Mïsn

Mïsn (abbreviated form of mission) is a type of data resource in EV Nova. These missions are the main gameplay in EV Nova.

The mïsn resource

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EV Bible text

The following information was transcribed from the Nova Bible, ©1995-2006 by Matt Burch. The original document can be viewed here.

Missions are the crown jewel of the Nova datafile, as well as the largest and most complex resources in the game. Each misn resource corresponds to a single mission that the player can undertake, with the name of the mission (which the player sees in the mission list) being the name of the associated misn resource. The first six fields in a misn resource help Nova determine where and when the mission is available:

Availability

AvailStel

Which stellar objects (i.e. planets) the mission is available at:

• -1: Any inhabited stellar
• 128-2175: ID number of a specific stellar
• 5000-7047: Stellar in a system adjacent to specific system
• 9999-10255: Specific govt's stellar
• 15000-15255: Specific govt's ally's stellar
• 20000-20255: Stellar of anybody but this specific govt
• 25000-25255: Specific govt's enemy's stellar
• 30000-30255: Stellar of specific govt or any of its class mates
• 31000-31255: Stellar not of specific govt nor of any of its class mates

AvailLoc

Where on a planet this mission is available:

• 0: From the mission computer
• 1: In the bar
• 2: Offered from ship (must set up associated përs resource as well)
• 3: In the main spaceport dialog
• 4: In the trading dialog
• 5: In the shipyard dialog
• 6: In the outfit dialog

AvailRecord

What your legal record in this system must be for this mission to become available:

• 0: ignored
• >0: record must be at least this high
• <0: record must be at least this low
• -32000: when the player has dominated the stellar in question
• -32001: when the player has dominated at least one stellar

AvailRating

What your combat rating must be for this mission to be available:

• -1: ignored
• 0+: rating must be at least this high

AvailRandom

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

Destination

The next two fields in the misn resource define where the player needs to go to complete the mission:

TravelStel

Which stellar object the player must go to during the mission

• -1: No specific stellar destination
• -2: A random inhabited stellar
• -3: A random uninhabited planet
• 128-2175: ID number of a specific stellar (note that the mission travel objectives will also be fulfilled when landing on a duplicate stellar that has the idendical name and coordinates to the stellar you specify here)
• 9999-10255: Random stellar of a specific govt
• 15000-15255: Random stellar of a specific govt's ally
• 20000-20255: Random stellar of anybody but this specific govt
• 25000-25255: Random stellar of specific govt's enemy
• 30000-30255: Random stellar of specific govt or any of its class mates
• 31000-31255: Random stellar not of specific govt nor of any of its class mates

ReturnStel

Where the player must return to in order to complete the mission and receive payment

• -1: No specific stellar destination
• -2: A random inhabited stellar
• -3: A random uninhabited stellar
• -4: The initial stellar, where the mission was accepted
• 128-2175: ID number of a specific stellar (note that the mission will also complete when landing on a duplicate stellar that has the idendical name and coordinates to the stellar you specify here)
• 9999-10255: Random stellar of a specific govt
• 15000-15255: Random stellar of a specific govt's ally
• 20000-20255: Random stellar of anybody but this specific govt
• 25000-25255: Random stellar of specific govt's enemy
• 30000-30255: Random stellar of specific govt or any of its class mates
• 31000-31255: Random stellar not of specific govt nor of any of its class mates

Cargo

The next five fields tell Nova about any special cargo associated with a mission:

CargoType

What type of cargo must be carried:

• -1: No special cargo for this mission
• 0-255: Specific cargo type
• 1000: Random cargo of types 0-5 (the standard types)

CargoQty

What amount of cargo must be carried:

• -1: Ignored (no cargo)
• 0 and up: This many tons of cargo
• -2 and below abs(CargoQty) tons, +/- 50%

PickupMode

Where the cargo is to be picked up:

• -1: Ignored
• 0: Pick up at mission start
• 1: Pick up at TravelStel
• 2: Pick up when boarding special ship

DropOffMode

Where the cargo is to be dropped off:

• -1: Ignored
• 0: Drop off at TravelStel
• 1: Drop off at mission end (ReturnStel) (note that DropOffMode 1 will only cause cargo to be dropped off if the cargo was picked up previously, and then only if the mission's special ship goal has been completed or the mission has no special ship goal)

Note: don't set your cargo to be picked up and dropped off at the same place, as it may cause Nova to behave strangely.

