[gazzawazza]

Hi all...

I have only just discovered the joy of FS2_Open... and am still in the throes of getting my build / vp files together.

I tried the 3.6.7 stuff yesterday, which worked fine... I then decided today to have a go at the 3.6.8s.

Everything's gone ok... although I've seen some posts mentioning 3d shockwaves, slowdown, etc... and was wondering how to control the quality of the shockwave textures (and as I've not played the game properly yet with the latest mvps... I don't even know whether I've got the 3d shockwaves activated... or whether I might need a command line switch to get them running, etc).

Sorry if this is dumb question...


Thanks,

Gary

[Fenrir]

So long as you're not using mv_adveffects, the shockwaves you'll have are the medium quality ones. The best way to tell if you'll have slowdowns is to give the game a run. Just be sure to have a recent enough build and not to mix the 3.6.7 stuff with the 3.6.8 VP's.

Here's the thread with all of the different 3D shockwaves if you decide to up or downgrade at some point:
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,34618.0.html

Note that there's actually 8 different versions of it: A red and blue version of the four detail levels. The red ones are on the first post and the blue ones (like the one in the VP's) are about ten posts down on the sixth page.

[gazzawazza]

Hi Fenrir...

thanks for the quick and helpful response.

I must admit I'm using the advanced effects... and have also observed the shockwave (on the first mission where the Terran ship gets fragged by the vasundan cruiser glowing beam weapon coolness  )...

I suppose if I wanted to keep the advanced effects but only wanted a midrange shockwave - as it did get a bit jerky during the explosion - I'd need to fiddle with the contents of the advanced effects vp...

I've got VPMage... and have already had a nose inside the adeffects.vp... but don't really know where to go from there - I guess I'd try to load the contents of the shockwave file into the .vp file... having removed the existing shockwave data...

Anyhow, I might just check out the files you linked to anyway... and decide whether I can live without the advanced effects (although some of the lighting - like the shields and engines - are lush and I wouldn't wish to lose that)...

By the way, I'm using the latest optimised build (fs2_open_r-P420060116.exe)... but have noticed that there are sound effects missing (such as explosions)... have you encountered similar problems?

thanks again,

Gaz

[Fenrir]

You don't need to actually replace anything in the VP's. If you want all the Adveffect stuff without the shockwaves, just extract all the contents of the adveffect VP to the corresponding folders in the data folder. Keep in mind that what would REALLY slow things down in the adveffects pack is not the shockwaves but the animated glowmaps.

The adveffects VP doesn't actually contain the engine effects, lighting effects, and so forth, so you won't loose any of that by removing the VP. A complete list of what exactly is in there can be found in the 3.6.8 delta thread.

[gazzawazza]

Hi Fenrir.

thanks for the info - what I've done is what the Wiki calls a global install, so haven't used the data folder.

I was under the impression that the data folder gets used if you want to run the original and open in parallel (treating open as a mod)... but I can't do that anyway, as the launcher / FS2open doesn't like spaces in the filepath.

Please correct me if this is wrong... I do recall reading somewhere that FS2 polls different file locations, looking for data... so maybe I could 'distribute' stuff between the FS2 root and the data subfolders...

Just for my knowledge and understanding, could you explain what some of the effects do - for example, what do the glowmaps do (and are they specific to D3D or OGL) and would I be losing out by not having the animated glowmaps... and I've guessed / concluded that the shinemaps are for lighting on the models (??)...

Also, if you could suggest what's good to have and what can be dispensed with, it could help me.

Finally (I hope my questions aren't too irritating), it might just be my installation (and needing to do a fresh one)... but as i mentioned before, I seem to have a partial issue with sounds when using both standard and optimised builds 16012006... and I also noticed, despite using version 3.6.8... the game reckons it's using 3.6.7. Additionally, I tried rolling back to 3.6.7... and found the sounds ok... so there's either a problem with the 3.6.8 core, the vps... or just some version conflict.

Alternatively... if you know of a resource that answers these questions, then please point me in the right direction and I'll leave you alone



Cheers,

Gaz

[karajorma]

thanks for the info - what I've done is what the Wiki calls a global install, so haven't used the data folder.

The wiki has been updated since I wrote that guide but that does explain what you're doing to me If you notice how old that article is it continually refers to VP files no longer present in the newer versions. (The term global install was what I used back when multimod was in its infancy. There are newer and vastly better ways of doing things).

Seeing as how it was following my advice that got you here it's up to me to get you out again

I was under the impression that the data folder gets used if you want to run the original and open in parallel (treating open as a mod)... but I can't do that anyway, as the launcher / FS2open doesn't like spaces in the filepath.

The data folder has been there since retail days. The idea is that anything in \Data overrides the contents of the VP files. It can be used in both FS2_Open and FS2 retail but I'm strongly against using it for either unless you know what you're doing as you can cause a lot of trouble that way and FS2_Open has ways of avoiding these problems.

What you should do is follow the advice in my FAQ starting from this point. Don't delete any files that it says to remove just simply put them outside of your FS2 folder. You can put the media VPs back in when you get to the bit on installing them.

Then once you've followed that guide you should then follow the advice Fenrir gave you but use the mediavps\Data folder you created instead of Freespace2\Data.

