Hard Light Productions Forums

Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => FS2 Open Coding - The Source Code Project (SCP) => Topic started by: General Freak on July 27, 2005, 12:23:49 pm

Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 27, 2005, 12:23:49 pm
First problem:
I've converted all of my .MVE files from the HOTU version of Freepace 2 to .AVI format, according to the instructions on this site: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/karajorma/freespace/movies.html

I didn't have the rest of the cutscenes, so I downloaded the missing ones from here: http://web.engr.oregonstate.edu/~plankerj/fs2movies/

I have also deleted all the useless, dummy .MVE files (Bastion.mve, colossus.mve, intro.mve and all the mono.mves).

Now, all of the .AVI files are now in the FS2 directory, and I got all the codecs needed (I think so, because I can easily play them in Windows Media Player or Real Player). However, FS2 still won't load them. When I run using debug, I just get a string of 'frames too long' error messages whenever I attempt to play a movie, and I've no idea what that means. I used MPEG-Layer 3 for audio compression and DivX 5.2.1 for video compression.

I have tried with -dnoshowvid both on and off, and it makes no difference, even to the little videos they show in briefing. There's a lot more to tell you, but I'm not sure what is relevant, so just ask, and maybe I can answer you.

Second problem:
I have been unable to fly the GTF Ares or the GTB Artemis DH. When you, for example, choose the Myrmidon, the Harpoon missile icon is white, meaning that you can't load up that missile. Simple enough. However, whenever a mission enables me to fly the Ares or Artemis DH, they're also white, just like missiles/guns! The problem is, I am still able to choose them for myself and my wingmen, and load them up with ammo too. Despite this, when I click on 'Commit', FS2 crashes, sometimes immediately, sometimes with music, and it did so probably because I flied an 'un-useable' ship, except that I KNOW I should be able to fly those two ships, so why can't I? Neither ship shows up in the tech database (and I know that they should).

Also, the GDA and GTA class ships are also missing from the tech database, together with the Aeolus, and perhaps some other ships I forgot about. They have all got database descriptions, but not with my SCP.

Third problem:
I have two usernames, both converted to SCP format, and incompatible with older versions of FS2. One of them will show up the intelligence database (that's the one where I haven't even finished one mission). The other one, where I've finished the whole campaign, has no access to the intelligence database. When I click on the button, there's just a black space there.

I have SCP version 3.6.5, and the flags I use are:
-spec -glow -pcx32 -jpgtga -d3dmipmap -nomotiondebris -2d_poof -dualscanlines -targetinfo -orbradar -fps -window  -fov 0.39 -AMBIENT_FACTOR 175.

I also have mv_core, mv_music, mv_speffects and mv_textures. I always run the game in OpenGL. Solving all the above problems in Direct 3D mode would not help me at all, because I'm unable to run the game properly in that mode (unless I get a new graphics card, of course). My current one is a TNT2 M64. I'm not sure if there is any other relevant information I can give, so I hope you guys can help me out.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: karajorma on July 27, 2005, 03:57:31 pm
Problem 1 : You're using 3.6.5 aren't you? :) Try something else from the recent builds forum.

No idea about the other two though.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 27, 2005, 04:51:04 pm
Well, I've tried several recent builds, and they will all run the cutscenes without any problems. However, I don't think I will be using them, because they make the tech room almost completely useless. I can't view ships (FS2 crashes the moment I open the tech room or view a ship that's not the Ulysses). Also, the cutscenes keep making FS2 minimize, whether fullscreen or window. Whenever FS2 minimizes during its first loading sequence, or a mission loading, the whole game will crash when I click on Commit in the briefing screen. Only by running and quitting FS2 several times will the cutscenes load properly, and I don't want to go to that much trouble. With 3.6.5, this bug happened much less often (probably because the cutscenes aren't run).

Any other suggestions?
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: FireCrack on July 27, 2005, 04:51:07 pm
problem 2: did you fly the SOC loops? these ships are supposed to be enabled by those and the fact you can see them but not fly em is a tad funky

problem 3: Pilots mess up alot, there is a diffewrent format form the original, dont know of a paticular solution though.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 27, 2005, 04:53:59 pm
Yes, I flew both loops, without cheats, and I've completed all missions successfully.

Anyway, I've just realized that I may need the Open AL drivers to properly run those new builds, so I'll give them a second go.

EDIT: Nope, didn't work. Using mv_models didn't work either. Argh!
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: karajorma on July 27, 2005, 05:24:45 pm
Try this (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,29087.0.html) build. It's basically 3.6.5 with some bug fixes.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: Kie99 on July 27, 2005, 08:01:22 pm
The Ares and Artemis D.H. are supposed to show up as white in the Ship Selection room, although I've no idea why it crashes.

