[rcrph]

am i perplexed.  2 things: 1st I tried to do a search for my answers at the hard-light forum but even though I'm logged in I'm not allowed to search ??  so I apologize for asking any question whose answer would appear via that route.  Ok, I/ve downloaded the newest build of fred2_open  3.6.8.  ...but it's apparently necessary to run under htl mode.  I've tried to change the target by adding "-fredhtl" at the end of the string in the target box but I must be doing something incorrectly because I'm getting:
Error: music.tbl(line 200:
Error: Required token = [#Menu Music End] or [$Name:], found [&Filename:  HopeHearts.wav] .

File:E\Languages\Visual Studio Projects\Visual C++\fs2_open\code\Parse\PARSELO.CPP]
line: 626

I have Freespace2 installed and the shortcut to fred2_open 3.6.8 is there.  I'm afraid that I'm developing an addiction to The Babylon Project and I need a fix.  thx for your patience.

[0rph3u5]

I tried to do a search for my answers at the hard-light forum but even though I'm logged in I'm not allowed to search ?? 

1st: forum search is DOA (dead-on-arrival) for everyone.. there are some technical difficulties with it (maybe some admin for HLP can tell the details)

Ok, I/ve downloaded the newest build of fred2_open  3.6.8. 

2nd: 3.6.8 is too modern (sounds confusing) for TBP at the moment... stick to the november or december 05 builds

[predator82]

Well, if I may add some questions to this:
-where is the difference between scp 3.6.7  and something called CVS - Build? Which version is "better"?
-When downloading 3.6.7 (november) I had a package containing the 5.3 launcher, Fred2, Fs_open (d and not d version) and a .map file. Recently Gobber posted some .rar containing the 3.6.8 exe but NO .map file... do I need an other .map? Or what am I missing? 

[karajorma]

You don't need .map files at all. They're for debugging purposes.

As for the difference between official 3.6.7 and CVS.

Official Releases
The SCP release official builds a few times a year. You can recognise these by the version number 3.5, 3.6.1, 3.6.7 etc. Historically the official builds have been released following a period of bug fixing and are supposed to be stable. In practice minor bugs have had a habit of creeping in and spoiling that.
As with the launcher check the official SCP website

Recent\CVS Builds
When one of the coders has a feature he wants tested he'll release a build of the game for people to play with and bug-test. These builds can be found in the recent builds forum on HLP.
In addition to this CVS builds are also posted there on a regular basis. The purpose of the CVS builds is to combine all the work that the coders have done and make sure that it all works well when put together.
In general CVS builds are very stable. Often more so than the official builds. The general response to someone posting a problem with an official build is to tell them to check the most recent CVS build to see if the problem goes away. However on occasion CVS builds can be very unstable if someone has just checked in a piece of code which is incompatible with something else in CVS. For this reason people new to the SCP are generally advised to try out an official build first and only move on to CVS if there is a problem or once they are a little more comfortable with the way the SCP works.
Other recent builds on the other hand make a very poor choice for your first build. This is hardly surprising as they generally released when a coder has a feature he has just finished writing. Often the feature just doesn't work plain and simple and crashes the game the first few tries. For this reason you should steer clear of these at first unless you actively want to help bug-test.

Debug vs Release builds
Whether you choose a recent build or an official one either way the package you download will probably contain two executable files (filenames ending in .exe). One of these will have "_dbg" or "_d" in the name. Use the other one (which will most likely have "_r" in the name). This is the release build and is the one you should use most of the time. If you encounter a problem you may be asked to use the debug build. That's when you use the other exe.

All builds should be extracted to your main FreeSpace 2 folder.

[rcrph]

Well, I'm getting no where at the speed of light .  I've found the fred 3.6.7. build since I was having problems with the 3.6.5. version,  however I can't seem to activate the fredhtl mode necessary to run it.  I've added the "-fredhtl" extension in the target box immediately after the blahblah exe." but no joy.  Is there another way to do this?  Any help would be greatly appreciated by this noob.  thx,

[karajorma]

I've got no idea why that isn't working for you. Check what you're doing against the procedure here.

[rcrph]

thx for all your help.  I was able to install fred2 3.6.8.  Now, I can try to build a mission.  BTW, your site is great.  I'll mark it as a reference.