[spuds]

Ghosts of Valor has been finished and I posted it on Mediafire. Do these links work? http://www.mediafire.com/?zumtm5wnwqh (part 1 of 2)  http://www.mediafire.com/?mkyzjojwutm (part 2 of 2).

Please don't get any funny ideas about this mod. I'm only a ordinary guy who had a couple of ideas I wanted to throw out there.

[General Battuta]

If someone can confirm this is real I'll make it a release thread.

[Dragon]

Downloading, I will check it out.
Files seem a bit large, I hope there will be some interesting, new content.

[Jeff Vader]

If someone can confirm this is real I'll make it a release thread.

He's been doing something and asking a lot of questions regarding it (though often in the wrong places). Let's indeed wait for a couple of user experiences before doing anything drastic.

Edit:  And since this is a release, the Missions and Campaigns board would be an excellent place for it.

[The E]

And already I can see several things wrong with it.

1) It is not packed as vps.
2) It is not structured right. You will need to make your own "Ghosts of Valor" folder with a data folder inside it and put the data in there.
3) Several custom maps are used. But why are they in pcx format? Use dds, please.
4) What the hell do the several 2_* images in maps do? Those are interface files, they belong in interface!
5) Why all the nebulae in effects? Aren't those mediavps nebulae? And if so, why are they in pcx format AGAIN?
6) Why not use FS2_Open features such as tbms?
7) Loading it in 3.6.11 Debug generates the following errors:

Code: [Select]

weapons.tbl(line 1378:
Warning: Error parsing id# in XSTR() tag XSTR(
"The Alamo is the next generation cannon. Developed for the purpose of destorying high speed targets.  Using a intense photon and Rothmatter beam the cannon is effective for destroying anything smaller than a corvett." 3273)

Weapon explosion 'GSbspcRiftExp' does not have an LOD0 anim!

weapons.tbl(line 1506:
Error: Required token = [#End] or [$Name:], found [.0]
in weapon: Nova Start
.
After that, the game crashes. Please fix these errors before the real release.

8) Please remove all the .bak backup files from the missions directory.
9) In the models directory, there are several models that certainly look like renamed retail models (GTVD Ravana, for example). Why are those there? Couldn't a bit of tbl trickery have done the job?

[Fury]

Come on. This guy is a newbie who just started modding. Cut the poor man some slack. Instruct him in the Arts of Modding, but no need to scare him away.

[General Battuta]

Teaching him how to clean up all these errors will be a good start. Good fixer-upper!

Has anyone actually played it yet? I don't have my FS2 install handy.

[The E]

I am really, really sorry if what I said above will in any way hurt anyones' feelings. Alas, there is no way I can see to sugarcoat these issues.  As for helping out, I will answer any and all questions I can.

[Rodo]

Well If he's got the files on wrong folders then he can go on and read this: http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/FS2_Data_Structure


For any other question about modding then search here: http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Portal:Modding


If you still can't find the answer at the wiki, then you can ask, we will be doing our best to help you out, but you need to do some research on your own sometimes, the wiki is the best place to start IMO.

and welcome among the modders spuds!

[Dragon]

This seems to be retail campaign, unadapted to FSO.
That would explain the low quality of it's assets and installation requirements.
Also, judging by the tables, he made a lot if hacks that won't be needed in FSO, but nessesary in retail FS.
What I like about it is that it seems to have at least partial VA.

[est1895]

So, is this a FSO and are there 2 campaigns? Part 1 and Part 2?  Is this a working Mod? Before I download it, I'll wait for someone to play it. 

[The E]

It is one mod, the download is divided into two parts. It probably should work on regular builds, but I cannot guarantee that (there are some issues that pop up when using a debug build that spuds should correct).

Be aware that, in order to install this, you will need to create a new folder in your fs2 directory, create a data dir in THAT, and unzip the archives into that (maybe going in to make sure that all the folders are in the right place).

[est1895]

It is one mod, the download is divided into two parts. It probably should work on regular builds, but I cannot guarantee that (there are some issues that pop up when using a debug build that spuds should correct).

Be aware that, in order to install this, you will need to create a new folder in your fs2 directory, create a data dir in THAT, and unzip the archives into that (maybe going in to make sure that all the folders are in the right place).

The second file is corrupt...Error Message when extracting: crc failed in voice / 032 good.wav. The file is corrput Could you please put the 2 files together for those who have highspeed internet? 

