Missions Creation for MSFS

Applicable
MSFS
MS Flight
LM P3D5
LM P3D4
LM P3D3
LM P3D2
LM P3D
FS World
FSXSE
FSXA
FSX
FS2004
FS2002
XP11
XP10
XP9

Overview

Creating a mission is a complex task involving a diverse use of tools & skills. Getting your first mission going is likely to cause you some headaches.

Still here? Good. Once you do have that first one running, the sky's your limit. That basic set of rules and files that make up a mission are always the same so once you've got those sorted, it's just a case of coming up with an idea and writing it.

At it's simplest, a mission is just a scripted set of events that tell some kind of story. It may be dramatic - mountain rescue, failing aircraft, poor weather. It could just as easily be a simple flight from A to B with you pointing out areas of interest along the way, or a completely abstract challenge like finding out how many times you can touch-and-go in a 747 in five minutes.

Technically speaking, there are two main classes of 'things' in a mission; Actions and Triggers. An Action makes something happen, and a Trigger checks to see if something's happened and calls an Action if it has. By stringing together Actions and Triggers, you tell your story.

You'll also need to prepare the conditions of your flight; what will be the plane, time, location, route, and weather of your mission? Are there other planes flying around or parked on the airport? And how much assistance will you give the player?

Lastly, your mission will need sound files for the mission speech and some text and images for the briefing, loading, and ending screens.