[Art Kelson]

***First steps and how to set up a Mod - A user guide for beginners***

The Information given to you in this guide is based on informations from Carl, the local resident Shivan. It´s about setting up a Mod with the 3.6.8z SCP build. It might work with 3.6.10 or it won´t. All the information may be not up to date at a certain stage, but i´ll try my best to always keep it updated.

The intention of this Tutorial is, to make it easier for new Modders to set up a mod and to understand the very basics of modding FS2 and/or SCP.

1. What you need ?

Well most People will advice you to first consult the Freespace Oracel, made by @Karajorma...

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/karajorma/FAQ/modding.html

...or the HLP Wiki...

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Portal:Modding

...the Problem that i had when first consulting thoose two Sides, was, there was so much information that it first caused more confusion, then it did help me. That´s not because it´s to complicated or to much to read. It´s just because there´s so much information, it might overflow your head.

The next Thing you want to do is get the Tools you need. I´ll just quickly introduce you into the Tools i´m using and link them, so you might easily find them. You can mod almost anything with this Tools, excepting texturing and poffing Ships.

I. Notepad++

http://www.download.com/Notepad-/3000-2352_4-10327521.html

This is basically the same as Notepad on your Windows Installation, but with a whole lot of new Functions that eas up browsing through textfiles and modifie them.

II. Dragon Unpacker

http://sourceforge.net/projects/dragonunpacker

It´s a Tool you need to unpack the .vp Files coming with Freespace2 or the Source Code Project (SCP). It´s easy to use and compatible with almost any packaging Format.

III. VP Viewer + VP Builder

http://www.descent-network.com/cgi-bin/descman.cgi?module=vpview

http://www.descent-network.com/cgi-bin/descman.cgi?module=vppbuilder

Thoose are needed to view and unpack the .vp Files in FS2 and to later make new .VP Files, if your mod is set up.

IV. VP Mage

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/VPMage

A Tool that does the same as VPview and VPBuilder. More easy to use, but not as complex as VPmaker and Viewer.

V. Quick VP

http://scp.indiegames.us/download.php?view.124

It´s the Tool i prefer to view and extract VP Files. But it has limited capacitys.

VII. Anibuilder+Aniviewer

http://www.descent-network.com/cgi-bin/descman.cgi?module=anibuilder

http://www.descent-network.com/cgi-bin/descman.cgi?module=aniview

Thoose Tools are needed to make or view Animations, that come shiped with the Game, or thoose you made by yourself.

VIII. Modelviewer

http://www.descent-network.com/cgi-bin/descman.cgi?module=modelview

A very basic tool to view models. Not compatible with the latest updates, but still a good tool for beginners.

IX. The Gimp + Irfanview

http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

http://www.download.com/IrfanView/3000-2192_4-10021962.html?part=dl-IrfanView&subj=dl&tag=button&cdlPid=10755180

Booth Tools are used to "pimp" your Pictures and to convert Pictures into another Format, specially the .pcx Format, used by the FS2 Engine which you need to build Animations.

X. Spartac 3D Map

http://www.axelrogat.de/spartac/

This tool has nothing to do with FS2 or modding it, at all. But it comes in very handy, if your planning to build a Campaign and want informations about Star Systems in our milky Way Galaxy. It´s in German, but very easy to use.

You probably ask..."do i need all the Tools ?"...well actually you don´t, but believe me when i tell you, that all of them come in very handy. Some have more features but are more fiddling. Others are easy to use and so can speed up the modding Process.

The last thing you want to get is a decent SCP Build. I prefer @Karajormas 3.6.8z Build, because 3.6.10 is still Beta. You get it here...

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,39905.0.html

...it´s a very stable Build. And i didn´t get any Bugs with it. So you have to decide if you want to build your Mod on the most recent Build or the 3.6.8z one.

2. What to do now ?

Now that you got all the needed Tools, you first need to install SCP and set up your Mod. You probably want to build your Mod based on SCP rather then Retail FS2. So let´s start...