Try makeing a new pilot file.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 28, 2005, 09:05:40 am
@karajorma: No, that one doesn't work. The game loads up as "normal" without the intro playing, the database still won't show up anything in Intelligence, and Artemis DH and Ares still makes FS2 crash.

By the way, what does CVS mean?
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: karajorma on July 28, 2005, 09:46:42 am
CVS is the system used by the coders to make sure that they are all working with the latest code without having to download the whole lot from the server every time they wanted to check.

As for the movies I know that build works with cutscenes as I've used it myself. If you have a movie called intro.avi in the Freespace2 folder it should play on start up. If it's not then you've got other reasons for the problem rather than just having a bad build.

It's starting to sound like a reinstall of the game is called for.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 28, 2005, 09:54:55 am
Aww...but I got the HOTU version. :( If it isn't a bad build, then why won't 3.6.5 run any cutscenes (not just intro.avi) but the other ones I tested will run them quite happily?

Or do you mean reinstall of SCP?
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: karajorma on July 28, 2005, 10:21:04 am
3.6.5 had a bug in it which meant that it wouldn't play avi's. The build I reccomended fixed that bug. I tend to think of that build as 3.6.5.1 in that it's basically a bug fixed version of the official release.

I basically recommend that everyone using 3.6.5 convert over that build now. It won't solve the mv_music.vp problems but it has solved many other bugs from 3.6.5.


As for reinstalling, are you telling me that there are builds you can get to run avi's? If so don't reinstall. If not then it may be necessary.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 28, 2005, 10:35:25 am
Quote
Originally posted by General Freak
Well, I've tried several recent builds, and they will all run the cutscenes without any problems. However, I don't think I will be using them, because they make the tech room almost completely useless. I can't view ships (FS2 crashes the moment I open the tech room or view a ship that's not the Ulysses). Also, the cutscenes keep making FS2 minimize, whether fullscreen or window. Whenever FS2 minimizes during its first loading sequence, or a mission loading, the whole game will crash when I click on Commit in the briefing screen. Only by running and quitting FS2 several times will the cutscenes load properly, and I don't want to go to that much trouble. With 3.6.5, this bug happened much less often (probably because the cutscenes aren't run).

Any other suggestions?


I already told you that, or did you miss it? The problem is...I don't want to run the newer builds, for the reasons explained above. I want to use 3.6.5 or 3.6.5.1.... but.... I already told you that this (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,29087.0.html) build doesn't run the cutscenes. I still get the 'frames too long' error message in the debug window. Oh, and I got this too: 'Wokka! Error opening file (hud_gauges.tbl)! Unable to parse hud_gauges.tbl! Code=5'

EDIT: I don't think I've experienced any problems with mv_music, but what bug are you talking about?
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: karajorma on July 28, 2005, 10:52:40 am
With 3.6.5 you will get a crash as soon as you try to play a mission which uses one of the soundtracks included in the VP file. Later builds fixed this. (around Feb-March IIRC)

I'm starting to see your problem now(you confused me a little earlier). Personally I think something is screwy with your install then. If the later builds will play the cutscenes and the new ones won't.

I suggest a reinstall. I'll need to know a little more detail before I can tell you the best way to go about it.

1. Did you download all the missing VP files?

2. Do you have any mods you want to keep?

3. How much spare space do you have on your HD?
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 28, 2005, 11:55:48 am
1. I got all of these: # sparky_fs2.vp
# sparky_hi_fs2.vp
# stu_fs2.vp
# tango1_fs2.vp
# tango2_fs2.vp
# tango3_fs2.vp
# smarty_fs2.vp
# warble_fs2.vp
I think they're all the missing ones.

2. I'd like to keep all my mods, but if I have to, I can delete them and download later. I got Inferno, Homesick, Warzone and the Aeos Affair v2.

3. 2.69gb. About 1gb is used for virtual memory, however.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: karajorma on July 28, 2005, 12:48:16 pm
You appear to be missing root_fs2.vp (It's in the HotU crackpack on my site if you've not got it).

Actually this is the second time I've answered this question recently so I might as well answer it in a way that will let me cut and paste it into the FAQ.



# root_fs2.vp
# sparky_fs2.vp
# sparky_hi_fs2.vp
# stu_fs2.vp
# tango1_fs2.vp
# tango2_fs2.vp
# tango3_fs2.vp
# smarty_fs2.vp
# warble_fs2.vp

# FS2.exe
# Freespace2.exe
# Fred2.exe

#Patchw32.dll  <-------------------No idea what this does but you might as well copy it
# FS2uninst.dll (If you have it)
# Uninst.isu (Again if you have it)



# multi.cfg  <----------------------PXO is down but just in case it ever rises from the ashes.



That's it. You've now got a working copy of FS2.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

In your case we're going to do a little more than just get FS2 working.

