Hard Light Productions Forums
Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: TheAgent on January 09, 2007, 04:36:18 pm
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As many people will tell you, modding a game can be quite a nightmare, especially when your not sure what files you need and more to the point what they do.
With the help of this thread i hope to make your transition from what is a old game, into a new one with relative ease.
Be forewarned though, there is a lot of downloading involved, with some big files. You will need about 3.5gig of hard drive space. but don't let that put you off, most of it is compressed in RAR format, Also if you haven't got the game yet, best download that first, and then come back to this thread,
*UPDATE*
-Added link to WMcoolman's post for the VP files
-Added link to Turey's Auto Downloader/Installer
What you need and what it does.
Freespace2
- its the game, (I'm not going to be patronising about this, i assume if your here, you will know what a game is :P)
Fred_open
- this is the main mod launcher, mission editor, and the thing that's going to make your game look groovier once you have the appropriate files.
MediaVPs
- the media VPs, are what contain all the hi-resolution ships / pretty nebular / hi - poly stuff that add the gaming environment, they can also contain all the shine maps (make your ship look metallic) bump-maps (give your ship depth with out altering the poly count) environment maps (correct me if I'm wrong on this one, but they reflect the surrounding land scape on to your ship)
the game movies
- Although the game does come with the movies, (if you download the retail disk version) the launcher doesn't use the movie files with in the modded environment, so if you plan on playing the main campaign, you will need these files.
OpenAL
- OpenAL is a program that helps fred_open use all the audio files.
Mods folder
- this one is pretty strait forward, you will have to make this one your self, you don't really need it, but if you want to keep your freespace2 directory looking neat and tidy, its handy, but just in case you don't know, this is where you put modifications like the Babylon project in.
NOTE:
There is auto downloading installer that can do almost everything for you (apart from freespace2 its self) you can get it with this link.
The freespace installer thread by Turey (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html)
But if (like me) you would much rather do things yourself to learn how its done, carry on reading.
Right, if your still with me. Lets get down to the nitty gritty of things
Installing and Modding Freespace2
Step 1: The game.
Unless you have freespace2 this is going to be over pretty quick, So first thing to do is go get it, (there are many threads available on the legality of this and i wont go into it here, but lets just say its been available on the web for some considerable time)
You can obtain it from these links, i prefer the retail 3 disk version as it comes with the whole game with no files missing.
Freespace2 download (http://www.meganova.org/details/447516.html) -You will need a torrent down loader like Azureus (http://azureus.sourceforge.net/download.php) in order to download.
Step 2: Installing.
This step may seem like the obvious, but you need the game to install into something simple like, c:\games\freespace2
You can do this by burning the disks using a program like Nero, you can get a trail version from
the links section at the bottom of this post.
If you do not have a burner, you can always mount the disks in a virtual drive program like daemon tools (see below for instructions) that can be downloaded from the links section at the bottom of this post.
Step 3: Fred_Open and related files.
The latest build is 3.6.9 and is available here.
Clicky (http://fs2source.warpcore.org/exes/3.6.9.rar)
Extract these to your main freespace2 folder (IE: C:\Games\Freespace2 Or where ever the main game .exe is), you will need winrar or winzip to unpack these files (see below for links)
You will also need to download the MediaVPs, these can be quite large so if your on a 56k modem, it might be a good idea to leave these downloading overnight or while your at work / school.
PLEASE NOTE: for now, just download these from the list
mv_adveffects (advanced special effects)
mv_core (these are the core files for modding the game)
mv_effects (same as above, just not as pretty, you will still need these even if you have the adveffects)
mv_models (this is the main hi-poly ship models)
mv_music (does what is says on the tin)
mv_textures (your ships wouldn't be the same with out them :P)
You will also need to download the patch files.
mp-710_adveffects
mp-710_effects
mp-710_models
All obtainable from this link.
WMCoolmon VP thread (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,39905.0.html)
Next is to grab the movie files, These are only needed for the storyline of the main campaign and are available from This thread
The Thread (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,44291.msg904548.html#msg904548)
And make sure you get OpenAL from here.
OpenAL (http://www.openal.org/downloads.html)
Right, after all that downloading, I bet your wondering when your going to find time to get to play the game...or where these files even go?
So far you should have either downloaded, or installed the game and downloaded all relevant files and are Ready to set everything up so its playable.