ScanMask

Used to determine which governments consider your cargo illegal. If any of the 1 bits in this field match any of the 1 bits in a government's ScanMask field, that govt will consider this mission's cargo illegal. Set to zero if unused.

Payment

The next field tells Nova what to give you if you're successful in your mission:

PayVal

What you get if you're successful and you return to ReturnStel

• 0 or -1: No pay
• 1 and up: This number of credits
• -10128 to -10383: Clean legal record with the govt with this ID
• -20128 to -20383: Clean legal record with the govt with this ID, and all its allies
• -30128 to -30383: Clean legal record with the govt with this ID, and all its classmates
• -40001 to -40099: Take away this % of the player’s cash (-40001 = 1%, -40002 = 2%, etc.)
• -50000 and down: Take away this number of credits at mission start (-50000 = 0, -50001 = 1, etc.)

Special Ships

The next six fields contain information on the special ships associated with this mission, if any:

ShipCount

The number of special ships for this mission:

• -1: Ignored (no special ships)
• 0-31: This number of special ships

ShipSyst

Which system the special ships will appear in:

• -1: The initial system where the mission is begun
• -2: Any random system
• -3: TravelStel's system
• -4: ReturnStel's system
• -5: System adjacent to initial system
• -6: Whatever system the player is in (i.e. follow him around)
• 128-2175: ID number of a specific system
• 9999-10255: Specific govt's system
• 15000-15255: Specific govt's ally's system
• 20000-20255: System of any govt but this specific one
• 25000-25255: Specific govt's enemy's system
• 30000-30255: System of a specific govt or any of its class mates
• 31000-31255: System not of specific govt nor of any of its class mates

ShipDude

What dude resource to use to determine the special ship's types and characteristics

• -1: Ignored (no special ships)
• 128-639: ID number of a specific dude class

ShipGoal

The mission goal associated with the special ships

• -1: Ignored (no specific goal for the special ships)
• 0: Destroy all the ships

1. Disable but don't destroy them
2. Board them
3. Escort them (keep them from getting killed)
4. Observe them (for ships that can cloak, at least one must be visible onscreen - for ships that cannot cloak, the player must merely be in the same system as them)
5. Rescue them (they start out disabled and stay that way until you board them; to make a rescue mission where the ship stays disabled, give the special ships a govt with the "always disabled" flag set)
6. Chase them off (either kill them or scare the into jumping out of the system)

ShipBehav

Defines any special actions you want the ships to take

• -1: Ignored (they use their standard AI routines)
• 0: Special ships will always attack the player
• 1: Special ships will protect the player
• 2: Special ships will attempt to destroy enemy stellars

ShipNameID

Tells Nova how to name the special ships

• -1: Ignored (special ships have normal names)
• 128 and up: Pick a name from this STR# resource

ShipStart

Defines where in the system the ships will start

• -1 to -16: Appear on top of this nav default
• 0: Appear randomly in the system (as usual)

1. Jump in from hyperspace after a short delay
2. Appear randomly, cloaked

Note that a ShipStart value of 0 (appear randomly in the system) is the proper value to use in conjunction with përs resource flag 0x0040.

CompGovt

Which government to use in determining how your record changes on completing this mission

• -1: Ignored (no reward other than pay)
• 128-383: Increase record with this govt

CompReward

How much to increase your record with CompGovt

• (any value): Increase record by this much (note: if you have a CompGovt 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 CompReward. This is useful for making missions whose success is considered vital by a certain party.)

ShipSubtitle

Tells Nova which subtitle, if any, to use for the special ships

• -1: Ignored (special ships have normal subtitles)
• 128 and up: Pick a subtitle from this STR# resource

Mission text

BriefText

The desc to show in the dialog that comes up when you accept a mission. (formats are the same for all seven fields)

• -1: No special mission briefing
• 128 and up: ID number of the desc resource to use (ID numbers of 5000 and up are usually the safest)

QuickBrief

The desc to show when the user hits the "Mission Briefing" (I) key.

