To help the FSO community better understand what files are different between different language versions of FreeSpace 2, I have written VPLogger, a program that generates a text file listing every file of every VP, as well as each file's MD5 hash and size. Files generated with different FS2 versions can then be compared in a program like
WinMerge. If you have a version of FS2 in a language that is not listed at the end of this post, then I would like you to run VPLogger by following the instructions bellow.
Do not use VPLogger with pirated versions as they often have modified files or are missing "unnecessary" files. I'm interested only in full, official retail versions!
Instructions:
- VPLogger requires Java 7 or later, so make sure you have that installed.
- Make sure that the language of your FreeSpace 2 copy is not English or any other language listed near the end of this post.
- Begin installing FS2.
- During installation, you will be asked which components to install. You must install all components. Failure to do so will result in missing files.
- After installation is complete, go to where you installed FS2. Make sure the following files are present (the ".vp" parts might be hidden):
- root_fs2.vp
- smarty_fs2.vp
- sparky_fs2.vp
- sparky_hi_fs2.vp
- stu_fs2.vp
- tango1_fs2.vp
- tango2_fs2.vp
- tango3_fs2.vp
- warble_fs2.vp
If any are missing, then reinstall FS2 and make sure you follow steps 3 and 4 more carefully. - Ensure that FS2 is updated to 1.20. An easy way to check is to open the readme file and check the first few lines for a version number. If it's lower than 1.20, then you might need to update by running this patch. Do not use the manual patch linked to in various places of this forum as it contains the English version of root_fs2.vp, and we don't want that. (I think all non-English versions are already patched to 1.20 anyway, so this step shouldn't be a problem.)
- Download VPLogger (link below) and extract it to where you installed FS2.
- If you are running Windows (if you were able to follow the previous steps, then you almost certainly are), then run the batch file (VPLoggerBatch.bat) instead of the JAR file (VPLogger.jar). This will ensure that a command prompt opens so that you can see the program's progress and any errors that are thrown. If you're not on Windows, then just run the JAR file, preferably through a command prompt or terminal window.
- Let VPLogger do its thing.
- If the program finishes successfully, a file called "VPLoggerOutput.txt" (again, the ".txt" portion may be hidden) should have been created. Open it to make sure it has some text, then deliver it to me by attaching it here or uploading it to a file-hosting site. I will host it on my own Dropbox account, so don't worry about keeping it available for an extended period of time.
That should be it! If you have any trouble, post here and I'll try to help.
And yes, I know that VPLogger won't tell us
how the files are different (that will come later), but at least it will tell us
which ones are different.
Without further ado, here's the program:
VPLogger.zip...and here are the available logs (more will become available as I receive them):
English.txtGerman.txtGerman_Dimension_Pack.txtPolish.txtAlso, here is the data from the German and Polish versions, minus the voice files:
fs2_german_data.zipfs2_german_dimension_pack_data.zipfs2_polish_data.zip