Step 4: Setting everything up.
Right, if you haven't installed Freespace2 yet, go do that now, if you are using the retail disks, it should auto install to C:\Games\Freespace2, which is a lot easier, if not, just create a Games folder on the root of your hard drive then find and copy and paste your freespace2 folder into it, The important thing here, is that Fred_Open, doesn't like a directory path with spaces in it, IE: C:\Program files\blah is a no no.
Next navigate to your freespace2 main directory, and create a folder named mediavps and drop these files into it
mv_adveffects
mv_core
mv_effects
mv_models
mv_music
mv_textures
mp-710_adveffects
mp-710_effects
mp-710_models
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/Agent_X/mediavpsfolder.jpg)
Unrar the 3.6.9 build of fred_open and put these files into the main freespace2 directory.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/Agent_X/Unzip.jpg)
By now your directory should look like this.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/Agent_X/FS2dir.jpg)
Then install the OpenAl file you should have downloaded (link above).
Now you should have a application in your freespace2 folder called LAUNCHER, run this and a window should pop up.
Click the Features tab in the window that's just popped up, and select the browse button, this should pop up a search feature, navigate to your freespace2 directory (if its not pointing to it already) and select fs2_open_3_6_9.exe then click open.
Now the most important part, how to get the freespace2 high poly models and other niceties into the game.
With the freespace2 launcher window open, click the MOD tab, and then the SELECT MOD button.
If you have followed my instructions so far, all you have to do is point it to the mediavps folder.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/Agent_X/MODfunction.jpg)
PLEASE NOTE the launcher window for reference.
That's about it. you can now run the program via the launcher , best thing to do is create a shortcut for your launcher and place it on the desktop.
PLEASE NOTE: do not use the game icon that FS2 added to your desktop if you want the mods to work.
For help on setting up and using Daemon Tools, please go to the post below this one.
LINKS
Nero Burning Rom - Program for burning Freespace2 ISO's to disk.
Nero (http://www.nero.com/nero7/eng/nero7-demo.php)
Daemon tools - Virtual disk device, for Installing Freespace2 ISO's without burning them to disk. (will require a restart to work.
Daemon Tools (http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/download.php?mode=ViewCategory&catid=5)
WinRar - Program used for unzipping the RAR archives.
WinRar (http://www.rarlab.com/rar/wrar362.exe)
Freespace Wiki - The freespace2 encyclopedia
The Wiki (http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page)
The Freespace Oracal - good refrance points for help with installing and setting up Freespace2
FAQ (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/karajorma/FAQ/installingfs2.html)
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This thread is dedicated to Tom A.K.A The fish R.I.P 9/1/2007
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How to set up Daemon tools to use as a virtual device.
First download Daemon tools from the links section above,
1. run the program
2. click NEXT
3. then I agree / accept
It should now ask you to restart windows, where it will restart the install once windows has loaded in
Go back to steps 1 to 3, but this time it should not ask you to restart, uncheck the "install daemon tools search bar" , unless you want it.
and continue the installation, it may ask for another restart at the end, if it does, just restart and wait for windows to load in.
First thing you will notice is a little icon in your task bar like this
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/Agent_X/Daemonsetup.jpg)
Right click the icon in the task bar, and select emulation and make its set to all on, then right click again and go to
Virtual CD/DVD-ROM, it should expand and show this
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/Agent_X/virtualdiskmounting.jpg)
Move your mouse over DEVICE 0 , and the MOUNT IMAGE, navigate to your Free space ISO's and select the first disk, if auto run doesn't start, it will be in START> MY COMPUTER> *what ever drive your virtual drive is*, open up your virtual drive and double click AutoRUN
it should start installing, when it asks for the next disk, just go to your task bar icon and mount the second CD in DEVICE 0 like you did when you started the processes, then with in the install screen click OK
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*claps*
I wish this was around when I first came here! :nod:
Here's another handy link: Descent tools (http://www.descent-network.com/descman/). A set of programs designed for manipulation and creation of files used in Freespace. (Note that some programs on the list are not intended for use on FS, but on other Parallax, :v:, or Outrage-created games.)
As for the URL's: they should look like:
[ url=http://<URL for website>]<Text>[/url]
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Nice post TheAgent!
Too bad your download link http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/arcade_action/games_f/freespace_2.html charges 5 bucks to download the game.