LoadCargText

The desc to show when special mission cargo is loaded from a planet

DumpCargoText

The desc to show when special mission cargo is offloaded (not jettisoned into space as the name would suggest!)

CompText

The desc to show when you go to ReturnStel and the mission has been successful.

FailText

The desc to show when you go to ReturnStel and the mission has been a failure

ShipDoneText

The desc to show when you complete the special ship goal

RefuseText

The desc, if any, to show when mission offered in a bar or from a passing ship is refused.

CanAbort

• 0: This mission can't be aborted by the player
• 1: This mission can be aborted by the player

TimeLimit

Like it says

• -1 or 0: Ignored (no time limit)
• 1 and up: This number of days

Auxiliary Ships

The next few fields tell Nova about any auxiliary ships you want to be placed in the universe for this mission. Auxiliary ships cannot be given specific instructions, and no goals can be set for them; they simply are "normal" ships that are placed into the universe for the purpose of adding atmosphere to a mission.

AuxShipCount

How many aux ships, if any, to activate for this mission:

• -1: No aux ships
• 1-31: Place this many aux ships in the universe

AuxShipDude

ID number of the specific dude resource to use to set up the aux ships

AuxShipSyst

What systems to place the aux ships in:

• -1: Any system the player is in
• -2: TravelStel's system
• -3: ReturnStel's system
• 128-2175: ID number of a specific system
• 5000-7047: In this system, or any systems adjacent to it
• 9999-10255: Any system belonging to this govt
• 15000-15255: Any system belonging to this govt or its allies
• 20000-20255: Any system not belonging to this govt
• 25000-25255: Any system belonging to enemies of this govt
• 30000-30255: Any system of a specific govt or any of its class mates
• 31000-31255: Any system not of specific govt nor of any of its class mates

Flags

Some misc. flag bits

• 0x0001: Marks the mission as an auto-aborting mission, which will automatically abort itself after it is accepted. (sometimes useful to create special ships) Any control bits pointed to by the mission’s OnAbort fields will be automatically set when the mission aborts. Note: there must be special ships associated with the mission to trigger the auto-abort. If the mission is one in which a special ship replaces a përs ship at mission start (such as for a "rescue disabled ship" mission) and the SpecialShipGoal is 2 or 5 (board or rescue) the mission will auto-abort after the special ship is boarded.
• 0x0002: Don’t show the red destination arrows on the map
• 0x0004: Can’t refuse the mission
• 0x0008: Mission takes away 100 units of fuel upon auto-abort. (mission won't be offered if player has less than 100 units of fuel)
• 0x0010: Infinite auxShips
• 0x0020: Mission fails if you're scanned
• 0x0040: Apply -5x CompReward reversal on abort
• 0x0080: Global penalty when jettisoning mission cargo in space (currently ignored)
• 0x0100: Show green arrow on map in initial briefing
• 0x0200: Show an additional arrow on the map for the ShipSyst
• 0x0400: Mission is invisible and won't appear in the mission info dialog. (be careful with this!)
• 0x0800: The special ships' type will be selected at mission start and then kept the same whenever the special ships for that mission are created, until the mission ends. This can be used for (e.g.) "attack pirate" missions where you want the type of the enemy ship to be random at first but you don't want it to change every time the player lands or re-enters the system.
• 0x2000: Mission unavailable if player’s ship is of inherentAI type 1 or 2 (cargo ships)
• 0x4000: Mission unavailable if player’s ship is of inherentAI type 3 or 4 (warships)
• 0x8000: Mission will fail if player is boarded by pirates.

Flags2

More flag bits

• 0x0001: Don't offer mission if the player doesn't have enough cargo space to hold the mission cargo (even if the mission cargo won't be picked up until later)
• 0x0002: Apply mission Pay on auto-abort
• 0x0004: Mission fails if player is disabled or destroyed

AvailShipType

Defines what class of ship you must have for this mission to be made available:

• 0 or -1: Ignored
• 128-895: Must be flying a ship of this type
• 1128-1895: Must not be flying a ship of this type
• 2128-2383: Must be flying a ship of this inherent govt
• 3128-3383: Must not be flying a ship of this inherent govt

Nova Control Bits

AvailBits

A control bit test expression that determines the mission's availability. If not left blank, the mission will only be available when the expression evaluates to true.

