Hard Light Productions Forums

General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: Dunolde on February 04, 2008, 11:58:20 am

Title: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: Dunolde on February 04, 2008, 11:58:20 am
Hi people,  I'm new here but not new to FS2.  I dl'd the open installer and let it do its thing but I get nothing.  I do not have my retail FS2 installed;  is that necessary for the stuff included in the open installer to work?  I'm afraid that I'm at a loss.  Sorry if this is the wrong forum too.  Someone give me a hand.  Thanks
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: TrashMan on February 04, 2008, 12:24:20 pm
IIRC, yes, you need to have retail.

Here, look here:
http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Getting_Started%28Main%29
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: FreeSpaceFreak on February 04, 2008, 12:30:16 pm
:welcomered:
I won't be posting a speech here, since Goober complained about it. Take a look here (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,39765.0.html) if you want one anyway. Feel free to choose one ;)
Did you follow the walkthrough for the installer (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,47045.msg958364.html#msg958364)? If not, you made the same mistake as I did :D Take a good look at it anyway.
You don't need to have retail FS2 installed from cd, if that's what you meant: I don't even have it, but I can play the downloaded retail version.

And please, don't colour your posts like that. Posts aren't judged to what they look like, you know.
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: Dunolde on February 04, 2008, 01:11:46 pm
Hmm,  definitely not here to piss people off or anything but if colors are available,  as well as a variety of other options in posting messages,  well,  then why not use them?  Besides,  some colors are more readable against the dark reddish background of the message pane.
If you do not want to read posts from me,  or do not wish to reply to them,  well,  then,  just don't!  Please just don't make an issue of inconsequential stuff like that,  just ignore!

Anyway,  perhaps I should have mentioned that I am using VISTA.  I tried reinstalling my retail FS2 but it will not install.  Something about VISTA not recognizing CAB elements etc.  Are there any workarounds for using VISTA? 

I did dl the installer overnight then just let it do its thing,  but with no luck.  I have looked at the installer walkthrough,  but again,  see no mention of VISTA anywhere.  Before trying to go through the entire process only to find that FS will not run under VISTA at all,  I want to know if it will work under VISTA.
Thanks.
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: jdjtcagle on February 04, 2008, 01:27:54 pm
dark blue has bad contrast, try a lighter blue :D

jusk kidding... Welcome to HLP, I personally don't care but it does annoy alot of people. Good luck!
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: BlackDove on February 04, 2008, 01:29:37 pm
I find myself having a strange urge to commit strangulation.
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: captain-custard on February 04, 2008, 01:32:39 pm
mmmmmmmmmmm no text
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: Dark Hunter on February 04, 2008, 01:32:59 pm
The colored posts have only really gotten irritating since Mobius decided to use practically the whole rainbow in his posts (not all at once... he tried red, then blue, then green...).

As for Vista, I have that as well, and had no problems installing FS2. So I'm not so sure it's the OS's fault.
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: FreeSpaceFreak on February 04, 2008, 02:16:44 pm
I'm sorry Dunolde, I didn't mean to insult you. It's just that colouring draws away the attention from the contents of the post. And I have the feeling that people who colour their posts want to distinguish themselves from the others, but are unable to do so by intelligence and/or wit...

Oh well, perhaps that's just me. Sorry again. :snipe: me if you feel like it.
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: Dunolde on February 04, 2008, 02:21:17 pm
Thanks,  "beige" seems to fir nicely with the background.  Anyway,  while sending the last message FS2 went ahead and installed itself,  much to my delight.  So,  If I go ahead and run the "installer"  (I have patched to v 1.2) then everything should proceed well,  of its own accord?  I'll go back and look at the "walkthrough."  Having finally gotten the retail FS2 installed,  I don't want to ruin it by doing something stupid,  which is the way things usually go for me.  Stand by.