I. Install your copy of Freespace 2
II. Create a Folder named "mediavps", in X:\...\Freespace2\
III. Copy the SCP Build .exes and the Launcher into your Freespace2 Folder
IV. Copy the Mediavps Files into the "mediavps" Folder, inside your Freespace2 Folder
V. Now create a Folder with your Mods Name, f.e. "ShizzleManizzleFezizzleMod", inside Freespace2 (this is where all your extracted Modfiles will go)
VI. Now start the Launcher, set up your Game and choose your Mod in the "Mod" Tab.
VII. Create a shortcut to Desktop for booth...fred2_open_3.6.9.exe and fs2_open_3.6.9.exe (the same if you use 3.6.10)
VIII. right click at the fred2_open Shortcut and put the following code in the "Target" Section, leaving one space free...

Code: [Select]

-fredhtl -mod (yourModNameHere),Mediavps -spec -glow -env -mipmap
IX. Now you want to create a Mod.ini inside your Mods Folder, with the following example code...

[launcher]
image255x112 = ShizzleManizzleFazizzleModPicture.bmp;
infotext     = Freespace 2 - ShizzleManizzleFazizzle Mod, introducing noob nooby Dog, 45 cent and Eminator...beware Shivans, they come from the Ghetto...;
website      = www.shizzlemanizzlefazizzle.com ;
forum        = http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,XXXXX.X.html;

[multimod]
primarylist  = ;
secondarylist = ,mediavps;

...change everything to your belongs and save the file.

X. Bingo, your know able to build a Mod/Campaign with the enhanced Features of FCP-Freespace and it´s Mediavps Files.

3. Muaaahahhhaaaaarrr...now i can make the best mod ever !!!

Well not so fast. You only did the Setup, you probably also want to know how to actually mod the Game.

I. First, create a Folder where ever you want and name it f.e. "Workshop"
II. Now copy all the .vps Files inside your Freespace2 Folder, into your newly created Workshop Folder
III. start Quick VP (which you installed before) and browse trough the .vp Files, just to get a feeling for them
IV. start extracting the "Data" Folders in every single .vp File, into your Workshop Folder. Simply override whenever you extract another .vp File
V. The Endresult should be a "data" Folder inside your Workshop, that includes ALL FS2 Files in their correct Tree structure
VI . (optional) now delete all .vps in your Workshop and  repeat step III-IV for the Mediavps.vps, shipped with your choosen SCP Build

It´s not necessarily usefull to extract the mediavps. But you need to, if you later get more experienced and also want to modifie some of the mediavps content.

VII. The "data" Folder inside your workshop should now contain all information that would be used if you just simply play the game with SCP. To use the files after you modded them, you have to keep up the correct tree hierarchie of the folders inside "data" and then copy the files (correctly structured) into x:\...freespace2\yourModhere...

4. But now i´m ready to go ?

Yes you are. That says, if you already managed to handle all the tools and know which files they use. Notice that this tutorial is only about setting up a mod and a basic starting, not creating new Models etc. There are lots of very cool Ships and Models, which are free to use, as long as you give correct Credits. Just look here...

http://sectorgame.com/f2s/downloads.php?action=category&id=6

...consult the HLP Wiki for even more links and other Stuff you could use, like Weapons, Skybox Backgrounds and new Stars or Planets.

5. Is this Mod School ?

I think so. Otherwise it would be named Rock School and was about making Rockmusic. (Forgot to put in Megasmilie, so that people actually recognizing, i´m not trying to teach anyone, but to make a joke) 

Following Files are needed to mod the Game for the greatest impact, browse for them in the X.\workshop\data\tables...

ships.tbl (used to mod the Ships or if you want to include new ones)
weapons.tbl (used to mod the weapons or if you want to include new ones)
tstrings.tbl (used for the History Section and all ingame text related Stuff)
species.tbl (used as reference for the tstrings.tbl and to mod the Species)
stars.tbl (used to mod the Stars, Planets and Skybox Background or if you want to include new ones)

...if your planning new Animations, you´ll find them in...x:\...data\intelanims

The most easy way to include thoose Anis, is just to replace them in your Mods "intelanims" Folder , giving them the same name as original intelanims. But your also able to give them new names and then refer to them in tstrings.tbl and species.tbl or other corresponding Files. I think you´ll learn how to do that, as soon as you browsed through that Files.