[*Report back on how things went and we'll see about getting those mods installed again :)
[/List]
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 28, 2005, 01:03:51 pm
Why must the new folder have exactly the same name as the old one? Then I would have two FS2-Old folders, and that means I have to move the new folder into a different parent directory, and what's the point of that?
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: karajorma on July 28, 2005, 01:46:43 pm
The same name as it was before you renamed it. That way anything associated with FS2 in the registry is still looking in the right place :)

For most people that will just be Freespace2 but I have to be generic in case someone is using a different name.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 28, 2005, 03:13:43 pm
Ok, I'm following your procedures atm, but instead of uninst.isu, I find unins000.dat and unins000.exe. Right now I'm just ignoring them, so tell me if I need them or not.

Also, I get a 'failed to read flag file' error message with the Launcher, and I'm not able to run FS2 via the copied Launcher. Copy the flagfile too?

EDIT: I can't open FS_Open without the Launcher either. It says that DevIL.dll is missing. The name is kinda scary. :/

EDIT 2: It turns out that I also needed devil.dll, ilu.dll and ilut.dll, or SCP refuses to run. The flag -allslevs is also unrecognized. Help? :nervous:

EDIT 3: Ok, I've run fs2_open_T-20050103, and the cutscenes will only load up in fullscreen, not window. I've managed to fly the Artemis DH and the Ares once each, but after restarting FS2, I am now unable to fly Exodus with ANY ship, and the King's Gambit won't let me fly the Artemish DH anymore. The Intelligence section of the database remains blank.

EDIT 4: Just ran FS2 3.6.5. No cutscenes whatsoever. I managed to fly the Ares, but after restarting FS2, Exodus became un-playable. No success at all with Artemis DH, the game just crashes. Intelligence section blank. I'm think I'm starting be on the verge of considering becoming a teeny, tiny bit frustrated here....
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 29, 2005, 12:47:44 pm
...help? :(
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: karajorma on July 29, 2005, 03:22:57 pm
Sorry. Didn't notice you'd posted.

Hmmm. This is very odd. The need for those .dll files should be gone in the more recent builds. Try one of those.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 29, 2005, 04:22:09 pm
I tried with fs2_open_T-20050622.exe

Cutscenes will load in window, but the Ares and Artemis DH still won't work. Could there be something wrong with my missing VP files?
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: karajorma on July 29, 2005, 05:01:17 pm
Best you IM me and we sort this out in real time. Sent you a PM with my details.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 30, 2005, 10:48:51 am
This is totally unbelievable. Retail FS2 wouldn't run the testing missions, 3.6.5 is the build where I had all these problems with, newer builds were too unstable and solved hardly anything, but when I switched back to good old 3.6, the cutscenes ran beautifully and I was able to fly the Artemish DH and Ares over and over again. This makes me wonder what went wrong in the later versions... :/
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: Flaser on July 30, 2005, 01:03:27 pm
*Edited, 'casue I was a presumptious eager beawer*

Did you use a new pilot when testing each build?
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: karajorma on July 30, 2005, 01:33:08 pm
Yeah he did. I checked when we talked about it on IM.

@GF You mean that after you repaired the corrupt Vp files it still wouldn't run retail? That's pretty odd.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: TurboNed on July 30, 2005, 01:44:05 pm
[EDIT]

Oops, I just re-read your post where you said you used DivX 5 and MP3 audio.  Please ignore the rest of this.  

[/EDIT]

Spoiler:
Wait, you took the MVE files, ran MVE2AVI, and are using THOSE AVI files with FS2?

The ones that are on the order of gigabytes?

I think that's your problem...the "frame too large" problem is because each individual frame is essentially an uncompressed BMP file.

Just to test my theory, find some random AVI file somewhere - anything at all.  A DivX of a movie you have or whatever.  Name it intro.avi and stick it in the FS2 folder and see if it'll work.  If it works, then post to this thread and PM me and I'll tell you how to make nice XVids of the FS2 cutscenes.

  --Turbo
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 30, 2005, 01:44:18 pm
@karajorma:

I'm not your girlfriend. :p

If I remember correctly, I ran FS2 retail for the first 3 training missions, and that's about it. Nothing went wrong with it, but I got SCP like 3 hours after I finished downloading everything I needed, so I can't remember just what happened to make the retail version unplayable (well, it's not that unplayable...the HUD is missing, subspace entrance/exit is messed up, and weapons effects are gone, but the models and the missions will run fine).