[spuds]

Yeah i'm new, but i'm also out of time to perfect the mod. Starting in early january i'm tied up for the next 3 years. Please go through and polish it up. All the files you need are there just organize them the way you want to. I spent two years coding this mod there is a reason to my madness.

I'm thinking about as a pre FS 1 mod but thats 4 years down the road.

That's all for now folks

Make freespace a game that never gets old!!! keep the new ideas coming even if you don't think they can be coded.

as for the second file being corrupt, I'm at my uncles but I'll see what i can do when i get back.

[est1895]

Also, I have downloaded Part 2 twice and has the same corrupt error, in the same place, when unzipping. 

[Tinman]

I d/l it minutes ago. Both zip files are ok. No problems to unzip it.
I copied it together to a mod - and as said by someone here - it needs some work to get it run on FS2open.
I ran into an error with the weapons.tbl with the recent 3.6.10 build. I cannot run it on retail cos my machine is non-windows.

[Narwhal]

Could someone post or send me a few information on the campaign so I update the wiki page on user-made campaigns ?

[spuds]

To The E, personally i hate VP files which is why i didn't package it as such. I'm not sure if 3.6.11 if different, but I just use the Freespace\Data folder and don't bother with creating any other folders. As for the interface files in the wrong folder, its was a dropped idea that got mixed up and since it didn't affect gameplay i missed it. The nebula are in  the effects folder because that's the traditional spot for nebula pcxs. As for using .pcx instead of .dds it should occur to you that FS1, FS2, Inferno, and many other mods use .pcx files. Is there some reason I can't? As for not using .tbms my copy of freespace is from the open installer and Inferno mod. It works but some things like .tbms, weapon intel, 90% of the Ai profiles table, debuggers and so on are not recognized by my computer. I don't want to minimize the error warnings from the debuggers but, the Alamo is weapon from a previous mod that wasn't very good. It's not in GV. As for the Nova start beam cannon it is only used in Mission 60 and its presence or lack of it does not affect gamplay. As for the .bak files I wasn't sure of there function and though it was better to be safe than sorry. As for the GTVD Ravana, GTVCv Moloch, GTVJ Sathanas, GTVSD Diablo, they are capital ships that the player can fly in selected missions and this was the simplest way of coding it.

Now I'm not trying to say that your findings are insignificant, but these are the reasons for my actions.

[The E]

And I am telling you that you are setting a bad example for other modders.

*Distributing a mod as a VP, while not necessary per se, eases distribution, installation, and error checking immensely.
*Distributing unused files, while not dangerous, is also not very efficient. I know at least one person who is very sensitive about things like download size; doing anything possible to reduce the amount of data a player has to download should therefore be one thing any modder should keep in mind
*Now, I was wrong about the nebula file placement, but what's wrong with the mediavps nebulae? The mediavps were created with the specific goal of reducing the amount of data modders need to include in their mods by providing a common baseline of efficient, good looking enhancements.
*DDS instead of pcx: DDS should always be used. Why? Because it is the standard format for textures in modern GPUs. That means they can be loaded directly into video memory, and be used by the GPU directly, without having to convert them first. In addition, they offer the capability of using 24 bits of colour depth, built-in mipmapping (which is a very good thing indeed for performance), and full transparency support. FS1, FS2 and Inferno used pcx because dds was not as widespread as it is today. Please note that technology marches on, and what was a good design decision back in 2000 is a pretty stupid idea nowadays.
*If tbms don't work for you, you are using them wrong. Fortunately, we (as in, the community) are willing and able to answer any and all questions regarding their use.
*

I don't want to minimize the error warnings from the debuggers

I don't know what to say to this. If the debug build warns you about something, it means that YOU did something wrong. It also opens the door for what developers call "undefined behaviour", that is, crashes and other weirdness. And while finding and correcting errors is rather boring and painfull, in the end, the end users will thank you for it.
*

the Alamo is weapon from a previous mod that wasn't very good. It's not in GV.

Then what the hell is it doing in this mod?

In the end, and note that this is just my personal take on this, it is my firm belief that this mod should not have been released in the state that it is in.

[General Battuta]

To The E, personally i hate VP files which is why i didn't package it as such. I'm not sure if 3.6.11 if different, but I just use the Freespace\Data folder and don't bother with creating any other folders.

We'd be happy to get you up to speed on the latest and greatest in modding tools. The wisest way to handle mods is to use special mod directories (rather than the /data folder), and to use VPs.