[Mischief Maker]

I've become addicted to animated light maps in FS2 and can't go back to playing without advanced effects.  I've identified 3 main problems that I need to fix to take care of the framerate issues.  My question is how I go about fixing them:

1. The poofy damage trails.  These are the biggest offenders in terms of frame rates.  (I suspect it's worse for me because trouble with particle effects is one of the Nvidia Quadro's little "quirks")  I'd just as soon go back to the vanilla FS2 sparks.  Can I just erase the poof files from the media VPs?  What file are they located under?

2. The oversized explosion texture.  Again, what file is it and can I get away with just deleting it?

3. The shivan "lava" engines.  Ditto

Alternately, has anyone released a patch that addresses these issues recently?  Or does anyone have it on good authority that the 3.6.9 VPs are coming out soon enough that inexpertly tinkering with the VPs myself would only turn out to be a big waste of time?

[jr2]

General answer:
You would not "delete" the files, but rather replace them... sort of.
.vp files are sort of like .zip files, except they are not compressed.
However, FreeSpace first looks for the files in the actual FreeSpace2 directory, then in the .vp file.
So, say the file ships.tbl :
there is one in the actual FS2 directory: \freespace2\data\tables\ships.tbl
there is one in the .vp FS2 directory: \freespace2\root_fs2.vp\data\tables\ships.tbl
The file in the actual directory overrides the file in the .vp directory.
Also, if more than one .vp has the same file, the .vp with the higher filename wins.
For example, if you wanted to have a .vp with some files overriding some of the files in root_fs2.vp, you could make a new one called a_root_fs2.vp

I do believe that it is possible to disable a file (like deleting it) by placing a blank file (create a blank notepad document) of the same name in either the actual FS2 directory, or in a highter-named .vp

[Mischief Maker]

Thanks.

So all I have to do is create a MediaVP with a higher name than the regular vps with the default spark effects included and nothing else and the game will use everything else from the lower named vps?

Another question: If you keep your MediaVPs in a seperate folder and run them as a mod, how do you get them to work with mods like Derelict or the FS Port?  Do you need to copy them to those mods' respective folders?

And when the 3.6.9 Media VPs come out, will they be compatible with the existing campaigns?  I remember reading a comment about how the campaign makers would have to make a substantial change to their textures but I can't find the thread.

[Wanderer]

You do not have to create any vp files to get stuff into the game.

Then...
i) Yes
ii) Those are using mediavps via settings of the 'mod.ini' files
iii) Yes

[karajorma]

Another question: If you keep your MediaVPs in a seperate folder and run them as a mod, how do you get them to work with mods like Derelict or the FS Port?  Do you need to copy them to those mods' respective folders?

Basically you use a mod.ini file (on Windows at least. I don't know the Linux and MacOS X launchers support them yet. They do however support multimod which is the underlying feature mod.ini files exploit).

A mod.ini is simply a file you put in the Derelict folder which sets things up so that the game checks other folders after it's looked in the Derelict folder. Check the how to install mods section of my FAQ for lots of info on how to set one up.

[jr2]

@karajorma, did I get my stuff right?

General answer:
...

[Mischief Maker]

Thanks for the info, Karajorma.

EDIT: Nevermind.  I've got it.

One last question:  What is the filename of the explosion effect that everyone says is the biggest culprit for framerate drops in the current mediavps?

[S-99]

Do you mean the 3d shockwaves? If you want to fix the shockwave framerate try downloading the low end shockwaves, they're still 3d but they don't affect framerate so much as the high and medium 3d shockwaves do.

[G0atmaster]

quick questionm, somewhat related: what would disabling the "archive" attribute on a mediaVP do to my game?

[Wanderer]

'archive' attribute?

[G0atmaster]

I guess that's the problem with assuming things...

Most files that contain files are "archives," such as zip files or game data files.  I assumed VPs were also, but I guess I'm wrong...  I don't have it in front of me, so I can't be sure

[jr2]

VPs are archives (without compression), but the "archive" option in the Windows file properties dialog box has to do with whether or not a file has been backed up, and is not much used, except by backup programs.

[WMCoolmon]

You can make your VP files hidden, read-only, archive, or whatever else you like. So long as the game can open and read them.

[jr2]

@WMC:
I've been wondering... the "cache" folder, which is found in both FS2\data and FS2\<moddir>\data , what is its function?

[Huggybaby]

The cache folder saves some loading time before missions. It can be deleted and will be recreated each time. To fill it up use the -pofspew switch.

This will help answer your other questions:
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,44757.msg913653.html#msg913653.

[Turey]

It can be deleted and will be recreated each time.

* Turey shudders.

That's not advice you want to be giving out for very much longer. Some of the TCs (especially BtRL) have gotten to the point where it takes over five minutes to create the .ibx for a single model. Delete the whole cache folder, and you might think the game froze during mission loading.

I've been working with one of BtRL's largest models for the past week or so, and everytime I make a change, I have to wait somewhere between three and five minutes for it to re-build the .ibx, as the model has changed. This is one model.

In summation, only delete the cache folder if you're having model-related problems, and get ready to spend some time staring at the mission load screen.

[jr2]

...So the cache folder should only be cleared if:
you are getting the wrong models, or
you are getting corrupted models,
right?

[Huggybaby]

Yes, there is no reason to delete the cache folder unless you suspect some kind of corruption. I didn't advise it either---I just said that you CAN, and it will be recreated. Currently there's no reason to either keep it, or to fill it up with pofspew. I've tried filling it with pofspew and right now it seems to make no difference with loading times.

However, as Turey said, and Taylor has told me elsewhere, in coming iterations it will take so long to create that you definitely won't want to delete it. In fact, there's a good chance that future install distributions will ship with a cache folder full of ibx files. This will add to the distribution size, but so be it.

[WMCoolmon]

@WMC:
I've been wondering... the "cache" folder, which is found in both FS2\data and FS2\<moddir>\data , what is its function?

Sorry I missed this question. I think it's already been answered, but I'll reiterate anyways.

The 'cache' folder is currently only used for IBX files. These files can be generated by any computer, and their main use is that they enable a model to be more or less directly loaded into memory, in a format that is compatible with the new HT&L architecture of fs2_open. If ibx files don't exist for a model, then FS2_Open will have to autoconvert the old model data to make the IBX file. This takes a long time.

Taylor's been focusing on the IBX code ever since it's been released, so by now it's pretty reliable. Even if you modify or replace a model, you should only have to delete the IBX files if something about the system causes file corruption (For example, a power outage or dying hard disk).

Generally when you distribute a model made for fs2_open, you should also distribute the IBX file so that people don't have to wait for the model data to be converted. Hopefully, the POF file format will eventually be upgraded to contain the data; but since there's no good support for the existing POF generation programs, it's not near as high of a priority as most of the other stuff on taylor's list. (And Bobb is generally busy)