Making Anis is very easy, but if you want  to make decent ones, it´s a very time consuming process. Basically you make Pictures and/or Videos (split the Videos in single Pictures), convert them to .pcx format with Irfanview, name them 0000.pcx-0100.pcx (depending on how many Pictures you use) and then build the Animations with Anibuilder Tool. I don´t think i have to explain how to use Anibuilder, because it´s pretty self explaining once your started it.

Ok, that´s basically it. You edit all the .tbl Files with Notepad or Notepad++ save them and then put them into your Mods Folder (with correct Folder Structure). There are some things you finally should know.

I. The Ships.tbl is limited to 1 MB of Size. If you exceed the 1 MB kb limit, your Mod will probably crash the Game. Also have a look to where you place the new Ships, if your planning to use some. Don´t put them just at the end of the File, but rather into their correct Sections...like Terran Fighters at the End of the Terran Fighters Section.

II. If you put in new Weapons, don´t forget that you also have to activate them in the ships.tbl....looks like this:

$Allowed PBanks:        ( "TC-XW.30mm" "TC-SDC.500" "Morning Star" "LC-PG.3000" "Prometheus R" "Lamprey" "Circe" "Maxim" "Targeting Laser")
$Allowed Dogfight PBanks:        ( "Subach HL-D" "Prometheus D" )
$Default PBanks:        ( "TC-XW.30mm" "LC-PG.3000" )
$Allowed SBanks:        ( "Rockeye" "Tempest"  "Hornet" "Tornado" "Hornet#Weak" "LC-FLM.19" "Harpoon#Weak" "EMP Adv." "TAG-A" )

...this is where you also have to put in the new Weapons, or if you altered the orignals Names, then you have to replace the originals here.

III. The tstrings.tbl is where alle the text information for all the other .tbl Files goes. So if you f.e. read a Tech Description in the Ships.tbl...this is not the one the Game uses. Look at the Numbers in Ships.tbl and then refer to them in tstrings.tbl. This is the place where you then want to make your text based changes. If you have a different localization, you will get always two of the same Numbers inside the tstrings.tbl...one for english the second for foreign Languages. Don´t forget about that if you have f.e. a French Version of Game and want to make a Mod for english speaking People. You need to change booth localizations to prevent Bugs and/or english People from reading French Language...

IV. If you, of which ever Reason, planning to exclude the Main Campaign (in total Conversions f.e.), you´ll have to extract all Missions inside...

x:\...freespace2\root_fs2.vp
x:\...freespace2\mediavps\mv_core.vp
x:\...freespace2\mediavps\mv_models.vp

...then open FreeSpace2.FC2 and delete everythig inside of it, save the file. Do the same for any singlepayer missionfile. If you emptied all the Files put them into your Mods \missions Folder and there you go, main campaign excluded. The Multiplayer missions, however, are still included. You could also delete their content, to have a "clean" Campaign Section and/or Singleplayer Section.

V. Finally don´t forget to credit others work inside your Readme and/or release Thread, if your planning to use some. It´s a essential part of any Mod Community to give correct Credits. Honour the Work of others and yours will be honoured. Help others with their work and they may help you workig on yours.

Final Word

I have to say thanks to Karajorma, Jr2 and all the other community members that helped me out so far. This tutorial wouldn´t be possible without their suggestions and helpfull posts. Note that this is not the last instance to learn modding FS2. It teaches you the very basics. To improve your knowledge you still want to consult Karajormas Oracel and/or the Wiki.

Greets Art

[Wanderer]

Very nice... though there are couple of things worth mentioning..

First... Modelview vs PCS2... Though granted that modelview allows you to view models but nothing should be edited with it.

