Hard Light Productions Forums
General FreeSpace => FreeSpace & FreeSpace Open Support => Topic started by: Drake_Tungsten on September 16, 2010, 04:14:18 pm
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I'm new to FSO and have followed the instructions here to install the mod, including the optional part about preserving the retail installation, which entails creating a new directory to place the retail vp files. I then run the launcher and select mediavps_3612 as the mod and get the "web cursor bitmap not found" error. If I move the retail vp files back to the root FS2 directory then there's no problem. What did I do wrong?
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First off, I don't think you really need to preserve the retail installation - it's trivial to uninstall FSO or even run a retail game with FSO present.
Second, if you move the retail files into a new directory I imagine the game can't find them, and they're rather required to run. What directions are these, exactly?
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Yeah, moving the retail files to a new folder is unnecessary. Where did you read that? It needs to be corrected....
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how far wrong would I be if I suggest doing these things in the launcher
1) select the retail exe in the launcher
2) ensure the Mod tab is select to no mod
selecting the retail FS2.exe will set the features tab to retail, I just ran the game like this and it seems to work ok
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Wow, this is an active board.
I found the instructions here (http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Installing_fs2_open) at step six (or step seven. the TOC step numbering does not match the body of the post). I realize it says this is in case you ever want to play the original exe, which at this point I'm not doing - I'm just trying to run a FSO build, but I have yet to fully research what mods I want to install but I've seen that some of them apparently over-write the original game files (unless I'm confused), so I figure there's no harm in tucking the original retail files away in their own folder anyway.
That probably sounded confusing. In summary
- The instructions mention that you may want to move the original vp files to their own folder
- Even though I (and the community) doubt I would want to for the same reason the instructions give, I figure it might come in useful in other circumstances. It at least shouldn't hurt.
- It hurts. I get the error when running the recommended FSO build.
- If I undo step six in the instructions, everything is fine.
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No mod will ever alter the contents of the original game file.
You don't need to take any special steps to be able to run the original .exes with FSO installed.
Installing mods is very easy - they all go in their own folders, and touch nothing else. I suggest Transcend, Derelict, Blue Planet, Windmills, Wings of Dawn and Silent Threat Reborn (plus The Procyon Insurgency if you're up for a challenge.)
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Oh joy. I am sooo going to have to go through that page with a pair of scissors....
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I just did. Killed the confusing instructions, hopefully without any real collateral damage.
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Thanks for the responses.
No mod will ever alter the contents of the original game file.
You don't need to take any special steps to be able to run the original .exes with FSO installed.
Installing mods is very easy - they all go in their own folders, and touch nothing else. I suggest Transcend, Derelict, Blue Planet, Windmills, Wings of Dawn and Silent Threat Reborn (plus The Procyon Insurgency if you're up for a challenge.)
I planned on asking this question later after looking into it more, but since you've made such a sweeping statement, would this include the FreeSpace 1 port? I know I saw somewhere that you can't play the regular FS2 missions after installing the port. If you don't want to spend your time giving me info that's readily available elsewhere, that's fine, I'm just looking for a yes or no because of the contradictory information I've received.
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Oh yes, play FSPort, definitely! It's required for ST:R.
And no, FSPort will in no way prevent you from playing the regular FS2 missions. See, all you have to do is select the mod you want to play in the launcher's Mod tab. If you don't want to play FSPort any more, select 'no mod' or 'MediaVPs' (to play FS2 with graphical enhancements.) If you want to play some Blue Planet, select blueplanet or blueplanet2 in the mod tab (both of them will automatically reference the 3.6.12 MediaVPs). If you want to go back to FSPort, select 'fsport' or 'fsport_mediavps'.
No option you ever select will prevent you from playing something else. And if you hit any trouble, we can sort it out.
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From the readme that ships with fsport 3.2:
"Please also note that, as a consequence of removing the FS2 ships and weapons, you will not be able to play the main FreeSpace 2 campaign with the Port installed."
The only interpretation I can make of that is that I can not play FS2 as long as the port is installed. It doesn't sound to me like something a launcher would be able bypass, it sounds like something only uninstallation of the port would solve (which doesn't make sense either if the problem is due to the mod's removal of FS2 assets and uninsatllation consists of removing the mod directory).
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That wording is misleading. By "installed" it means when it's selected as the active mod.
The general rule of modding is never to alter the core game data. It's safe to assume that mods will never do it, and if the instructions tell you to modify the original VPs, don't do it.
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From the readme that ships with fsport 3.2:
"Please also note that, as a consequence of removing the FS2 ships and weapons, you will not be able to play the main FreeSpace 2 campaign with the Port installed."
The only interpretation I can make of that is that I can not play FS2 as long as the port is installed. It doesn't sound to me like something a launcher would be able bypass, it sounds like something only uninstallation of the port would solve (which doesn't make sense either if the problem is due to the mod's removal of FS2 assets and uninsatllation consists of removing the mod directory).
The wording is terrible. By 'installed' it simply means 'selected as the active mod in the launcher'.
No correctly set up mod you ever download for FSOpen will ever prevent you from playing another one or cause any sort of irreversible change to your installation at large. You may need to create new pilots for each mod, but that's all.
No FS2 assets will be removed.
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The wording is terrible. By 'installed' it simply means 'selected as the active mod in the launcher'.
No correctly set up mod you ever download for FSOpen will ever prevent you from playing another one or cause any sort of irreversible change to your installation at large.
This.
The whole point of the awesome mod handling style of FSO is that you punch each mod into its own mod folder (that is, a subfolder under \freespace2\ ). Nothing in the retail game is affected. Unless someone releases a mod called "data", but that hasn't happened so far.
A mod is only active if you've selected it from the Launcher, or if it is referenced by a mod.ini of the currently active mod.
And indeed. Having FSPort does not prevent you from playing the FS2 campaign or any mod. Unless you have selected FSPort as an active mod from the Launcher and then attempt to play the FS2 campaign. But you shouldn't ever be doing that.
The situation was different abou ten years ago. Back then the mod handling system didn't exist and mods were "installed" by either cramming them into \freespace2\ if they were distributed as .vp files, or by sticking the files into appropriate subfolders under \freespace2\data\ . But now, with the mod system, that is unnecessary and YOU SHOULD NEVER PLACE ANY FILES DIRECTLY UNDER \FREESPACE2\ OR \FREESPACE2\DATA\ . Unless you're absolutely, positively sure of what you're doing.