Hard Light Productions Forums
Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => FS2 Open Coding - The Source Code Project (SCP) => Topic started by: Klaustrophobia on January 18, 2010, 02:40:56 pm
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First of all, hi. I'm an old pilot from the days of yore, way back when Parallax was still online. I went by the callsign of AD-Klaus in those days, and was a part of teamwars and the attempted resurgence of squadwars. I recently felt a pang of nostalgia and decided to give the SCP a go. I did a little dabbling in FSO years ago, but that was when it required a degree in nuclear physics to install and I never did get it working properly. Some other mod I ended up getting working, one that completely replaced all of FS2, which was not what I was looking for, so that didn't last long.
ANNNYYYYYWHOOOOOOOO, as for my actual question, it regards the audio tab in the launcher. The "getting started" page here says to set the audio to "generic software". However, I have an x-fi sound card installed, and feel like I should be making use of it. So, is the generic software required for OpenAL, or should I select my sound card?
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it required a degree in nuclear physics to install and I never did get it working properly.
Not sure of how different things were before I joined, but at least today there are several ready installers for installing FSO and related stuff. And I've tried to write clear and explanatory instructions for manual installation at the support board.
I have an x-fi sound card installed, and feel like I should be making use of it. So, is the generic software required for OpenAL, or should I select my sound card?
No one can stop you from trying your sound card (and hell, it might even work, who knows), but for a guaranteed least buggy experience possible, it is recommended to select "Generic software".
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cool, thanks for the heads up. Yeah, I used one of the massive offline installers, and it was pretty painless (other than the download and unpacking). The first time around everything had to be done manually, and as far as I could tell, there was no single, concise instructions page.
I'd love to help out with FSO, cuz freespace is still the coolest game ever, but I don't have much free time, and my coding ability is limited to classroom-assignment type of programs in FORTRAN and a little Java. :doubt:
But if you ever run across the need for a nuclear engineer, give me a holler! ;)
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ANNNYYYYYWHOOOOOOOO, as for my actual question, it regards the audio tab in the launcher. The "getting started" page here says to set the audio to "generic software". However, I have an x-fi sound card installed, and feel like I should be making use of it. So, is the generic software required for OpenAL, or should I select my sound card?
You should be ok with the X-Fi hardware driver. The X-Fi driver capabilities actually surpass what the code does so it should work just fine. The problem one is "Generic Hardware", so just don't use that. :)
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Wow, I'm not used to an active FS2 community. :P
One other thing I just noticed, I downloaded the campaign pack and ran the installer. Everything seemed to go fine, no error messages or anything, but the campaigns don't appear in the campaign room. I still just have FS2 and Templar.
Also, about the weird-looking text, I'm guessing this probably isn't fully solvable, but just in case. It is a LOT better than retail FS2 for sure, but it's still got an odd line or two in it. It looks the same with the "fix font distortion" flag on or off. For retail FS2, disabling AA on the vid card used to fix it. Is there any such known fix under FSO?
Ok, I guess more than one other thing. Sorry for inundating the board with questions I'm sure you are all very tired of answering. For widescreen, does it actually render extra area, or just stretch the image? I don't have a joystick handy so I am unable to fly right now, but it seems in the breifings and such it is stretched image. I've "forced" widescreen in some other older games by playing with some config files and changing the zoom levels or aspect ratios or something, is there a comparable trick for FSO (if needed)?
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One other thing I just noticed, I downloaded the campaign pack and ran the installer. Everything seemed to go fine, no error messages or anything, but the campaigns don't appear in the campaign room. I still just have FS2 and Templar.
They aren't campaigns as much as they are mods. If you open your \freespace2\ folder, you'll notice many subfolders (excluding \freespace2\data\). The campaigns/mods are in those folders. You'll use them like this:
- open the Launcher
- open the MOD tab
- click Select MOD
- select the mod folder you want to use and click OK
- click Apply, click Run
- create new pilot
- go to the Campaign room and select the user-made campaign for the mod you just selected
- ????
- PROFIT
For widescreen, does it actually render extra area, or just stretch the image? I don't have a joystick handy so I am unable to fly right now, but it seems in the breifings and such it is stretched image. I've "forced" widescreen in some other older games by playing with some config files and changing the zoom levels or aspect ratios or something, is there a comparable trick for FSO (if needed)?