Second... AFAIK there is no longer filesize limit for the table files. There are limits on the number of entries in the tables though.

Third... the procedure of unpacking all retail and mediavp files is rather rarely needed.

Fourth (related to third) modular tables files...

[Droid803]

nice.

[griffon67]

once corrected, should we sticky this thread ?

[Art Kelson]

First... Modelview vs PCS2... Though granted that modelview allows you to view models but nothing should be edited with it.

That´s correct. But i thought i also post it, since it´s more usefull to take a look at Models, rather then a simple Screenshot.

Second... AFAIK there is no longer filesize limit for the table files.

You mean like in 3.6.10 or also 3.6.8z ? I can exceed ships.tbl with 3.6.8z ? My last Information was, that i can´t...going to try that...

Third... the procedure of unpacking all retail and mediavp files is rather rarely needed.

That´s also correct. But i didn´t found another way to exclude the Main Campaign...do you have another solution ? Then i could change it.

Fourth (related to third) modular tables files...

What do you mean with modular tables files...never heard about that.

[WMCoolmon]

I just excluded anything Mission related and then repacked the Files and replaced the originals. So that basically says i have to include thoose new packed .vp Files in my mod...is there a Problem with this ?

Yes. It's been common practice for the last several years to never, ever modify your retail VP files (or by extension the mediaVPs). It never does anything good for you, and it'll cause all hell to break loose when you release your mods.

Further, it's never a good idea to just delete your root_fs2.vp. If you're making a TC, you extract the files somewhere else.

Deleting the description of ships in the tables isn't going to do anything for the SCP. Unless you're including a short story with every ship, it's extremely unlikely that you're going to run into any problems. Ships.tbl is about 374 kB, and the limit now is more like 1 MB.

You don't need to get rid of the Freespace 2 main campaign to change anything.

You can override _all_ of the files in the VP files just by putting a file in the same place in the data directory or an active mod directory with the same name. You can override parts of individual entries in ships.tbl or weapons.tbl using modular tables.

Modelview won't open many of the models in the MediaVPs, but PCS2 will. People have also generally found Maja easier to use than VP Mage.

I'm not quite sure what you're trying to achieve (I read the "Problem with Main Campaign" thread) but the vagueness of your goals is kind of scaring me right now. Writing a tutorial with these kind of misconceptions floating around is liable to cause people to screw up their FS2 installation. Plus, you're still learning the basics of modding. It feels like somebody has taken one semester of physics and is offering to write a textbook. You have to know what you do and don't know before you start trying to teach others.

Making or working on a mod is a good way to learn that, because you'll realize what does and doesn't work.

[Art Kelson]

Yes. It's been common practice for the last several years to never, ever modify your retail VP files (or by extension the mediaVPs). It never does anything good for you, and it'll cause all hell to break loose when you release your mods.

So copyright problems. If it´s so dramatically, why didn´t someone else answered it before i made thoose changes ? You know, talking about user friendliness and answering Questions to Noobs...

Further, it's never a good idea to just delete your root_fs2.vp. If you're making a TC, you extract the files somewhere else.

That´s what i did. Never said that i deleted the root_fs.vp. The Files got extracted somewhere else, then i repacked the root file and put the modified one into my Mods Folder.

You can override _all_ of the files in the VP files just by putting a file in the same place in the data directory or an active mod directory with the same name. You can override parts of individual entries in ships.tbl or weapons.tbl using modular tables.

Do you know that i´m asking for this since over two Weeks. It would have spared me a whole lot of time and work, if someone would just have answered...whatever...saving 188 MB was worth the effort.

Modelview won't open many of the models in the MediaVPs, but PCS2 will. People have also generally found Maja easier to use than VP Mage.

The Tools work perfectly for me. I´m sure if the "Beginners" increased their modding capabilitys, they will refer to the better Tools.

I'm not quite sure what you're trying to achieve (I read the "Problem with Main Campaign" thread) but the vagueness of your goals is kind of scaring me right now.

