[Jopi]

I've posted about these technical problems in other threads, but I think it might be for the best if I created a whole new thread.
First, I installed FS2 and patched it to version 1.2 as per instructed. Then I installed SCP build 3.6.7 and the launcher (v5.3), and configured the whole thing. No .vp files were installed at this point. The game itself was very unstable, crashes occured all the time.
Then I installed texture, model, effect and core .vps. I got the newest CVS build, and configured the Launcher to use it. The new effects work fine, but the crashing is still there. I think I saw someone mentioning that it crashes everytime there is a larger explosion (a big missile, or capital ship etc.), and I think that this might be the case.
Should I try to get an older build, see if one of them would be more stable? If so, would it be possible to use all the new models etc.?
I'd very much like to give the SCP a try, but at the moment I have no other choice than to stick with the retail.

[Mr_Maniac]

Hmm.. That's strange...
What builds were  you using?

What PC do you own? (RAM, CPU, GPU etc...)

[Jopi]

CVS Standard build 12/08/05 (from http://scp.indiegames.us/forum_viewtopic.php?6.685) and fs2_open 3.6.7.
My PC is a P3 800 Mhz, 512 Mb SDRAM, GeForce4 Ti4200 and Windows 2000 professional. I'm using OpenGL, because D3D causes a load of other problems. When the game crashes/locks up, it never gives any errors.

[CaptJosh]

You might want to get the 12/29/05 build.

[WMCoolmon]

That actually makes a certain amount of sense, you might try the 3.6.8-beta mediaVPs, you'll need the 12/29 CVS build tho.

[Jopi]

I downloaded the 3.6.7 media_vps and removed the original Freespace 2 vps. I played the first mission of the original campaign, and no problems! I was wondering, will the game have cutscenes without the original vps?
Another question, how do I install those new models, like the hi-poly Lucifer? Where do I extract the files?

[karajorma]

I downloaded the 3.6.7 media_vps and removed the original Freespace 2 vps. I played the first mission of the original campaign, and no problems!

  Don't do that. I'm surprised you got it to work at all if you did that. FS2_Open requires the original VP files. I very much doubt that you've done that good a job of removing them. With the original VP files gone FS2 doesn't have any art for the interface for instance.

I was wondering, will the game have cutscenes without the original vps?
Another question, how do I install those new models, like the hi-poly Lucifer? Where do I extract the files?

The cutscenes aren't in the VP files in the first place. They play off of the CDs in retail. Check my FAQ to see how to get them to play under FS2_Open. If you're refering to the Command Briefing animations well you removed those when you got rid of the retail VP files. As for how to install the lucifer I answered the exact same question here.

[Jopi]

  Don't do that. I'm surprised you got it to work at all if you did that. FS2_Open requires the original VP files. I very much doubt that you've done that good a job of removing them. With the original VP files gone FS2 doesn't have any art for the interface for instance.

I just dumped the in the games folder, in which the Freespace folder lies as well. I guess it looks for them there as well.

The cutscenes aren't in the VP files in the first place. They play off of the CDs in retail. Check my FAQ to see how to get them to play under FS2_Open. If you're refering to the Command Briefing animations well you removed those when you got rid of the retail VP files. As for how to install the lucifer I answered the exact same question here.

Thanks. I apparently had done it right, but it doesn't work in the retail. Now that the SCP seems to work (fingers crossed!) that shouldn't be a problem anymore.

[karajorma]

I just dumped the in the games folder, in which the Freespace folder lies as well. I guess it looks for them there as well.

Nope. It really doesn't. If you'd moved all the FS2 VP files you would have gotten this

Error:
Web cursor bitmap not found.  This is most likely due to one of three reasons:
   1) You're running Freespace Open from somewhere other than your Freespace 2 folder;
   2) You've somehow corrupted your Freespace 2 installation;
   3) You haven't installed Freespace 2 at all.
Number 1 can be fixed by simply moving the Freespace Open executable file to the Freespace 2 folder.  Numbers 2 and 3 can be fixed by installing or reinstalling Freespace 2.  If neither of these solutions fixes your problem, you've found a bug and should report it.
File:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\My Source Code\clean\fs2_open\code\graphics\2d.cpp
Line: 1434
[This filename points to the location of a file on the computer that built this executable]

Call stack:
------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------

You may have moved some of the VPs but you most certainly didn't remove the ones FS2 needs. What are the filenames of the VP files you did move?

[Jopi]

smarty_fs2, sparky_fs2, sparky_hi_fs2, stu_fs2, tango1_fs2, tango2_fs2, tango3_fs2 and warble_fs2.

I now moved them back there, and technically the game works perfectly. There's a problem though. In the mission where the Colossus makes it first appearance, it is supposed to destroy the Deimos class corvette Hawkwood. I waited some time, but the Colossus never fired a shot at it. Is this some sort of compatibility problem between the SCP and the original retail campaign?

[Wanderer]

Did you issue ignore my target command (with Hawkwood targetted) to all fighters during the mission?

[karajorma]

What wanderer says. This one is a bug from retail days. Although it's supposedly been fixed in SCP.

[Kie99]

I'm betting Jopi had already extracted all the files from the FS2 VPs to Data before removing them.

[Goober5000]

What wanderer says. This one is a bug from retail days. Although it's supposedly been fixed in SCP.

Not yet.

[Jopi]

Apparently I had thrown the vps to data\voice. That explains a lot.
I think that I told my squad mates to disarm the Hawkwood. I'll give it a new try, I just wanted to be sure that this isn't some kind of SEXP conflict between SCP and retail.