[Flaser]

The SCP is reaching the stage where major changes and upgrades can be made to several things, that were so far hardcoded into FS2.

With these developments the Port could be further refined.
Among the few things I can think of:
-The original support ship
-Mod like support for people who have the original FS1 and would like to play the Port with enhanced data (music, cbriefs, voices ect.) - what I mean is that they should be given a mod folder to upload the data and a shortcut to run the stuff, furthermore their version of the campaign should include the all the original movies in the campaign file as well as a good cutscenes.tbl, so it could be played off the CD.
-A well written music.tbl for the people above
-Further glowmaps for all the old fighters and ships
-High-res texture support
-The original interface* (This would be a huge load of work...even if handled in 640*480 alone)
-Upgraded original interface (1024*768) - These two are the least needed IMHO.

[Woolie Wool]

FS1 nebulae!

[Galemp]

Originally posted by Flaser

-The original support ship

This was done for multiplayer reasons. If you absolutely MUST have the Centaur, simply extract the ships.tbl and place the Centaur entry above the Hygeia entry.

-Mod like support for people who have the original FS1 and would like to play the Port with enhanced data (music, cbriefs, voices ect.) - what I mean is that they should be given a mod folder to upload the data and a shortcut to run the stuff, furthermore their version of the campaign should include the all the original movies in the campaign file as well as a good cutscenes.tbl, so it could be played off the CD.

CBrief animations and all voices are currently supported. Music is not, and will continue not to be, officially supported because I can't figure out the bloody music.tbl, and the files are huge. Cutscenes I'm having difficulty integrating as well, but there are currently no plans to fix them.

-A well written music.tbl for the people above

See above.

-Further glowmaps for all the old fighters and ships

All FSPORT ships have full glowmap support. If you don't have the right glowmaps (i.e. mine :thepimp: ) you can find them on the HLP Resources page.

-High-res texture support

Done. Read the readme, fool!

-The original interface* (This would be a huge load of work...even if handled in 640*480 alone)
-Upgraded original interface (1024*768) - These two are the least needed IMHO.

I have a specific reason for this... the FSPORT is intended as an Expansion for FS2, not a TC. That means leaving the interface, main campaign, and multiplayer the same. While I'd like to see the Galatea and Bastion main halls in FS2, I won't be converting them. Ask at the TVWP.

[Flaser]

Please GE take a look at my avatar....

I kindly ask you not to take me for a fool. (Although I admitadly never made any reservations about my sanity.)

What I said was the support of the things above.
I was not speaking about the ability to do this, but simplify the whole process. There quite a lot of FS players who don't want to get into VPView, FRED or modding altogether. What I meant was giving those people a hand.

Personally I have implemented much of this with my installed port - music included. Right now the last thing I have to figure out is the music.tbl, but recently I was given a few good hints.

Let me try to explain:
The Port should have an SCP release that would give the following things:
-An easy method to install the stuff, and give the players a shortcut to run the whole (I'm speaking of the mod option of the SCP)
-A batch file that would automatically extract the data from the CDs, so the ordinary players didn't have to deal with extracting it themselves.

As for the interface, I think it's just as much part of a campaing as anything else, and with receant advancements in mod support and avi playing ability; IMHO the port could be extended without interfering with the original campaing or other people's work.

Thank you for your patience, and for reading my rant.

[Galemp]

Oops... sorry Flaser, I didn't read the poster's name. We're used to dealing with this kind of stuff here.

If you can find any kind of batch installer that will extract files from VPs, let me know. Right now I think it's up to the user.
I like to think the Port is very user-friendly. Plunk down the VP, pick the campaign from the campaign room and away you go. No knowledge of FRED or modding required. The readme is as foolproof as possible; it's got instructions for what to extract and where, and if you can't figure out how to use VPView then you should probably have someone else around to help you.

There's no need for a seperate executable! Just pick it from the campaign room, simple. And as for AVI and main-hall support, it's not worth it to have a seperate SCP download just for those. Yet.

[Flaser]

I'll keep that in mind.

I also thougth that the lack of a batch vp manger is the main problem.

BTW if I come across a vp manager source code I may try to put together something in delphi.