Author Topic: RELEASE: Procyon Insurgency  (Read 24717 times)

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Offline CT27

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RELEASE: Procyon Insurgency
http://pi.hard-light.net/

It was said by the author that the last version that would work with PI was RC7.9X.  If possible, could someone maybe do an upgrade for Procyon Insurgency to get it working with the 2014 media VPs (or at least the 2012s) and at least 3.7.1?


EDIT: 

CP5670 has created the updated version of PI:

http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-procyon-insurgency/downloads/the-procyon-insurgency-v105

« Last Edit: August 10, 2014, 09:28:16 pm by CT27 »

 

Offline Nyctaeus

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Re: Update for Procyon Insurgency?
The campaign needs no major updates, as PI always looked cool and will look like this for a long time. AFAIK the author mentioned some update once, but I didn't hear anything about this. Updating PI would be cool, especialy with MVP 2014 support and HTL Akrotiri from ASW :D.
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Offline CT27

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Re: Update for Procyon Insurgency?
I agree the graphics are generally fine the way they are, but technically I sometimes have trouble playing it on newer builds.

Getting it workable on modern builds (say 3.7 and on) would be awesome and that's why I'd like to submit PI as a campaign for the FSCRP team to work on.

 

Offline Macfie

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Re: Update for Procyon Insurgency?
Work on PI is in progress.  I'm upgrading the models with assets from various locations.  All the ancient models, the Amun mk2, and the Reshef will be upgraded. 
I started working on upgrading this about 2 years ago to get it to work with the 3.6.12 mediaVPs but couldn't get the error messages resolved. 
I just recently was able to eliminate the error messages, so the update is proceeding well.
Normal people believe that if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Engineers believe that if it isn't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet.
The difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers is:
Mechanical Engineers build weapons.  Civil Engineers build targets
An optimist sees the glass half full; the pessimist sees it half empty. An engineer sees that the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

Offline CP5670

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Re: Update for Procyon Insurgency?
I actually worked on an update myself a year ago and fixed some bugs, but never finished it completely. If you like, I can send you that as a starting point.

The only reason PI doesn't use all the new models automatically is that it needs larger turret FOVs for some of them, so it included modified versions of the original models with those changes (the HTL versions didn't exist back then). I think one or two models had different mass or MOI values as well. The best solution to this would be a way to override any model FOVs in ships.tbl, but a feature like that has to be added to the game. There is also an alternate version of the final mission with slightly different camera positions for the HTL models, which I already updated for the HTL Hatshepsut.

It would be great if the Saturn model could be upgraded as well, based on the new Hades, but that may take some effort with the turrets and retexturing. I think the last mission would need to be retested for balance as well.

The last time I played PI, I was also seeing slightly different AI behavior in some missions, although I don't think there were any major differences with the mission balance. I recall this was an issue in missions 9, 10 and 14c, which may be worth playing in the old 3.6.7 build and comparing with a current one. 14c had a more severe AI issue that sometimes broke the mission. I did something to fix it last year but can't remember exactly what now.

There is also a generic bug in FSO where the briefing icons are positioned for the 640x480 interface, regardless of the resolution. This is not specific to PI but makes the mission dates/times look kind of strange. I reported it on Mantis some years ago but it's still in the game as of 3.7.2.

 

Offline Macfie

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Re: Update for Procyon Insurgency?
This is sounding more complicated than I had anticipated.  How essential are the expanded FOV's to the missions and which models are affected?  I don't have a modeler to work with so remodeling is not an option.  How far did you get on your update?  I have a working version of PI that uses new models but is using the stock models from the Mediavps.  I haven't noticed any problems yet as I'm playing through. 
Normal people believe that if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Engineers believe that if it isn't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet.
The difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers is:
Mechanical Engineers build weapons.  Civil Engineers build targets
An optimist sees the glass half full; the pessimist sees it half empty. An engineer sees that the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

Offline CP5670

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Re: Update for Procyon Insurgency?
I designed the update to work with FSO 3.7 and the 3.6.12 MVPs. The only reason I didn't release it back then was that the 3.6.14 MVPs were coming out soon, and I wanted to update it further for them as well. At this point, we only need to account for any changes from 3.6.12 to 3.6.14.

The default FOVs could cause subtle changes to mission balance, since the ships may not fire at targets like they're supposed to. I would keep the new FOVs. There are also a few models with new dockpoints or other properties that are needed in some missions.

I don't think this is too hard to deal with. The PIadv.vp file is supposed to have replacement versions of the media VP models, and we just need to add in any new models that the 3.6.14 MVPs have introduced. I kept notes of which models I changed and what the adjustments were:

Quote
capital2v-01
turret03: 220
turret19: 180
turret29: 180
center point: 0, 5, 517

corvette2v-01
turret09: 180
turret11: 180
turret13: 180
turret14: 180

cruiser2v-01
all 16 turrets: 180

capital2t-01
turret01: 200
turret04: 200
turret05: 200
turret06: 200

bomb2t-01
mass: 5774308864.00000

awacs2t-01b, miner2t-01b, transport2t-01b, freighter02
new dockpoints

Among these, I have already made the necessary changes to bomb2t-01, capital2t-01, capital2v-01, corvette2v-01 and cruiser2v-01. The other models did not have HTL versions in the 3.6.12 MVPs. I'm not sure if that's still the case with the 3.6.14 MVPs.

 

Offline CP5670

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Re: Update for Procyon Insurgency?
Well, you got me motivated to finally do this. :p I finished making it compatible with the 2014 MVPs. The main work involved was to revert any gameplay-related parameters the MVPs changed (usually turret FOVs and strengths) and account for name changes within the PI tables. I would like to have it tested once before I release it though, so if you or someone else could do a playthrough with my update, that would be very helpful.

