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The Do's and Don'ts of Nebulae in FRED2
by: Old Staff - February 10, 2000 for Freespace Watch

Ah, nebulae. They're fun. They play havoc with sensors. They look neat. And so the temptation to stage a mission in them is very tempting. But making a mediocre and disappointing nebular mission is far easier than to do so in space.

The main problem with missions set in a nebula is that the nebula is unnecessary. Only use a nebula if you must, or to spice up a space-based campaign. Nebulae can get really old, really fast, so don't over-use them. Some common scenarios that might work well in a nebula:

• A ship the player has been chasing flees into a nebula to try to escape. Note that the player should not be taking part in a single mission along the lines of, "We've been trying to find it, so now it's your turn." The player should have previously been pursuing a craft, and is simply continuing the same chase.
• The player (or rather, the player's home ship) wants to hide, or do something hidden, so it flees into a nebula. It's not a very big stretch of the imagination to see a nebula as blocking transmissions as well as sensors, so they make good settings for clandestine operations and hijackings.
• A Shivan base has been uncovered in a nebula, but the sensors of the scout ship were unable to get anything clear. A fighter squad might escort in an AWACS ship, or perhaps do the investigation itself.

But if a nebula has been chosen as the backdrop of a mission, how to go about creating it? There are many common follies when building a nebula.

• The viewing range should be at least 3000 meters if you want to avoid having angry reviewers and players mailing you explosives. Similarly, sensor ranges that prevent the player from keeping track of his target just frustrate; they rarely make things more "challenging".
• If you are going to give the player a very limited sensor range, make it only temporary - for example, the player's commanders didn't anticipate the horrible sensor conditions, so you've got to hang on and try to survive half-blind until an AWACS ship can arrive.
• Large fights inside nebulae become very confusing, very fast. A fight between two large ships is more than large enough; fleet engagements, however well-balanced, result in pure chaos and confusion. And while many designers may think that they want pure chaos and confusion, the times when it's interesting are rare indeed. To put it simply, big fights in nebulae are very difficult to pull off, and should be avoided until you're very experienced.

When you've finally made your mission, even if you think it's well-balanced and fun, send it to others. See what they think. Especially with a battlefield as exotic and often difficult as a nebula, never assume that you've accurately judged your own mission's difficulty and fun-factor. Good luck!