I´m not sure why people always over and over again ask this question. You know, it feels like i have to justifie to what i´m doing. It´s in my head, you know and it wants to be released...it´s there since 17 Years and FCP let´s me do it...

Writing a tutorial with these kind of misconceptions floating around is liable to cause people to screw up their FS2 installation.

Missconceptions ? Oh come on...all i did was refering to my FSAR Thread and the answers some others gave me, how to set up a mod and install a mod. I´m also refering to 3.6.8z, not the newest build.

It feels like somebody has taken one semester of physics and is offering to write a textbook.

To me it feels like the try, to give other Newbies a easier start into modding FS2, without the very time consuming process i had to go trough, about a year ago.

You have to know what you do and don't know before you start trying to teach others.

I don´t teach anyone. I simply posted what others shared with me and then put it into a single post, that´s all. No teaching, no competition, no whateveritions...just some user friendliness...

I have to be honest and have to say that some of you don´t make it easy for one, to make a new Mod. It´s like there is a barrier that says no to new Modders and/or Campaign creators.

I´m still wondering why i always get asked what i´m doing...i´m just trying to express my own universe...is there a problem with that...

Edit: Thanks @WCCoolmon. I just extracted the Missions and deleted their content, put the files into my Mods/Missions Folder and it did what it should. I wish you could see the grin on my face i´m having now...thanks again...

Going to change the first Post.

[Water]

Yes. It's been common practice for the last several years to never, ever modify your retail VP files (or by extension the mediaVPs). It never does anything good for you, and it'll cause all hell to break loose when you release your mods.

So copyright problems. If it´s so dramatically, why didn't someone else answered it before i made thoose changes ? You know, talking about user friendliness and answering Questions to Noobs...

Basically it becomes a file management issue - not copyright. If you can't keep track of which files have been altered it leads to problems when some are missing for others. It will of course work fine on your machine 

On the helpfulness side. Something as simple as the title you choose for your topic will determine who reads it. Some people are interested in campaigns and Fred, others are not. For me "modding" is ships and textures, for others code and scripts. So the same word leads to different worlds.

The list seems to have four vp tools all spread out. Sometimes for beginners too much choice can be bad. Group them together, give a recommendation, and for the others a notable reason for its inclusion.

For a model viewer - PCS2 handles high poly models that Modelview can't touch.

I have to be honest and have to say that some of you don´t make it easy for one, to make a new Mod. It´s like there is a barrier that says no to new Modders and/or Campaign creators.

That may be true, there is a lot of info available and over time, some of it goes stale and becomes the wrong way. There is not much you can do about it except test the new info, if it is better, adopt it and move on.

[Akalabeth Angel]

I have to be honest and have to say that some of you don´t make it easy for one, to make a new Mod. It´s like there is a barrier that says no to new Modders and/or Campaign creators.

          People aren't wary of new mods, they're wary of new mods that will never get finished. Which is the route that most overly ambitious, single person crew mods go. You're free to do what you like however. But you will get a slew of people saying "join another mod instead of starting you're own".

[Flaming_Sword]

I have to be honest and have to say that some of you don´t make it easy for one, to make a new Mod. It´s like there is a barrier that says no to new Modders and/or Campaign creators.

          People aren't wary of new mods, they're wary of new mods that will never get finished. Which is the route that most overly ambitious, single person crew mods go. You're free to do what you like however. But you will get a slew of people saying "join another mod instead of starting you're own".

See here for a recent example.

Knowing this, for my mod, I chose to release works-in-progress when I reach certain milestones (my second release is coming, I swear. ). This way if the project ever dies before completion, there's already something out there which achieves lesser ambitions (and can be called 'finished', more or less).

[FreeSpaceFreak]

Only one question so far: what's a Mod.ini? How to create .ini files?

[Water]

Only one question so far: what's a Mod.ini? How to create .ini files?

Gives the launcher special settings for your mod. eg. Media vps

Notepad
Search for "IX" in this page for an example.