OnAccept

Control bit set expression which is evaluated when the mission is accepted by the player.

OnRefuse

Control bit set expression which is evaluated when the mission is refused by the player.

OnSuccess

Control bit set expression which is evaluated when the mission is completed successfully.

OnFailure

Control bit set expression which is evaluated when the mission is failed.

OnAbort

Control bit set expression which is evaluated when the mission is aborted by the player.

OnShipDone

Control bit set expression which is evaluated when the mission's special ship goal is completed.

Require

There are two fields.

These two Require fields together form a 64-bit flag that is logically and'ed with the Contribute fields from the player's current ship and outfit items. If for each 1 bit in the Require fields there is a matching 1 bit in one or more of the Contribute fields, the mission will be available. Leave these set to zero if unused.

DatePostInc

If this is set to something greater than zero, the game date will be advanced by this number of days after successful completion or auto-aborting of the mission.

AcceptButton

The label to use for the Accept button in the initial mission briefing dialog. If no text is entered here, Nova will use the "Yes" button label from STR# 150 if the mission can be refused, or the "Okay" button label if the mission is non-refusable.

RefuseButton

The label to use for the Refuse button in the initial mission briefing dialog, for missions that can be refused. If no text is entered here, Nova will use the "No" button label from STR# 150.

DispWeight

Controls the order that the mission is presented in the bar and mission BBS list. Missions with higher DispWeight values are presented first.

Wildcards

Whenever Nova displays a desc resource related to a mission, such as the initial mission description (desc ID 4000-4255) or one of the special mission briefings (e.g. CompText and QuickBrief) 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
• <PAY>: Absolute value of mission pay (does nothing if the mission pay isn't monetary)
• <REG>: Who Nova is registered to, or "UNREGISTERED"
• <PN>: The player's name
• <PNN>: The player's nickname. If no nickname was specified, Nova will use the player's full name here instead.
• <PSN>: The player's ship's name
• <PST>: The player's ship type (comes from the resource name of the player's ship type's shïp resource)
• <PRK>: The ConvName of the highest-weighted active rank resource. If none is found, this will be replaced with "captain".
• <SRK>: The ShortName of the highest-weighted active rank resource. If none is found, this will be replaced with "captain".
• <PRKnnn>: Same as <PRK>, but only for ranks affiliated with government ID nnn. Note that you can only do this once per description, or bad things might happen.
• <SRKnnn>: Same as <SRK>, but only for ranks affiliated with government ID nnn. Note that you can only do this once per description, or bad things might happen.
• <RRK>: The full name of the most recently activated rank resource. Note that it's best to only use this in a mission briefing where you know that you've just given the player a rank, because otherwise bad things could happen. (e.g. the most recently activated rank pointer isn't cached between game sessions)
• <OSN>: The offering ship name (only works when offering a mission from a ship)
• <SN>: Special ship name (Note: Nova 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.)

Note

Mission cargo names that start with the asterisk character ('*') are treated as "quantityless" - i.e. their quantity is never shown in the player-info dialog and the word "the" is omitted in the message that appears when the player retrieves that type of cargo from a ship as part of a mission. This is useful for when the mission cargo is a proper name.

Note

When Nova selects a random mission destination, it attempts to ensure that the random destination is: a) more than two hyper jumps away from the system where the mission is being offered, and b) a stellar which is guaranteed to always exist throughout the course of the game, regardless of system swapping. This means that if you have multiple systems that occupy the same coordinates at different times in the game and not all of them contain stellar object X, no missions will use stellar object X as their random destination. (This is to keep the player from accepting a mission with a random destination that might cease to exist before he gets there!) A further important consequence of this restriction is that if Nova detects that a mission whose TravelStel or ReturnStel is to be randomly selected will violate this rule, it will be prevented from being offered regardless of any other availability parameters the mission might have - i.e. if you create a mission and Nova refuses to make it available, check the debug log to see if the mission couldn't find a suitable nontransient random stellar of the desired characteristics.