[Knarfe1000]

As I thought it was a problem with the newest ati-driver (for Radeon 800 XT PE). I installed an elder version and now it worked.

[taylor]

It is a known problem that newer ATI drivers don't work properly.  I've made some compatibility changes in the OpenGL code that may help with this, but without knowing exactly why it crashes in the first place I'm not sure that the new changes will do all that much.  You can find out for sure with the next available test build though.

[Knarfe1000]

Thanks so far. I´m now running in D3D-Mode with the new driver.

[ARSPR]

Thanks so far. I´m now running in D3D-Mode with the new driver.

D3D is losing support cos there's no active and continuosly present programmer for it.

It would be a good idea to make your OGL work (even if you need an older driver, usually newer drivers don't add anything for old GPUs as yours).

[Tyrian]

You'll also need to get 3.6.9 RC 7 from the recent builds forum. 3.6.7 will NOT work with these VPs.

So that's why my current install won't work...

*Hugs Kara*

[DaBrain]

Thanks so far. I´m now running in D3D-Mode with the new driver.

D3D is losing support cos there's no active and continuosly present programmer for it.

It would be a good idea to make your OGL work (even if you need an older driver, usually newer drivers don't add anything for old GPUs as yours).

Well, Bobboau is trying to fix D3D. If you want D3D support back, test his build:
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,41367.0.html

If you just want to play and don't intend to report bugs, you shouldn't use it though. OpenGL is still the better choice for players.

[bloated]

for some reason the FSopen launcher wants Open AL files, I thought I read somewhere you guys abandoned the Open AL feature because it wasn't doing anything.

anyway a cppl questions.

1. how close is 3.6.9 to being released.

2. are the Open AL drivers around...... I know I have them on the other computer so I must have found them at one point but damm if I can't locate them atm.

by the time anyone reads this I will likely have found them I suspect a link is in Buzz Lite Beer's newb post.

[Mongoose]

No, the OpenAL support wasn't abandoned; in fact, as you discovered, it's required to play FS2_Open.  Here's the download page on Creative's site for the Windows version; if you need another, the link at the bottom of the page will take you to the main site.

[bloated]

found them thanks.

just got the launcher working and got 3.6.9 installed now I'm about to install all of the Media VP's and see if it looks better on the 2gb Conroe water cooled system I just built with the X1900 XTX compared to the 128mb 9600pro mated with 1.6a p4 and 512mb memory.

[taylor]

1. how close is 3.6.9 to being released.

Feature wise, after the new FS2NetD code and new movie player code get in.  The FS2NetD code is done, and just starting with test builds this weekend.  The new movie player code is missing part of the audio code, but is otherwise done.

So, no firm date, just when that stuff is done (ie, any day now, a week, maybe two, etc.).

[Col. Fishguts]

Somehow the mp-710_effects isn't overriding the mv_effects.vp for me. I just noticed that the patch has much nicer thruster glows, but ingame I still see the older ones in mv_effects.
Could that be caused by the loading order ? Since in mv_effects the thruster glows are in PCX and TGA format, while in the patch (mp-710) they are DDS images ? Even extracting the DDS versions into the effects folder doesn't override the old ones.

EDIT: Ah yes, unchecking "Enable jpg/tga textures" in the launcher results in the loading of the newer effects. On the downside, everything that relies on TGAs doens't get loaded, like the maps for the lower LODs of the HTL Herc, since they don't have a DDS version. That should be corrected for the next patch. Same goes for "thuster02-03.dds" and "thuster02-03a.dds", which are really old thuster glows that somehow ended up in the maps folder of mv_effects

Also, what happened to "thruster01" ? You know, tha ani used for the original thruster plumes, the'yre not visible even on ships that have the modeeled plumes, and I can't find an overriding empty image anywhere.

[ARSPR]

Somehow the mp-710_effects isn't overriding the mv_effects.vp for me. I just noticed that the patch has much nicer thruster glows, but ingame I still see the older ones in mv_effects.
Could that be caused by the loading order ? Since in mv_effects the thruster glows are in PCX and TGA format, while in the patch (mp-710) they are DDS images ? Even extrascting the DDS versions into the effects folder doesn't override the old ones.

Yes, it's the image loading order. TGA files are loaded before DDS ones despite of their location. (Look at Taylor's explanation in my false bug Mantis #1123).

[Col. Fishguts]

Ah well, check my edit above. So the patch doesn't work as it should ?

[ARSPR]

Ah well, check my edit above. So the patch doesn't work as it should ?

I suppose not. I haven't made any deep investigation in mediavps, but right now as you need -jpgtga flag some new optimized dds can be overriden.

With the next 3.6.9. media vps it seems that all the textures will be dds and then, but only then, SCP guys will decide to change priorities so DDS will be the highest one. Till then sometimes it can be a PITA.

And about thruster01.ani, it is not used. If you open mv_effects, you can see a modular Species def.tbl (mv_effects-sdf.tbl) in which you can locate the used files. thruster01 is not used anymore.

[Col. Fishguts]

Manual VP extraction FTW

Oh, modular species.tbl, haven't thought about that, thanks.

[taylor]

Since in mv_effects the thruster glows are in PCX and TGA format, while in the patch (mp-710) they are DDS images ? Even extracting the DDS versions into the effects folder doesn't override the old ones.

The images in the 710s should be the same format as the ones in mv_effects actually.  I'll have to check on that, and if it's wrong I'll fix it.  I think that the thruster glows are actually a special case though, I don't think that they were broken in the Zeta VPs.  I don't remember why I included them as DDS though.

Anyway, I'm going to update the 710s later today (same filenames, don't want to add another set for everyone to worry about) with a couple more fixes that I missed the first time (like ARSPR's blue_glow4 fix).  If there are any other problems then let me know and I'll get those fixed too.

[Col. Fishguts]

The 710s are fine from what I see. The problems are the TGAs in mv_effects overriding the DDS images in the patch. You'd have to include TGAs in the patch for the new effects to show up, thus neglecting the advantage of DDS'.

It's not a showstopper though, a little manual extracting and sorting is all that's needed. But when the time comes for the next all-in-one mv_effects.vp, some housekeeping might be needed.

[taylor]

The problems are the TGAs in mv_effects overriding the DDS images in the patch. You'd have to include TGAs in the patch for the new effects to show up, thus neglecting the advantage of DDS'.

I think that I included the DDS versions for another purpose.  The TGAs aren't broken though, so it shouldn't actually need fixed versions of the thruster glow effects (in which case the DDS vs. TGA situation is irrelevant).  That was my point.  If you have broken thruster glows (the black box ones) then you aren't using the ones from the current Zeta VPs.  I just double checked and the current TGA versions in mv_effects are just fine and don't need to be patched.

[Col. Fishguts]

Oh they're not broken in mv_effects. But the ones in the patch (on the right) are different and IMO better looking than the ones in mv_effects (left side)



Especially the Shivan ones are a huge improvement, since I always disliked the lava-pit-look.

[taylor]

Oh they're not broken in mv_effects. But the ones in the patch (on the right) are different and IMO better looking than the ones in mv_effects (left side)

Ahh, that was a mistake then.  I must have copied those out of my own VP set (which had the newer thruster glows that someone made) rather than the original versions.  I prefer to avoid mixing my own modified content with the official stuff (though my set does work a lot better memory/performance/look wise).

I guess I'll fix it to use the newer glows with both TGA and DDS when I update the patch set, since I assume that everyone likes the new versions better.