[FreeSpaceFreak]

You can only do that in Notepad++, right? Got to download it sometime then...

[Flipside]

I won't sticky this immediately, but it looks very promising. Nice work

[WMCoolmon]

So copyright problems. If it´s so dramatically, why didn´t someone else answered it before i made thoose changes ? You know, talking about user friendliness and answering Questions to Noobs...

...


Do you know that i´m asking for this since over two Weeks. It would have spared me a whole lot of time and work, if someone would just have answered...whatever...saving 188 MB was worth the effort.

Well, as stated above, it's not really copyright problems. AS far as no one answering before, I just saw the thread you posted when I responded - I usually don't frequent the modding forum because it seems to do a pretty good job of taking care of itself. It is pretty hard to find answers to specific questions but Karajorma's FAQ and the other resources do try. If you're serious about trying to improve the situation for newbies, look at the Freespace Wiki forum. One of the downsides to all of the tutorials is that people frequently write them and then move on, and they end up being incomplete or go out-of-date. People also tend to be very critical of stuff on the wiki so you might end up having your stuff get refined more.

I´m not sure why people always over and over again ask this question. You know, it feels like i have to justifie to what i´m doing. It´s in my head, you know and it wants to be released...it´s there since 17 Years and FCP let´s me do it...

Well I wasn't actually talking about that, I was just talking about that you seem to be trying to make a new mod and make a modding tutorial at the same time. It's not a bad idea, but the questions are mixed together so I can't tell what project you're asking what for. I would change my answers depending on what it's for, since it might be appropriate to do something in a specific case but not as a general rule.

To me it feels like the try, to give other Newbies a easier start into modding FS2, without the very time consuming process i had to go trough, about a year ago.

...

I don´t teach anyone. I simply posted what others shared with me and then put it into a single post, that´s all. No teaching, no competition, no whateveritions...just some user friendliness...

Well, the two aren't exclusive. I was always frustrated with my physics' textbook way of wording things, although I learned to adapt to it as time went on. But there's a lot of stuff on a basic level that changes all of a sudden once you get to more extreme and unusual circumstances. So if you give somebody a formula without giving them a derivation, they may end up high and dry on some later part because they need that critical derivation to make sense of stuff.

I can't help but directly disagree with you on teaching. If you expect people to learn from the thread then you are teaching them, which by extension makes you a teacher. If you really want to just pass on what people said, then you ought to link back to the posts where people were saying what they did. By putting it here you're reinterpreting it and putting it in a totally different context.

I have to be honest and have to say that some of you don´t make it easy for one, to make a new Mod. It´s like there is a barrier that says no to new Modders and/or Campaign creators.

I´m still wondering why i always get asked what i´m doing...i´m just trying to express my own universe...is there a problem with that...

I actually agree with you there. Most people want to get stuff done and they have a limited amount of time to work on this. I don't think it's deliberate but it does mean that there tends to be a lack of information for new users. However if you're going to post information for new users, it has to be information that solves their questions and doesn't run the risk of them getting stuck in a situation that they don't understand. Once that happens, it's a time-consuming process - sometimes taking several days as people wait on the other person to post - that ends up taking more time than if they'd just asked how to do it in the first place.

I think people are pretty good about answering questions here if you just ask. People will be rude if they think it's a dumb question or that you didn't even try to figure out the answer on your own, but they do usually give you the answer and don't hold it against you if you show signs of improvement.

[Art Kelson]

People aren't wary of new mods, they're wary of new mods that will never get finished. Which is the route that most overly ambitious, single person crew mods go. You're free to do what you like however. But you will get a slew of people saying "join another mod instead of starting you're own".

I know what you´re saying...the hibernating issues. Don´t think I wouldn´t see that lots of Mods/Campaigns didn´t get finished at all. I also see People with big ambitions (me included), maybe sometimes to big for a single Person. But I think, in my case,...yeah i can do that...i´ve already gone a far way with my project and now it´s to late to just abandon it.

