Hard Light Productions Forums
Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: NJSP 3002 on September 14, 2011, 03:21:44 pm
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If anyone could help me with the ED mod pack so i can use them in Fred i put the 6 downloadable links in a earth defence folder and once i selected the ed folder as a mod and applied it and tried running Fred no ed ships or effects or planets in sight :sigh: soo.. can anyone give me a quick run down on how to run the mod packs because i must of did something wrong and i dont know why.
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Did you decompress the files before you put them into the earth defense directory?
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what do you mean by decompress the files? maybe this is what im looking for.
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Are the files you downloaded in 7-z format? If so, before you can use them, you have to decompress them because Freespace can't read 7-z files yet.
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yea they are
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Ok. You need to decompress the files. Decompress, Unzip, and Extract all mean the same thing. Basically you have a file that is compressed. Examples include Zip, 7z, and .rar. So you need a program to decompress (extract) the files.
I use Alzip, and it's pretty good, but I'm not sure downloads are still free. Try 7-zip:
http://www.7-zip.org/
It should be able to decompress your files.
Make sure after you extract that you have the correct file hierarchy (all the files are put in the right place).
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oh wait im sorry i read your message wrong they are decompressed i see have those folders palnet nebula ed ships...etc
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Ok, I'm not sure about all the files, but the ships have to be put in a separate folder from their textures.
Basically, it goes like this
.POF Files - Freespace2\Earth Defense\ships
Textures - Freespace2\Earth Defense\Maps
Table files - Freespace2\Earth Defense\tables
Some files need to be in other places, but that should work for the ships at least. I haven't tried using new backgrounds yet.
Also, there shouldn't be any folders after that. For example
Freespace2\Earth Defense\models\Hera\Hera.pof
Is not going to work, and the Hera won't work.
EDIT:
Sorry! .POF's actually go in
.POF Files - Freespace2\Earth Defense\models
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the textures that are with the ships do i thow them in them maps too
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Yeah, almost all textures go in maps.
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what do you mean by almost?
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Certain weapon effects go into a effects directory, but I don't have that memorized.
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um what about dds document they go to maps too?
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If the DDS (or png, jpg, tga, pcx) file is a texture for a ship, or any other type of model (like: shockwaves, subspace, warp effect, skybox) it goes into data\maps.
Otherwise, if it's an effect file (beams, primary weapons, planets or backgrounds) it goes into data\effects.
You can open any POF in PCS2 and look at the textures list if/when in doubt.
I almost forgot: Images/tetxtures can also be used in data\hud, data\interface as well. Usually, any distributed MOD or VP already has a folder structure in them, so you would just put like to like. If it's a file in a "maps" folder in the zip/rar/vp then chances are it also goes into the "maps" folder in your *data dir.
*data dir: Usually refers to a mod data dir, but can sometimes refer to your freespace2 data dir. However, unless "freespace2 data" or "fs2 data" are mentioned specifically, it is always safer to assume that we mean a mod folders data dir. In this case , that would be "ED" or "Earth Defense".
And to correct Cyborg17's instructions, models go in to the Earth Defense data\models directory. Any missions go into data\missions and so on.
**Edit: Some Wiki article Links:
FreeSpace2 directory structure (http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/FreeSpace_2_directory_structure)
Installing Mods for FS2 Open (http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Installing_Mods_for_FS2_Open)
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There's somebody who knows what he's talking about! Listen to him. :nod:
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okay i thought it would work by following both of yours directions but i did something wrong for it not to go, does anyone have team view or something to help me out because im at a lost.....sorry im being a pain.
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Look, don't take this personal, but in order to actually do modding, you need a few things. One, knowledge of how your computer works, Two, you need to know how and where FreeSpace expects its data, and Three, you need to know how to properly report your problem so that others can help you.
Point one is something that you can't learn here, as we expect people to know this stuff already. For point 2, there's the wiki, especially the two pages Zacam linked to. For Point 3, there's the FSO FAQ (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=56279.0).
Getting someone with TeamViewer to do the work for you, well... Let me put it to you like this. Even if you can find someone to do it, what are you going to do the next time you run into issues? Deal with them yourself using the skills you learned, or get someone else to do t for you again? I know what I would prefer.