PS:  FreeSpaceFreak,  I'm not insulted.  I freely admit that I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer.  That's why I need help from those of you in the know.  Thanks.
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: Jeff Vader on February 04, 2008, 02:40:06 pm
IIRC, yes, you need to have retail.
Yes, it's quite important since FSO only replaces the game engine. And the MediaVPs only replace models and textures. The interface is mostly untouched.

Hmm,  definitely not here to piss people off or anything but if colors are available,  as well as a variety of other options in posting messages,  well,  then why not use them?
That's the point. Mobius must have used the whole variety, not to mention italification and now adding the 'rotated eights' (infinity symbols) at the beginning and the end of his posts. He somewhat made the whole thing annoying. You'll get a better response without any colour fiddling.

Quote from: Dunolde
Thanks,  "beige" seems to fir nicely with the background.  Anyway,  while sending the last message FS2 went ahead and installed itself,  much to my delight.  So,  If I go ahead and run the "installer"  (I have patched to v 1.2) then everything should proceed well,  of its own accord?
Yup, should work fine from now on. In the meantime,

Getting started with FreeSpace 2 (http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Getting_started_with_FreeSpace_2)

FreeSpace 2 manual (http://www.the-underdogs.info/games/f/freespace2/files/freespace2-m.zip)

Karajorma's FreeSpace FAQ (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/karajorma/FAQ/intro.html)

The Moonwalk Superstar (http://xrl.us/bdj2k)
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: Dunolde on February 05, 2008, 01:33:50 pm
 :(Well,  I'm back.  I spent a good three to four plus hours yesterday letting the "installer" program run and do its thing.  I'd just let it go and check in on it every half hour or so and it was happily checking,  downloading,  unzipping and installing file after file.  Everything seemed to be going just fine.  However,  once all was said and done,  nothing seems to be showing up in FS2,  not the new missions/campaigns,  cut scenes,  voices,  etc.  I have obviously neglected to do something.  Not surprising for me.  But,  after all that work done by the "installer" I have no idea what has become of all the stuff it did!  I did use the installer walk-through.  Do you think I'll have to uninstall FS2 and try to start again from the beginning?  I hope not because I think I'll play through the 1.20 version first,  then try this stuff again later.   :confused:
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: Jeff Vader on February 05, 2008, 01:46:52 pm
nothing seems to be showing up in FS2,  not the new missions/campaigns,  cut scenes,  voices,  etc.  I have obviously neglected to do something.  Not surprising for me.
User made campaigns are in their separate folders (like mods always have to be) in the freespace directory and they can be accessed with the MOD command line flag, or easily by using the MOD tab in the Launcher. Is explained in Karajorma's FreeSpace FAQ.

No cutscenes means that either
a) you don't have them,
b) they are in a wrong format (meaning they are not .ogg or .mve) or
c) you are playing in Direct3D, which can be changed from the Video tab in the Launcher.

No voices means that you are missing stu_fs2.vp or it is corrupt.

And once again. Do not touch either FS2.exe or Freespace2.exe!. Those are the retail executable files. Running them effectively nullifies everything FSO tries to be. Run Launcher.exe and nothing else. You'll be fine that way.
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: captain-custard on February 05, 2008, 01:50:42 pm
mmmm, i had the same thing......... but

i have my disc in two parts, C/D my system is on D but fs installed an virtualy empty folder in C, just have a good dig, b4 you uninstal


also mines not in program files its in games........


but that might of been me and not the installer      ;) :D ;) :D ;)
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: Jeff Vader on February 05, 2008, 01:52:07 pm
but that might of been me and not the installer
:nod: I bet it was you.
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: captain-custard on February 05, 2008, 02:00:47 pm
but that might of been me and not the installer
:nod: I bet it was you.


ill be taking the fifth on that , ( even if im not american or living in america)

but have you considered it could have been the tooth fairy

but i just looked at tureys installer and it offers this

C:GAMES/FREESPACE2, and i changed it to D:etc,etc

 ;) :D ;) :D ;) :D


does this mean "turey" is the tooth fairy   :doubt:
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: Jeff Vader on February 05, 2008, 02:08:26 pm
Umm...

