[StargateSpankyHam]

Is there an easy way to create lumps of background nebulae? I tried doing it manually via the background editor once, but it was infinitely too time-consuming. Does anything exist to randomly generate 'X' number of random nebula chunks, randomize their position, size, and rotation, and stick it into FRED? A sky-generator, if you will?

Also, as I am working on a campaign which (among other things) involves a return to Gamma Draconis, would it be possible to import the Gamma Draconis sky into my mission?

Thanks in advance.

[headdie]

loading the GD skybox would be comparatively easy, open the root (i think) VP using something like vpview extract a mission from it into a normal folder then you have two options.

Option 1. you can open the retail mission in fred and note down the nebular types and position for adding into your mission

Option 2. [THIS METHOD CAN BRAKE YOUR NEW MISSION FILE SO BACK UP FIRST] Mission files are in plane text so you can, create your mission, open the retail mission in notepad or something similar, look for the background information and copy/past the information into your new mission in the same area.  Having done that you should be able to open your mission in fred.  Just pray you haven't broken anything in the file.

As for random generators i dont know of one but tbh basic backgrounds dont take long with a little practice

p.s.
(I dont know if had a predefined layouts for the different systems)

[The E]

If you take a look at Singh's background Emporium, that's essentially a collection of backgrounds you can paste into your mission.

Or, you can use the "Import" button in FRED's background editor to essentially load a background from another mission.

[Dragon]

There was also a random nebula generator somewhere, but I never could get it to work.
It would be quite usefull if it was redone a bit and maybe even integrated into FRED.
Alternatively, you could try to be realistic and use HT's starfield with no nebulae except a few that you would find nessesary during designing the sector.
And don't forget to reuse nebuae you made for one sector in all missions that happen there, not to mention importing nebulae from FSPort, ST and FS2 main campaign (the version enhanced by Mediavps) for canon systems.

[StargateSpankyHam]

Great resources everyone. I really like the Nebula Emporium.

Unfortunately, since I did a rather hasty merging of the Inferno files into the regular FS2 files, I now have all Inferno nebulae. In fact, I have pretty much Inferno everything, but with fewer Inferno ships, and primarily FS2 original ships. Since most of these missions occur in canon systems, I need to get the regular FS2 SCP background nebulae back for the import function to work as intended.

I had hoped that opening the contents of MV_effects.vp and extracting the tables and effects files into their respective directories under my duplicate copy of FS2's "Data" folder would have worked, but apparently it does not. Where is the .tbl file with all the allowed nebulae listed? I need to merge the default SCP ones with mine, thus allowing both sets of nebulae to be rendered if need be.

Importing the sky of a FS2 mission works fine, as the incredibly tedious part IS the positioning and orientation of the background nebulae. Worst case scenario, I could take screenshots of my unmodified FS2 SCP missions in Vega, Gamma Draconis, Capella, etc, and then select background nebulae that are approximately the same color. At worst, the duplication time goes to a few minutes, instead of several hours (and although not a perfect duplicate, it should be close enough). The background emporium is especially promising, as there are pre-given positions and orientations for massive numbers of nebulae clusters.

Also, something that has been bugging me: A supernova will leave behind a nebula, but how fast does such a nebula usually expand? How much of Capella would be a full nebula after about three days? Most importantly, would the extremeties of that nebula be cold enough to safely fly through?

Thanks again guys.

[General Battuta]

wut

Why don't you just make your mod dependent on the MediaVPs via a mod.ini?

[The E]

Yeah......You just violated just about every written and non-written rule for mod building.

Here's what you need to do.

1: Delete the data folder in your FS2 main directory.
2: Delete all non-retail vp files from the main FS2 directory (except for the multi vps and the fs2oggcutscenepack, if you have those)
3: Create a new folder for your own mod.
4: In that folder, create a txt file called mod.ini. Paste the following text into it:

Code: [Select]

[multimod]
secondarylist = mediavps;5: If you select that mod folder in the Launcher's mod tab, it will automatically load the mediavps as well as your own mod data.
6: Create the data\ folder hierarchy in your mod folder as required. Fill it up with the assets you wish to use from other mods.
7: Get 3.6.12 RC2. The FRED build included there is able to read the same config files FS2 uses, so if you have set a mod for FS2, FRED will automatically load the same mod.

Note that if you do it this way, you won't have to extract stuff from the mediavps, as it is already part of your mod through the mod.ini.
Also note that unless otherwise noted, the mediavps are the only mod you should include this way.

Another thing to note is that when building a new mod, you should always use debug builds, as they will notify you of any errors in your tables or other mod assets. If you don't know how to fix them, post in FS Modding and ask for help.