The only thing left now is to put in any new HTL models for the custom ships. I'm not sure how far it's worth going with that. The Reshef and Cheops are used but only make side appearances, while the Saturn and Akrotiri would benefit a lot from the HTL versions but would need retexturing and a fair amount of playtesting. Some other things like the PCA elite fighters have HTL versions but probably aren't worth the trouble to retexture and replace.

Also, I noticed that all the FSMods links are dead, including the ones on the PI website. Is that site still operational? I've been out of the loop with the FS modding scene for a while.

 

Offline Macfie

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Re: Update for Procyon Insurgency?
FSmods is sorta iffy.  I've had problems getting things uploaded so I've been using Mod db and gamefront.  I tried the other day to download the PI 1.04 version but the link was dead.  I have an HTL model for the Reshef.  The Vasudan Awacs, the transport and the freighters all have new models in the 2014 media VPS.  Also there are new models for the Kato the Zakros and the Akrotiri from the ASW campaign that I was going to use.
« Last Edit: July 13, 2014, 07:03:11 pm by Macfie »
Normal people believe that if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Engineers believe that if it isn't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet.
The difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers is:
Mechanical Engineers build weapons.  Civil Engineers build targets
An optimist sees the glass half full; the pessimist sees it half empty. An engineer sees that the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

Offline Nyctaeus

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Re: Update for Procyon Insurgency?
Did you guys consider replacing Ancient Corvette from PI to ACv Mochlos from ASW2? I know this is not exactly upgrade, but HTL of the Phaistos used in PI was never made and it would look ugly compared to the new ancient fighters and Akrotiri.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2014, 07:11:32 pm by Betrayal »
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Offline CP5670

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Re: Update for Procyon Insurgency?
The HTL Kato, Zakros and Reshef look good and would fit in well. The Phaistos plays a minor role and the player only sees it once briefly (or possibly not at all), so it's no big deal if it remains the way it is. The Akrotiri is good but looks somewhat different than the PI version, and would require a fair amount of tweaking with the mission 17 cutscene and its camera positions. I would like to see it in there but am hesitant to change it, as it took a huge amount of effort to make the cutscene work correctly with the original Akrotiri's physics and collision properties.

The HTL Amun looks excellent and is one of my favorites. I can make slight adjustments to the textures to make it look like the PI version.

The four ships with the new dockpoints are only used in mission 15, and the player will usually be too far away to see them in detail. I'm wondering if it's worth changing them. Other appearances of those ships already use any new models in the MVPs. This should at least be easy to do though, by copying over the dockpoints in PCS2.

I also noticed that the new Arcadia model is not the same dimensions as the original, which required moving stuff around a bit in mission 16. I made an alternate version of that mission.

 

Offline CT27

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Re: Update for Procyon Insurgency?
It's cool to see PI's original author back and working on an update.

 

Offline CP5670

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Re: Update for Procyon Insurgency?
This should be good to go now. The nebula mission had some new AI issues that took me a while to figure out, but I think I have managed to work around them.

Now I just need to find a place to upload it. My nukelol page doesn't seem to work anymore, and I can't get into my moddb account either (can't remember password and it uses a now defunct email :p).

 

Offline CT27

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Re: Update for Procyon Insurgency?
This should be good to go now. The nebula mission had some new AI issues that took me a while to figure out, but I think I have managed to work around them.

Now I just need to find a place to upload it. My nukelol page doesn't seem to work anymore, and I can't get into my moddb account either (can't remember password and it uses a now defunct email :p).

How about Freespacemods?

 

Offline Nyctaeus

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Re: Update for Procyon Insurgency?
MediaFire is your friend as well :)
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Offline CP5670

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Re: Update for Procyon Insurgency?
I got the moddb account working again and put it up there. I'll need to update the links on the PI site, which are now dead. I haven't tested it fully, only a few missions that were the most likely to have problems, but don't expect any major issues.

Nukelol is (or was) the same as Freespacemods. I guess it has become a full site. I'll put it there as well.
« Last Edit: August 10, 2014, 07:59:25 pm by CP5670 »

 

Offline CT27

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Re: RELEASE: Procyon Insurgency
I've put your link also in the OP and have changed the thread title.

 

Offline CT27

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Re: RELEASE: Procyon Insurgency
I got the moddb account working again and put it up there. I'll need to update the links on the PI site, which are now dead. I haven't tested it fully, only a few missions that were the most likely to have problems, but don't expect any major issues.

Nukelol is (or was) the same as Freespacemods. I guess it has become a full site. I'll put it there as well.

When you put an update on the campaign site, you could start it off by saying something like "Hey guys, I'm still alive.. ;) "
« Last Edit: August 11, 2014, 01:26:07 am by CT27 »

 

Offline CT27

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Re: RELEASE: Procyon Insurgency
Minor issues that came up:

1-In the campaign room it says this is version 1.04, shouldn't it say 1.05?


2-In the first mission, enemy Artemis bombers are labeled as "PCF Artemis" when they should be "PCB Artemis".  However, this seems to be corrected in later missions.

« Last Edit: August 11, 2014, 06:23:49 pm by CT27 »

 

Offline CP5670

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Re: RELEASE: Procyon Insurgency
Good catches. You can tell I didn't do a full campaign playthrough, or I would have certainly noticed the first issue. :p

Let me know if you see anything else. At this point, I'll just slip them into the update without changing the version number.