons

> "Antiqued" the Shub correctly

> Fixed consistency issues between many .anis, .wav, and source ship

> Additional .wav events for reinforcements and explanation

> Fixed repair events (ai-stay-still / verify that repair ship not dead)

> Created new .wavs to solve remaining consistency issues (.anis, .wav, and source ship)

> Increased volume on briefing .wavs

v 1.1 Public Release 7/22/98

v 1.2 Not Released

Attempted to lower mission difficulty with various major fixes and timing changes

v 1.3 Not Released

Returned to previous mission as base, rejected all version 1.2 changes

Changed AI of foes to reduce threat to reinforcement capital ship

Double-checked events and objectives

Minor adjustments to briefing text and images

Consistency adjustments to command briefing for campaign

v 1.3 Not Released (Version 2a)

Created additional version 2a for those completing the bonus objective in Ryleh 1

Adjusted wording in Command Briefing to reflect success in Ryleh 1

Increased difficulty level, added more waves of 3 hostile and 1 friendly wings

v 1.4 Released 12/1/98

Added additional reinforcements in version 2a for those sucessful with certain objectives and events in Ryleh 1

Slight readjustment of point bonuses

Slight changes in wording of debriefing

Improved weaponry and AI of friendly wings

Minor changes in weaponry of hostile wings

Buy the retail version of Descent: Freespace. This game is awesome.

Now stop reading and start flying!