On D3D retail, the HUD is just a jumbled mass of jibberish (text and briefing pictures, I think). On Glide, the HUD is just not there. It looks neater, but it doesn't help targeting, hehe. :)

@turbo ned (before he edited, so this part is kinda useless): I wrote that I followed the instructions on the page, and the instructions stated that I needed to shrink the newly made avis. None of the avis I have atm are larger than 40mb.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: TurboNed on July 30, 2005, 01:54:44 pm
@GenFr: okay, I've had no problems running a 120 meg intro.avi, so that's not your problem.  For what it's worth (obviously, since you were able to get a build that worked.)

Don't mind me - I just try to jump in and help someone even when I don't always have the patience to read their whole problem.  

  --Turbo
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: karajorma on July 30, 2005, 02:06:58 pm
I was asking if you tried running retail with the missions I provided after fixing the corrupt VP files.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 30, 2005, 02:09:14 pm
Oh, I tried running those as well. Didn't I tell you that on ICQ? The game just stubbornly asks for CD 2, but not much else happens.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: WMCoolmon on July 30, 2005, 04:33:36 pm
Quote

If I remember correctly, I ran FS2 retail for the first 3 training missions, and that's about it. Nothing went wrong with it, but I got SCP like 3 hours after I finished downloading everything I needed, so I can't remember just what happened to make the retail version unplayable (well, it's not that unplayable...the HUD is missing, subspace entrance/exit is messed up, and weapons effects are gone, but the models and the missions will run fine).


Just popping in but are you sure you aren't running any mediaVPs with Fs2 retail? They will be detected if there's one or more lurking in the data dir.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: karajorma on July 30, 2005, 05:33:59 pm
He showed me a screenshot of his FS2 folder and it certainly doesn't look like it.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 31, 2005, 05:39:20 am
Well, we never found out whether it was a FS2 problem or a SCP problem, did we, because your missions wouldn't run. I think I'm just going to fly the whole campaign on very easy with 3.6 until I reach King's Gambit, where I will switch over to retail, because it will use the missions inside the VP files rather than the standalone ones in the Missions folder. Hopefully this won't take more than, er, 5 hours? :D
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: karajorma on July 31, 2005, 06:17:24 am
The missions I gave you were the exact same ones as in the VP. The only thing I'd done to them was to change the filename so that you could play them without needed to have played as far as King's Gambit.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: WMCoolmon on July 31, 2005, 03:09:13 pm
Quote
Originally posted by General Freak
Well, we never found out whether it was a FS2 problem or a SCP problem, did we, because your missions wouldn't run. I think I'm just going to fly the whole campaign on very easy with 3.6 until I reach King's Gambit, where I will switch over to retail, because it will use the missions inside the VP files rather than the standalone ones in the Missions folder. Hopefully this won't take more than, er, 5 hours? :D


There's a warpout bug in 3.6 on very easy.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on July 31, 2005, 05:11:32 pm
Oh dear.
But hopefully it won't be that much of a problem, because I'm not aiming to keep on playin with 3.6.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on August 01, 2005, 05:04:10 am
Strange...when I run King's Gambit with retail FS2, I get this error message:

Error: Out of memory.  Try closing down other applications, increasing your
virtual memory size, or installing more physical RAM.

File:C:\projects\freespace2\code\GlobalIncs\WinDebug.cpp
Line: 1121

Call stack:
------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------


I have a memory usage of 173mb, a virtual memory of 1gb and 384mb of RAM. Isn't that enough for FS2?

What's also strange is that it should be C:\Games\Freespace2 I don't have a 'projects' folder on C.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: WMCoolmon on August 01, 2005, 05:31:10 am
Edit: nm. :p
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on August 01, 2005, 05:34:12 am
What? :(
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: karajorma on August 01, 2005, 11:53:49 am
The path points at the folder on the HD of the person who compiled the build not the person running it (In fact it appears someone in the SCP got so sick of answering that particular question that new builds flat out tell you that ) :p

As for your error wasn't 3.6 still affected by that memory leak?
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: taylor on August 01, 2005, 01:17:05 pm
Quote
Originally posted by karajorma
As for your error wasn't 3.6 still affected by that memory leak?

Think so.  The D3D leak wasn't plugged until July and I think 3.6 came out in May.
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: General Freak on August 01, 2005, 01:53:18 pm
What about OpenGL?
Title: Cutscenes won't play, and other problems
Post by: taylor on August 01, 2005, 05:36:52 pm
Quote
Originally posted by General Freak
What about OpenGL?

That really bad one was D3D only.  There were a couple of other memory leaks too but you should be ok if you only played about 5 or 6 missions at a time, then exited, then went right back in and played some more.  And avoid bad options like -pcx32 and fullscreen AA (anti-aliasing needs double the video/API memory).