Come on, has no one seen my signature? I have more free working links than you can count, and I also tell you where to put the movie files.
Looking good otherwise!
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Nice post TheAgent!
Too bad your download link http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/arcade_action/games_f/freespace_2.html charges 5 bucks to download the game.
Come on, has no one seen my signature? I have more free working links than you can count, and I also tell you where to put the movie files.
Looking good otherwise!
Balls, new there must of been a catch, i didn't download mine as i have the retail boxed product, brought it when it first came out.
Sorry if you think i was stepping on your toe's mind you,
Iv tried to give a clear explanation of what the files are, rather than leaving everyone to figure out what there adding to there computer
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No toe stepping, don't worry about it, the more the merrier. But I have spent a lot of time checking all my links, feel free to use any of them.
One guy paid 20 bucks for a set the other day, so maybe 5 would be a bargain. But charging for them at all is wrong unless you get the box and everything, esp. with everyone hosting them for free.
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Agreed, well links been updated with a active torrent, iv just check there's still a few seeds, but if it runs dry i can always ISO my disks and ask for someone to host them as a permanent cure to the problem
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From my sig:
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Section 2, INSTALLING THE RETAIL VERSION FROM CD
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SWANTZ's NUKELOL SITE HAS BOTH SETS
Get the FS1 and FS2 CD's HERE (http://www.nukelol.com/fs/)
FREESPACE 2 RETAIL
NORMAL (RETAIL) INSTALL FROM FreeSpace 2 CD's:
Pros: Provides the best fallback for a clean install.
Cons: LOTS of downloading needed! Updating is tricky. You need CD's and need the software and knowledge to burn iso or bin/cue files.
You can use this very well seeded torrent to get your FreeSpace 2 CD's
Download the CD's in Bin/Cue format using BitTorrent (http://www.mininova.org/tor/403521).
---OR---
Direct download
FreeSpace 2 iso version, #1 of 3, 607.4 MB from MediaFire (http://www.mediafire.com/?8zio2innnmt)
FreeSpace 2 7zipped iso version, #2 of 3, 455.84 MB from MediaFire (http://www.mediafire.com/?9zrttwtyjvm)
FreeSpace 2 7zipped iso version, #3 of 3, 459.67 MB from MediaFire (http://www.mediafire.com/?emtdm2m2t02)
---OR---
Direct download
Download the iso's from Turey's MyDataBus account in 250 MB multi-part 7zip fomat (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,38195.msg885225.html#msg885225).
Install the game, then run the game's updater to update.
Otherwise download and install the Freespace 2 v. 1.2 Patch (http://www.freespace2.com/downloads.cfm).
FREESPACE 1 RETAIL
Note: FreeSpace 1 has been majorly upgraded. You will get the new version as part of the FreeSpace 2 SCP downloads above. If you insist on installing the old musty FreeSpace 1 and the Silent Threat expansion, they come on 3 CD's.
FreeSpace 1 7zipped iso UK version, #1 of 3, 317.43 MB from MediaFire (http://www.mediafire.com/?5mow2nd5t2o)
FreeSpace 1 7zipped iso UK version, #2 of 3, 310.65 MB from MediaFire (http://www.mediafire.com/?2n00zkwooyy)
FreeSpace 1 7zipped iso UK version, #3 of 3 (Silent Threat), 283.52 MB from MediaFire (http://www.mediafire.com/?2nrgnonaonl)
If you patch these you'll need the United Kingdom version. The in game patcher goes to a dead link.
Get the 1.06 UK patch and optional EAX UK patch for FS1 here (http://www.volition-inc.com/fs/downloads.cfm).
Install these after installing Silent Threat or you'll have to reinstall them.
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As an alternative to Daemon Tools, you can use Virtual Clone Drive. The wiki used to have info on how to use it (you can view the old page here (http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php?title=Getting_FreeSpace&oldid=7949#Freespace_Zone).)
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Please link to 3.6.8 zeta mediavps (from here (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,39905.0.html)) instead of the old 3.6.7 set that is found from SCP site.
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is there a adveffect.VP with the "not going to strangle your system, though will look good" Big explosions about? or am i going to have to learn how to add them manually to it?
My system isn't a puppy, but it gets dragged down on its knees when them bangs go off :(
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It's almost certainly the shockwaves. See my comments in here (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,44437.0.html).