If you open the Video tab in the Launcher, you'll notice that you have a variety of resolutions to choose from. Or if a proper resolution isn't listed there, you can use the -res commandline flag (for example -res 1680x1050) to set your resolution. 3.6.10 can actually use widescreen resolutions. Only the interface art and the HUD elements are stretched.
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ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh cool. My next adventure in FSO was going to be mods with new ships 'n such, but HLP is awsome enough to include that :). You guys have come a LONG way since my last visit. :yes:
It's a shame the HUD had to stretch. I know I'm being nitpickey, but distorted circles just kindof bug me. >.<
BTW, what do you think are the chances of an actual cockpit appearing in upcoming releases? Or do some mods already do that?
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There are cockpits in some (if not most) ships, and enabling them requires a bit of messing around with tables, as described here (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=53887.0). Though personally I don't concider them too awesome just yet.
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Cockpits still kind of suck, but they're doable.
The mods you absolutely must play are Silent Threat Reborn, Derelict, Blue Planet, and Transcend. Windmills and The Procyon Insurgency are also great.
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Be thankful widescreen works well at all, that came a long way from just a couple years ago, thanks to some driveby coding by a new forum member. The hud stretching is next on the list of things to fix in that area, but it's currently just making a 1024x768 layout fit on a 16:9 resolution. I believe it positions by corners and not centers of elements, so fixing it will take some careful math. Probably possible though.
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oh i am nothing but thankful for EVERYTHING here. i guess that did come out kindof whiney, sorry. i have no kind of experience with modding, but i would think that drawing a 1680x1050 (or whatever) HUD would be the easiest thing to do. or is it more complicated than just an image? i guess you would have though of that long ago... i'll shut up now. :P
i seem to remember Inferno being "the" mod back last time i poked around.
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Inferno is no longer top-of-the-line quality-wise, but hopefully new entries in the series will be good.
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You're a nuclear engineer, Klaus?
That's quite neat. I'm a former aerospace engineering student pursuing civil engineering right now. :D
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Yeah, give Blue Planet a spin, it's top notch and it's actually got a significantly large release.
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oh i am nothing but thankful for EVERYTHING here. i guess that did come out kindof whiney, sorry. i have no kind of experience with modding, but i would think that drawing a 1680x1050 (or whatever) HUD would be the easiest thing to do. or is it more complicated than just an image?
The problem is that a lot of the interface code is hardcoded for either 1024x768 or 640x480. Other resolutions are interpolated where the HUD is concerned; Instead of taking the sensible approach and rendering the HUD elements pixel-perfect, they are stretched to cover the same amount of screen real estate they would occupy in 1024x768, which leads to some uglyness. Thankfully, gameplay is not affected by that (much), and all the 3d models are rendered accurately on widescreen displays.
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Of course, it's only a matter of time before the old hard-coded crap is fixed. ;)
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Yeah, give Blue Planet a spin, it's top notch and it's actually got a significantly large release.
Heh, while I appreciate the props, I also think Silent Threat Reborn is basically mandatory play.
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Derelict, Cardinal Spear, Warzone...
...And the list continues. :nod:
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it required a degree in nuclear physics to install and I never did get it working properly.
Not sure of how different things were before I joined, but at least today there are several ready installers for installing FSO and related stuff. And I've tried to write clear and explanatory instructions for manual installation at the support board.
Aww, you missed it. It was fun. :wakka: I think it took me a month of research in my spare time and much downloading at the college before I got it working.
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Derelict, Cardinal Spear, Warzone...
...And the list continues. :nod:
I try to point new players at only the top campaigns in the community, as suggested by general consensus. Neither Cardinal Spear nor Warzone make that cut, though they are quite good.
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There are cockpits in some (if not most) ships, and enabling them requires a bit of messing around with tables, as described here (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=53887.0). Though personally I don't concider them too awesome just yet.
Cockpits still kind of suck, but they're doable.
The mods you absolutely must play are Silent Threat Reborn, Derelict, Blue Planet, and Transcend. Windmills and The Procyon Insurgency are also great.
you lie! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uFrJlSyXO4)
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Yeah, great stuff, nuke. Can you release it, or will you just taunt people with it?
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the plan was to release it (as well as atmospherics) at a point when it was stable or near completion. however development time is a lot longer than i predicted, so i might put up beta versions to show off the existing features, and to accelerate lua development (both inside and outside of the fs engine). on the other hand the cockpit scripts are way more stable than atmospherics. id probibly do what aardwolf did for the fsrts mod and put it up on an svn server somewhere. il look into that.