And to join another project is a good thing. But I like to be "creatively" free...that´s also a reason why I want to completely exclude any information of the retail game. I want to make my mod without creativ/expressional and "Canonial" limits...

Knowing this, for my mod, I chose to release works-in-progress when I reach certain milestones (my second release is coming, I swear. ). This way if the project ever dies before completion, there's already something out there which achieves lesser ambitions (and can be called 'finished', more or less).

That´s basically the same what I do. I always have a hand written list around, with goals i want to achieve for the next release. But you know...i´m a single person who needs to 1. make the whole mod, 2. fred the whole campaign and 3. build the whole background story...and i´m not even done with part 3.

Only one question so far: what's a Mod.ini? How to create .ini files?

Here´s a little trick. Download a small campaign and use the .ini file coming with it. Now you only need to modifie it...

One of the downsides to all of the tutorials is that people frequently write them and then move on, and they end up being incomplete or go out-of-date.

Have to agree, though that wasn´t my intention to start that thread. I just wanted to do something for the community, as it already did a lot for me. I´m not planning to give up so fast, like the last time. So expect me to further improve the Tutorial and yeah...also my mod...

People also tend to be very critical of stuff on the wiki so you might end up having your stuff get refined more.

You mean like, i have some kind of responsibility now that i´ve openend that thread, because newbies will use it ? Good point, have to agree again. I´m trying to do my best.

Well I wasn't actually talking about that, I was just talking about that you seem to be trying to make a new mod and make a modding tutorial at the same time.

I´m just trying to keep all the informations together, compact in a single thread. It´s not only a help for me, but when improved, maybe also to other newbies. And I hope you agree, if I say, I have to start doing something before I can improve it...

I can't help but directly disagree with you on teaching. If you expect people to learn from the thread then you are teaching them, which by extension makes you a teacher. If you really want to just pass on what people said, then you ought to link back to the posts where people were saying what they did. By putting it here you're reinterpreting it and putting it in a totally different context.

Sounds logical. Can´t disagree. I´m tryin to improve.

However if you're going to post information for new users, it has to be information that solves their questions and doesn't run the risk of them getting stuck in a situation that they don't understand.

I think people are pretty good about answering questions here if you just ask. People will be rude if they think it's a dumb question or that you didn't even try to figure out the answer on your own, but they do usually give you the answer and don't hold it against you if you show signs of improvement.

Sorry but I had to laugh on that (ironical). It 100% states the Situation I was in, when starting to make my project. Do you know how often my questions on this forum got answered with another question. And yeah...often I was like..."oh come on, just answer the question"...

I hope my tutorial will help some of the new users and I hope they don´t get problems with what I write. All I can say, the way i wrote it worked for me and so it should work for others too.

I don´t know why. But somehow I feel like some people want me to go through that learning process and make my own experiences. But on the other hand, not directly answering questions, sometimes, rapidly slows down the mod making process for Newbies...

Going to modifie the first post again.

[Jeff Vader]

You can only do that in Notepad++, right? Got to download it sometime then...

.ini files are plain text. Just text that are interpreted as settings for the game engine. Any text editor will do. Notepad handles them well. Karajorma's FreeSpace FAQ has a section about using several mods simultaneously and the creation of mod.ini files is described there most accurately. Or, as it was said, you can download the SCP-fied Derelict, for example, and use the mod.ini that came with it. Just edit the copied file according to your needs.

Edit: The ninth (IX) part of the instructions on the first post also describe it pretty well, hmm.

Also, regarding to the tools list, I'd recommend you included VPView, which is a safe option for extracting stuff from vps, and Maja, which extracts and also creates vp files while also being cross-platform.

[Art Kelson]

Also, regarding to the tools list, I'd recommend you included VPView, which is a safe option for extracting stuff from vps, and Maja, which extracts and also creates vp files while also being cross-platform.

VPView is included. Will have a look at Maja, but I consider it not to be a "beginner" tool. That´s the initial reason I did not took it in.

[Stormkeeper]

This is good. Very good. Extremely helpful. This'll go a long way towards helping newbie mod makers.