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Team viewer allows the person to help me with my ed mod pack problem and during that the person would show what i did wrong and show what goes where so next i don't mess up the way i get my knowledge and understand how to do theses mods is not by reading it has to be shown to me and order to fully understand what I'm doing sorry i refuse to do that link thats how iam and thats something you cant change.
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But that is something that YOU can change, it's a process called "learning".
Good luck with that.
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sorry that i choose different ways to learn computer stuff and I'm sorry I'm not so advance with freespace modding i asked for help with this **** i tried understanding the directions cyborg17 gave me and yes i followed them from what i thought but at some point i messed up and don't know why. so i tried asking for help again but instead i get these respose that tell me nothing on how to fix what i did. if you want to tell me stuff that has to do with me learning send me a pm....im not being a asshole im sorry if this responce seems harsh but so did yours i dont deserve that i did nothing except for asking for help.
-again i followed cyborgs instructions i tried opening Fred after that No ships, planets, etc.... where there
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It sounds like you're asking for essentially a private tutoring sessions for FSO modding. What does a tutor run for these days? $50/hour? I'd help you out as long as you want for that. And all proceeds would go to software upgrades relevant to developing FSO!
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Okay, first of all, I would recommend using more punctuation in your posts. It will make them a lot easier to read and thus people will be a lot more willing to help you :)
Second, maybe you could post a picture of your current Freespace folder/Earth Defense folder's contents. It might help us identify the problem.
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Seriously though, JR Directory Printer (http://www.spadixbd.com/freetools/jdirprint.htm) might be easier to use, especially if you have to do it more than once. It'll give you a recursive text output of any directory on your computer.
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Here is the Eath deffence folder
[attachment deleted by ninja]
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Here are the rest.
[attachment deleted by ninja]
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Ok, for the most part, that's right. But you're missing a mod.ini.
Did you also put the table in the table folder? - It was a separate download from the ships, and you didn't show that directory.
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yea the table is in the table folder i thought i put the pic up i guess not my apologises and i don't know about that mod.ini. i didn't see that in any of the downloads tho. what is it tho?
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It's basically the file that tells the launcher that there is a mod in the folder, which additional VP's to use, and launcher stuff, like what picture should it show in the launcher and what links it should put for website and forum.
Put it in the
Freespace2\Earth Defense
folder.
You can base the file off any other mod.ini. To edit a mod.ini, use notepad. (And remember to put "mod.ini" as the save name, and set the save format to "all files".
I think you can copy any other mod.ini, but you should make sure that the secondary list only includes the MediaVPS_3612, otherwise you might get more ships than you wanted.
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Is this right
[attachment deleted by ninja]
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Yes, that looks about right. Now, make sure to select the Earth Defence folder as mod in the launcher and you should be good to go.
EDIT: And, as Cyborg17 and Jeff Vader pointed out, do remove Earth Defence from the secondarylist.
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you should make sure that the secondary list only includes the MediaVPS_3612
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i dont have to launch the mod in order to fred with the mod pack correct?
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You do need to activate the mod. This can be done with a command-line entry in the FRED shortcut, but the easier way is to just select it in the FSO launcher. FRED cannot magically detect which mod you want to use :P
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:( alright i selected the mod folder ed and hit "apply" then hit "ok" then ran fred but no ships or planets....etc
i have bad luck with this
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Try running the launcher with your mod selected, like you were going to play a game, let FS load up and then exit and try fred again.
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Alright i just got done and ran fred and still nothing except the default ships.
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Can I see your table file?
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yes here you go.
[attachment deleted by ninja]
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That's never going to work.
Name it ED_Ships-shp.tbm and try running FRED.
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i got this when i change it to TBM file once i ran Fred
[attachment deleted by ninja]
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Take a look at this: http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Ships.tbl
Compare it to your table, the error you're getting means there's a typo or an ordering mistake in table. Or you're missing #End at the end.
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What do you mean by #End at the end? like what is that?
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At the end of each .tbm file, you need to have #End tag, to let the game know that the table has ended.
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So for example (ED_ships-shp#End.tbm)
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No, inside the file, itself. Open it with notepad. There should be a lot of text. At the end of the text inside the file, there should be
#END
On its own line.
You're almost there, though, I remember having trouble with the same table.
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Haha it works thx a lot all of you for your help now if this happens again now i know what to do thx and sorry it took so long
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You're welcome. Glad it's finally over!