The Tooth fairy might have created an almost empty folder in C:\.

Turey's Installer offers to install to C:\Games\Freespace2 by default

=>Turey is the Tooth Fairy.

I am terrified of your logical deduction. And not in a good way.

Here's another intellectual challenge for you (http://koti.mbnet.fi/reiler/oikeaamatikkaa.jpg).
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: jr2 on February 06, 2008, 03:04:46 am
Eh, IIRC, you must run the FSO-3.6.9 or 3.6.10 exe for it to set up the Registry for you... once this is done, the registry entries are there for the Retail exe to use... the Retail won't set up the registry entries for you, but the FSO will.  FreeSpace2.exe is the Retail launcer that launches retail FS2.exe, and Launcher.exe is the FSO Launcher that can launch Open fso_3_6_9 or 3_6_10 or even retail fs2.exe, depending on what you select.  Do check the launcher6.ini to be sure it doesn't reference c:\games\freespace2 ... if it does, you know what to do... (although I think it should default to just \games\freespace2 with no drive mentioned.. someone correct me if I'm wrong).

And ya, we welcome people of all colors here, but Blue is kinda bad vs the black background.  Which sucks, because Blue is my favorite color.  :(
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: karajorma on February 06, 2008, 07:30:15 am
The FS2 Retail launcher will actually set up all the registry entries it needs. How do you think the HotU download could work if it didn't since that's just a zip file with all the files inside?

The FS2_Open launcher however will set up all the entries it needs too so there is never any need to run the FS2 launcher.
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: G0atmaster on February 06, 2008, 03:38:10 pm
So to recap:  Make suer Turey's installer is installing to the FS2 directory you want to use.  Second, use the FS2_open launcher, not Freespace2.exe.  Third, make sure you select the new features you want in said launcher.

My guess is your problem is from a directory confusion.  You installed retail to one directory and then installed from Turey's installer into a different one.
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: Dunolde on February 06, 2008, 05:59:13 pm
 :) OK guys,

I kept trying to open the retail FS2 launcher and all it did every time was ask to run set-up over and over again.  I somehow stumbled onto the FS2 open launcher.  Something you said perhaps seeped into my sub-conscious! Everything seems OK for now.  Thanks everyone for the assistance.  I'm sure to be back again. 

dp
:nod:
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: G0atmaster on February 06, 2008, 06:10:33 pm
Glad to  hear it! enjoy.  Make sure you enable the enhanced and upgraded graphics.
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: Dunolde on February 06, 2008, 07:34:09 pm
Hmm,,want to give me a hint on exactly how to do that?  You see,  even though I finally have things working OK, I'm sure I have missed a thing or two.

thanks.
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: Dark Hunter on February 06, 2008, 10:06:33 pm
It's under the Launcher's "features" menu. Select the stuff you want to enable.
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: Jeff Vader on February 07, 2008, 12:04:42 am
Specular, Environment, Glow,...
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: jr2 on February 07, 2008, 03:10:20 am
The FS2 Retail launcher will actually set up all the registry entries it needs. How do you think the HotU download could work if it didn't since that's just a zip file with all the files inside?

The FS2_Open launcher however will set up all the entries it needs too so there is never any need to run the FS2 launcher.

Eh... I'm pretty sure it won't, from my experience... I need to check this out... will get back to you.  To make the registry pre-FS2, you just delete HKLM\Software\Volition\FreeSpace2 , right?  Then I'll try running the retail launcher.
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: Jeff Vader on February 07, 2008, 03:20:21 am
Eh... I'm pretty sure it won't, from my experience...
Is it proof enough for you that I've succesfully played the HotU version? The current version, to be precise. Lacks only the cutscenes.
Title: Re: New to "hard Light", questions
Post by: jr2 on February 07, 2008, 03:21:40 am
I've tried it before.. IDK what I did wrong.  Like I said, I need to check this out, and will be back with the results.  Then we can see what's up.