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You're a nuclear engineer, Klaus?
That's quite neat. I'm a former aerospace engineering student pursuing civil engineering right now. :D
I'm still in school, but just about done. I'm finishing up the core nuclear stuff this semester, and next fall I'll be doing cleanup on the gen-ed stuff and adding in a minor in general physics. What school are you at? I'm at NC State.
As for the campaigns, first I'm gonna play FS2 through again with FSO. So far it has been amazing. Though I'm having to re-learn how to fly. I no longer have my old Cyborg 3D stick. I got an x45 for Lock-On, and it's a bit of a bear to fly FS2 with.
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You have 3.6.10 Final and the latest MVPs?
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You're a nuclear engineer, Klaus?
That's quite neat. I'm a former aerospace engineering student pursuing civil engineering right now. :D
I'm still in school, but just about done. I'm finishing up the core nuclear stuff this semester, and next fall I'll be doing cleanup on the gen-ed stuff and adding in a minor in general physics. What school are you at? I'm at NC State.
As for the campaigns, first I'm gonna play FS2 through again with FSO. So far it has been amazing. Though I'm having to re-learn how to fly. I no longer have my old Cyborg 3D stick. I got an x45 for Lock-On, and it's a bit of a bear to fly FS2 with.
I was formerly a student and Cadet of the USAF at Embry-Riddle of Prescott, AZ. After a medical disqualification/heinous semester, I transferred to a CC in my home state (IN). This is just to get a few lower-level courses out of the way. I'll then transfer to Purdue to finish in civil engineering. :yes:
What are you looking at doing with nuclear engineering, by the way?
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You have 3.6.10 Final and the latest MVPs?
yep, i did one of the full offline installers.
What I'm going to do, I haven't fully figured out yet. I haven't been able to secure any summer internships so far, which is REALLY not helping. I'm considering going into the Navy as a nuclear officer aboard a carrier. That's a really hard life choice right there though. I don't think I would have a problem with navy life, but the 5 year commitment is giving me doubts. I kindof feel like I'll be loosing 5 years of my "normal" life right out of college. Other than that, I'll probably end up at either a power utility or as a civilian contractor working on naval systems.
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btw, is there somewhere some list of all the major features? I found changelogs and such, but some things I don't know what they actually mean. Glide, for example. I see it referenced a lot of places, but don't know what it actually is. I remember the "glide on" or something controll in FS2 retail, but as far as I could ever figure, it didn't do anything.
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Glide pertains to a feature designed originally for "The Babylon Project" (a total conversion of the FSO engine to the Babylon 5 universe) and then used in other mods and TCs (total conversions) that typically use semi-newtonian physics. Basically, once glide is activated, the ship will fly on its last flight vector while pointing in what ever direction you point it. This is not used in standard FSO.
"Glide" as far as retail FS goes probably pertained to the graphics card you were using.
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Protip: You can edit your posts here. Looks better than double posting.
As for glide, it's a semi-newtonian flight mode that some mods (Like The Babylon Project or Diaspora) use to better simulate the combat found in their respective universes (Babylon 5 and nBSG, respectively). It is not enabled for any FreeSpace ships, and not found in FS2 retail exes.
What you saw in retail was a feature called slide, which are a set of controls that let you slide around a bit. Watch Dragons or Maras closely, they will sometimes perform such maneuvers. Note that those are the only ships in FS2 which can perform it.
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That's what I figured it was, but never seemed to make it work. I DID notice it on the dragons of FS1, but never really picked up on it in FS2. I figured it to be an AI-only feature that didn't work for player controll, and was explained away by putting into the dragon mission breifing that the lateral thrusters didn't work. Does the slide actually work on the terran mara in fs2?
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Yep. But since those controls are, AFAIK, not bound to anything by default, it's easy to miss. And it's not very awesome by itself, just a little thruster that lets you move at about 5 m/sec in a given direction.
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i imagine if you got good at combining it with normal flight you could pull off some really nasty maneuvers or some really impressive close-in flying. Shame there isn't a terran fighter that does it. But now I have to go figure out how to map those controlls for the one mission you fly a mara :P
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i use the feature quite abit because really it doesnt make sense for any spacecraft to not have 6dof control. now make it possible to have a vertical and horizontal thrust axis (ive actually pulled this off with scripting and some hacks).
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I got an x45 for Lock-On, and it's a bit of a bear to fly FS2 with.
