[The_cranky_hermit]

I bought both Freespace games on www.gog.com a couple of days ago. Today, I downloaded the FSOInstaller and installed it to a new folder that I called "fsoi." For the time being, I have three folders:
"FS1" - contains the GoG installation of FreeSpace 1. Weighs 1.48GB.
"FS2" - contains the GoG installation of FreeSpace 2. Weighs 2.48GB.
"fsoi" - contains the ultimate result of using the FSOInstaller. Plus the files OpenAL32.dll and wrap_oal.dll thrown in. Weighs 2.37GB.

I've made backups of all of these so that I have snapshots for everything that represent pre-monkeying around.

Anyway, I'm a little confused about what I need to do next. I have two goals in mind. The first goal is to make FS1, ST, and FS2 not only playable, but also to have the best possible graphics, gameplay, etc. without losing any aspects or elements of the orignals. The second goal is more esoteric and perhaps more OCD-inspired - I'll talk about it once I'm satisfied that I've completed the first one.

Anyway, what do I need to do to accomplish the first goal? The guides available AFAIK don't really say what to do if you have the GoG versions. I've tried copying everything from the FS1 and FS2 directories into the fsoi directory. The games appear to be playable, but am I missing anything by doing it this way? I suspect I am. Furthermore, did I copy any data that isn't useful to FSO and/or redundant? I suspect I am.

Basically, I want to know which files from the FS1 and FS2 directories should be copied over the the fsoi directory, and where they go. I've been trying to use the available information, but sifting through it for info that's both up to data and relevant to the GoG versions is giving me a headache.

[Turey]

First of all, you shouldn't need to copy anything from the FS1 folder into any other folder. End of Story.

You need to copy the following files from FS2 to FSO:
root_fs2.vp
sparky_fs2.vp
sparky_hi_fs2.vp
stu_fs2.vp
warble_fs2.vp
smarty_fs2.vp
tango1_fs2.vp
tango2_fs2.vp
tango3_fs2.vp

And you should be good to go. You can also copy any .exe file in FS2 to FSO, and then delete FS2 entirely, as you'll be able to run FSO and FS2 from the same folder if you so desire.

If you have any other questions, just ask.

P.S. You are one of the most organized and intelligent newbies I've seen in a long time, and that really makes things easier on us.

[karajorma]

Doesn't that mean he'll have to download the movies rather than simply copying them from the GOG install?

[FUBAR-BDHR]

Wouldn't it be make more sense to copy all the files/directories in the FS2_Open installer directory to the GoG FS2 directory?  Or hasn't this been tried yet? 

[Herra Tohtori]

Wouldn't it be make more sense to copy all the files/directories in the FS2_Open installer directory to the GoG FS2 directory?  Or hasn't this been tried yet? 

Technically, that's what the FSO Installer is supposed to do over existing FS2 installation...

I don't think it makes any difference what files you move where but essentially you need to combine the FS2 and FSO-installer directories.

[chief1983]

Also, the installer should still provide the OGG cutscenes, since I believe future SCP versions will be removing the MVE support they're cooler.  But using the ones from the GOG install will work just fine.

[karajorma]

Why would we remove MVE support? Lots of people use them.

[chief1983]

Ok, my bad then.  I thought that MVE had to go through directshow, and OGG didn't.  I guess it was AVI support I was thinking of.

[The_cranky_hermit]

Thanks! I do have a couple more questions out of curiosity. I've been looking at the data within the FS2 directory. Aside from the data in the base that I copied over, there's three folders - data, data2, and data3. Data contains a whole mess of nothing. Data2 and data3 have some redundant data, but there are also two "new" files - tangoA_fs2.vp and tangoB_fs2.vp. What are these?

There are also ten files ending in .MVE:
BASTION.MVE
COLOSSUS.MVE
ENDPART1.MVE
ENDPRT2A.MVE
ENDPRT2B.MVE
INTRO.MVE
MONO1.MVE
MONO2.MVE
MONO3.MVE
MONO4.MVE

These are movie files, right? Total filesize is 692MB. There's also a file in fsoi "FS2OGGcutscenepack.vp" that weighs 251MB. I'm assuming that this contains all ten movie files, but recompressed?

If I deleted FS2OGGcutscenepack.vp and copied the MVE files over instead, would FSO play the MVEs instead? And if so, what are the pros and cons of doing that?

[Jeff Vader]

but there are also two "new" files - tangoA_fs2.vp and tangoB_fs2.vp. What are these?

I've heard of them before, but can't quite remember what they are immediately. They are retail files. I still don't quite know what their purpose is, but at least I don't have them and I also haven't had any related problems.

There are also ten files ending in .MVE:
BASTION.MVE
COLOSSUS.MVE
ENDPART1.MVE
ENDPRT2A.MVE
ENDPRT2B.MVE
INTRO.MVE
MONO1.MVE
MONO2.MVE
MONO3.MVE
MONO4.MVE

These are movie files, right? Total filesize is 692MB.

Correct. The cutscenes in the original .mve format. They will play in-game, if they're placed to \data\movies\.

There's also a file in fsoi "FS2OGGcutscenepack.vp" that weighs 251MB. I'm assuming that this contains all ten movie files, but recompressed?

The cutscenes converted to Ogg Theora and packed to a .vp file for convenient usage. The cutscenes will play in-game, if the .vp is placed to the root \freespace2\ folder and if you play FSO in OpenGL.

If I deleted FS2OGGcutscenepack.vp and copied the MVE files over instead, would FSO play the MVEs instead?

It is actually a matter of priority. Since \data\ is read before the .vp files in \freespace2\, just placing the .mve files to \data\movies\ will cause the game engine to play them instead of the .ogg ones (unless I'm mistaken and the game engine is cranky about file formats concerning videos).

And if so, what are the pros and cons of doing that?

Pros: Slighty better image quality (normal people might not notice, but hi-fi people are guaranteed to achieve visual orgasm).
Cons: Take more disk space compared to the .ogg ones.

[Turey]

With regards to the cutscene issue:

When I installed the GOG version of the game several days ago, the cutscenes were broken. Neither the GOG exe nor 3.6.9 could play them. I posted on their forums, but haven't heard back. I assume it's a problem with their install, which is why I didn't have him copy them over.