[gazzawazza]

Hi Karajorma.

your help and input are much appreciated...

I'm slightly confused about your comment about the age of the wiki instructions... as they seem to reference fairly up-to-date files... perhaps that's the only recent thing about them (i.e. reflecting current builds, etc).

I’ve been using the hardlight wiki… but have since found other resources… but your FAQ seems pretty comprehensive.

Anyhow, I've wiped and reinstalled FS2 in its default location... so the filepath doesn't have spaces in it, etc... and the game now runs via mod mode ... so thanks goes to you and your FAQ

However, in terms of doing cunning fiddling with extracted VP files, etc... I'm still a little in the dark.

my current folder structure is something like this:

freespace2\ (root)
%fs2root%\data\  - with player (i think), freddocs and cache - I believe this is just where my saved game stuff is
%fs2root%\mediavps\ - my vp files are just sitting in here

now... if I recall correctly, files found in the \data subfolder structure override that which is found in the vp files... so does this mean I do %fs2root%\mediavps\data\... with the subfolder structure such as effects, etc?

Also, maybe I'm using the app wrongly but is it not possible to extract more than one file at a time with VPMage (or perhaps another app) - some of the vps have 300 odd files in it?

As for the shockwave issue... although I was reasonably careful reading the relevant thread, I don't believe I'm getting the effects that should be occurring. Could you give me an idea of what the shockwaves should look like? For example, should it be an expanding sphere or rings or what? I did read that some people have problems with the animation cutting off prematurely, etc... so I just don't know if the things are working properly. Mine seems to do the standard fireballs / explosion… and with, I think, a couple of expanding rings.

Finally, I'm convinced that some of the game sounds aren't working... and have heard about OpenAL... but don't know whether I should install it or not, given that the sounds seem to be ok with the 3.6.7 build and vps... also I'm slightly loathe to install openAL, as I have an audigy and wonder whether openAL would conflict with my main soundcard drivers.


Thanks very much again for your assistance.

Gaz

[karajorma]

Hi Karajorma.

your help and input are much appreciated...

Not a problem. Anyone I help who ends up playing FS2_open regularly is one more convert to the cause Furthermore they tend to tell their friends which brings us more new blood

I'm slightly confused about your comment about the age of the wiki instructions... as they seem to reference fairly up-to-date files... perhaps that's the only recent thing about them (i.e. reflecting current builds, etc).

The new wiki is here and contains an installing FS2_Open section which was largely written by other people and doesn't mention global installs which leads me to believe you were using the old wiki from here

However, in terms of doing cunning fiddling with extracted VP files, etc... I'm still a little in the dark.

my current folder structure is something like this:

freespace2\ (root)
%fs2root%\data\  - with player (i think), freddocs and cache - I believe this is just where my saved game stuff is
%fs2root%\mediavps\ - my vp files are just sitting in here

now... if I recall correctly, files found in the \data subfolder structure override that which is found in the vp files... so does this mean I do %fs2root%\mediavps\data\... with the subfolder structure such as effects, etc?

Yep. Basically the game works like this. If you select a mod the first place the game looks for files is in mod\data\subfolder. Then mod\data itself and only then will it look in the media VPs. That means that if you extract the shockwave files from mv_effects and put them in mediavps\data\effects they will always get used instead of the ones in mv_adveffects.vp.

Also, maybe I'm using the app wrongly but is it not possible to extract more than one file at a time with VPMage (or perhaps another app) - some of the vps have 300 odd files in it?

I'd be surprised if VPMage doesn't let you use extended selctions using SHIFT and CTRL but if it doesn't check my tools section and grab VPView which most certainly does.

Finally, I'm convinced that some of the game sounds aren't working... and have heard about OpenAL... but don't know whether I should install it or not, given that the sounds seem to be ok with the 3.6.7 build and vps... also I'm slightly loathe to install openAL, as I have an audigy and wonder whether openAL would conflict with my main soundcard drivers.

OpenAL is a programming API like DirectSound. Installing it should have the slightest effect on any program that doesn't use that API as far as I know. I believe that there is more than one set of installation files depending on the card you have so you may have to wait for someone to point you in the direction of the correct ones to use for an Audigy.

[gazzawazza]

thanks dude...

you know what... I tried so hard to find the old wiki today... to confirm your suspicions... yet couldn't (until you provided the link!)... but yes, those were the instructions I originally used.

yeah... I too was surprised that I couldn't seem to multiselect with VPMage - I did try CTRL and SHIFT (the standard multiselection controls) but couldn't get that to work... but there again it might well just be me

I'll check out VPView and see how it compares

I might investigate openAL as well... and I guess I should see if there is any info on sound probs with the latest CVS builds.

Finally, you couldn't suggest good settings on the launcher (I've used most of the graphics ones)... and am currently using the opengl function for my vidcard... as I've got the impression from threads that it performs better... although I did find d3d8 seemed to work ok for me (i've got a 128MB 9800 pro and a 2400 athlon xp... but at least beefed up with a gig of RAM)?

Any other tips would be most cool.


cheers,

Gaz

[WMCoolmon]

IIRC, it's not possible to select multiple items in a tree-style control using the basic Win32 API.

[karajorma]

That explains it. I knew it couldn't be that you'd forgotten something as important as extended selection.