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Briefing Editor
 
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Overview WYSIWYG
Icons
Instruction List Strings Adding Instructions

Briefing Editor


Overview

An XWA briefing basically consists of a series of instructions, carried out in sequence, which tell the Briefing map which animation action to perform or which piece of text to display. 

Instructions have the basic form:.
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[Time]  [Instruction]  [Parameters]

where the number and type of parameters will depend on the specific instruction.

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In AlliED these instructions can be added from both the WYSIWYG page, and the Instruction list page. If added from the WYSIWYG page, they will be inserted at the current Playback time. If added from the Instruction Page they will be inserted at the currently highlighted position of the instruction list.

XWA briefings also introduced something new: animated Icons. This has required a new set of buttons for AlliED to simplify their animation.

As far as I can tell, there is only one Briefing possible in XWA mission files.

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"WYSIWYG" Page

Playback Map
The main feature of this page is the Briefing Playback Map. This where you can view the Briefing (close to) how it will appear in the game. You can also drag the icons or map Tags around on this Map to adjust their positions. To grab a Tag, click near its left hand end.
 

Playback Controls
Located below the map, the functions are:
 

Loop Back Loop back to the beginning of the Briefing and begin playing.
Stop Stops playback and returns to the beginning of the briefing. 
Pause Pauses playback at current position, or releases pause if already on. 
Previous Instruction Rewinds to previous instruction. Continues playback if already if playing.
Play Continues playback from current position.
Step Forward Advance the current Time by .04 seconds (the smallest increment) or one "frame" if you think in terms of stop frame animation. Pauses if playing. Useful for accurate placing of instructions.
Next Instruction Advances to next instruction. Continues playback if already playing. 
Next Stop Point Fast forward to next Page Break. Continues playback if already playing.

There is also the Time slider which allows you to manually slide backwards and forwards through the Briefing. 
 

You can also use the end arrows to move backwards and forwards by one step or "frame".

 

Map toolbar
The buttons specific to the WYSIWYG page are:
 

Indicate Selection Highlights the currently selected Icon with a yellow square.
Show Icon numbers Displays the number of each icon beside it.
Pause at Page Breaks Playback will pause when the Briefing reaches a Page Break instruction. 
X or Y Lock Locks the X or Y coordinate while dragging items around the Map.
X or Y Snap Cycles through the snap values, i.e. the smallest increment an item can be dragged by. Snap increments are relative to Map grid lines rather than kms.

 

Seen By
Highlight each of the Teams that will see this Briefing. I've put in the full selection as it is in the mission file, but since Briefings only work for single player missions and the Player should be on Team 1, that's really the only one to worry about.
 

Run Time
Set the Total length in seconds that the Briefing will run before returning to the start. Make sure this is long enough to run all the instructions in your Briefing.


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