The `SCP_string_lcase_equal_to()()` and `SCP_string_lcase_less_than()()` functors are rather unwieldy to use in non-functor situations, so this adds conventional function equivalents.
Related to #5267, and again concerned with the original check for event delay:
```
if ( (fix) Mission_events[i].timestamp + delay >= Missiontime )
return SEXP_FALSE;
```
For events that were never evaluated at all, their timestamp remained 0. Thus the function did not return and the status of the event (which by definition was incomplete) was always checked.
After the timestamp refactoring, this comparison always returned SEXP_FALSE for these events. The correct behavior is to bypass invalid timestamps so that the status of the event is always checked.
This fixes the behavior of `is-event-false-delay` in debriefings.
The `type_flags` on a model's dockpoints are determined by the dockpoint name. If the name changes, the flags should be updated accordingly.
This fixes a bug in Scroll where a dockpoint that was imported and renamed to start with the word "cargo" was not compatible with cargo docking as expected.
In retail, number parsing picked up immediately at the character after the number parsed, so parsing `0.50` as an int would yield 0, and then the next available characters would be `.50`. Even though parsing has been tightened up and made stricter, we can still "fail gracefully" by simulating the old behavior. And when failing gracefully, the message can be a warning.
Since `rand_sexp` also writes text into the sexp node for the seed value, its cache should be cleared too. And since this is a pretty common operation, wrap it in a `clear_cache` function.
Follow-up to #5381.
#5328 added a very useful culling for particles created by specific particle effects (ie weapons, now beams), though in an effort to simplify the culling process, that PR removed the necessary culling of default smoke on ships. This PR restores the culling of default smoke while also keeping the new culling of particle specific effects. Tested and works as expected, including fixing the slowdowns caused by the aforementioned removal of smoke effect culls.
The `rand` SEXP stores the result of its first call in the "low" node. Prior to PR #2402, this worked fine, but after that, the value is cached when first evaluated, meaning that subsequent calls to the `rand` SEXP will always return the lowest value in the range, not whatever number was rolled the first time.
This commit makes it so that writing the rolled value to the node's `text` attribute is immediately followed by deleting the no-longer cached value, so that the SEXP continues to work as intended.
When I made FSO not crash with demo data in PR #1156, I avoided calling `brief_maybe_blit_scene_cut()` if `Fade_anim` didn't load, when I should've made it do what the icculus port does in demo mode: pretend the animation finished immediately.
With this commit, the first mission of the demo correctly advances past the first briefing stage.
Birk Magnussen