I have an x45 too, and it can't touch the accuracy of a mouse... so I don't use it. Which is really a shame cause I hate the drag-pickup-drag when dogfighting.
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no joystick can touch the accuracy of a mouse. but i just can't bring myself to play any game where i'm flying something without a joystick. it just doesn't feel right. as i've seen mentioned before, i sometimes use the mouse for sniping at turrets or far distant enemies on a steady course. other than that, i'm stuck overshooting and correcting until i knock off the rust and get used to the x45. i get a bit of arm fatigue from this beast of a stick. on that note, off to start a feature suggestion thread.
btw, I noticed the faint blue crosshair that is sometimes present lagging behind as I turn following the arc of the primary shots. Is that supposed to provide some kind of useful cue, or is it pretty much just cosmetic?
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It means you need to download the 3610_Patch.vp and put it in your mediavps dir.
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i did that to fix the 4th mission crash problem, i guess i just didn't notice it was gone. it didn't seem to be constant when it was there. why was it taken out? it looked cool, if nothing else.
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It's a script that is supposed to show you your true flight path. But it's not a function that has much use in retail FS2 (it's much more suited to mods or TCs that implement semi-newtonian flight physics), so it was taken out again.
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i owned an x45 at one point, i remember one of the springs broke, so i opened the stick, removed both springs, and replaced them with rubber bands, have to say it was an improvement.
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there's always the famous spring twist-tie mod. i've also found rubbing a dryer sheet on the bottom of the baseplate and the rim it contacts cuts back on the friction greatly and makes it smoother and not as prone to sticking. although it needs to be re-done every now and again.
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If the keyboard were not needed, ... I would say joystick in left hand + mouse in right (or opposite if you are a lefty) would be the best way to fly.
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i can't imagine trying to use a joystick with my left hand.
so i finished through FSO, and i tried to use the glide in the mara mission, but i just could not get it to do anything. how is it supposed to work? i tried both the "glide on when pressed" and "toggle glide" inputs, and as near as i could tell neither did anything. and on a similar note, does anyone know what the relative throttle axis does? i figured it was to adjust your speed by a small bit around where the main throttle was positioned, for example when you are using match speed and want to close or drop back. i mapped that to one of my rotary axes, and again, nothing happened.
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i dont think the mara has glide enabled. it has the thrusters defined, but i think theres also a flag required.
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so it's just a dead control that V threw in there to confuse people who actually read through everything? :(
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No. Glide was a SCP addition for TBP. Sliding was present in FS2 from the beginning, and Maras use it all the time.
Just remember: Gliding != Sliding.
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How does one use the default sliders/thrusters anyway? Is it possible to remap those controls with the current FSO builds?
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Sure. Options Menu->Control config->Ship-> Right/Left/Up/Down Thrust
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I've edited those many a time in BtRL or TBP, but I suppose I just never considered that for FS... :nervous:
...Rather embarassing. Regardless, thank you, E!
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No. Glide was a SCP addition for TBP. Sliding was present in FS2 from the beginning, and Maras use it all the time.
Just remember: Gliding != Sliding.
what i'm talking about is the "GLIDE on when pressed" and "toggle GLIDE" controls in the options menu. i am almost certain these were present in retail fs2.
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Nope. And even if they were, since no ships in retail had that enabled, it would have been useless. Not to mention that the retail AI can't handle it at all.
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If you want to try those controls, Klaus, you'll need to get TBP or the BtRL demo.
...There might be another mod around here that uses those controls, but I'm not aware of it.
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is one of those the battlestar galactica one? that's on my list of ones to play, mainly because i want to see how good the physics are :D
i've seen a couple of models and stuff of stargate ships. have any campaigns been made from SG?
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First off, the Wiki is thy friend:
http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Btrl
http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/TBP
Here's the only real remnants of the BtRL page left - I'm not sure of the demo status there (there's also a link from the Wiki page to FS mods, though I'm not sure that version is patched):
http://www.beyondtheredline.net/
To find TBP, go to the hosted links tab at the top of the browser and scroll down to and click "The Babylon Project."
...Personally, I'm holding out on using this one until the DVD release 2.0 comes out, but I encourage you to check it out for yourself. :nod:
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i know nothing about babylon 5, and BSG lost me somewhere in the 3rd season or so.
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i know nothing about babylon 5
I'd recommend. The first season season was a tad bit boring, but had some crucial character development. The fifth season wasn't really that good in my personal opinion, apart from the series finale. But seasons 2-4 are made of awesome and win.