[Ren]

Hi ppl..
I've some dumb questions, can I ask for help, pls?

I dug in my box with never-played-games-still and found FreeSpace 2. I was big fan of StarLancer once ago so I decided to try. Becouse I know that a lot of older games have strong fanbase and a lot of add-ons/enhancements, I looked on Net first and so I found this place. I read wiki, done some basic setting and I must say, that's absolutey cool and great work You guys made here..

But here goes my confusion..
Are there more of FS2 enhancement projects? Or are FS2_Open and SCP the same? I guess so. In this case, is http://scp.indiegames.us homepage of project? There's two types of "upgrades" in download section there. *.vp files (using now, great!) and Milliways (should be copied to \data?). What's actual/better/difference? What about FMVs of FS2? I googled somewhere that enhanced version can't play MVE files (it's old Interplay video format used in Descents, Fallouts and so, isn't?) and so I need them converted to AVI and a broken link to where can be downloaded. Is there some way how to make them work?
I'm missing some all covering FAQ or help or so, that's why I'm asking here. Some readmes and sites I found noted I should use D3D but a few topics lower is recommended OGL. All this makes me realy confused, you know? 

Simply said, I never played FS2 before but I would like now. I would like play original compain but with the best new graphic. Is using "Launcher" and mv_zpack.zip best choice or can I got something even better with some additional files? Thanks for any hints..

PC have a 1800XL Radeon and 2GB RAM.

[Shade]

FS2_Open is the product of the SCP, so not quite the same but close enough.

Yes, that is the homepage of the SCP project, but the main forums are located here as you've already noticed.

Milliways is actually a website created by a forum member called Lightspeed. He made a ton of upgraded effects and posted them there, and the ones on the SCP site are simply a mirror. Use them if you like - it does make the game look better, but he's no longer active so there's no support for them.

MVE files work again now, as of about a month ago.

Use OGL if you can, D3D support is no longer actively supported.

To properly use the media .vps, put them in a folder in your fs2 directory called mediavps, then select that folder from the mod tab of the launcher. Make sure they're unpacked and not still zipped. There are also updated versions and patches floating around here on the forums, as the ones on the SCP site are for version 3.6.7 and we're now up to 3.6.9 RC3, so look around for the best experience.

Oh, and finally, congrats on finding FS2 again - it's a great game

[Ren]

First, thank for Your answer, Shade. I know how are these I-don't-understand-anything-here posts unpopular but I was realy down. I'll read Milliways immediately, thanks for link. About MVE, becouse no are played I guess I'll need newer build than 367, right? I'll look here for some, together with patches for *.VPS files. When using OGL mouse cursor left trail and windows have "double border". I'll try to find something here too. What about this site? Is somehow connected to FS2 Open project? Thanks again.

[karajorma]

Apart from the fact that I'm an SCP coder it's not directly connected. Basically it's an unofficial page that gives advice on FS related matters.

That said I doubt I'd get any complaints if I moved my entire installation FAQ to the wiki and made it official so you can trust the info in there. The only problem with it is that I don't get the time to update very often so I have to stay general about the advice I give.

[Shade]

Nothing unpopular about honest questions

Yes, 3.6.7 is rather old by now. Your best bet for MVE playback is the latest 3.6.9 release candidate, as it is quite stable as well as contains the newest features.

The base .vp files you need can be found in this thread in the Freespace Upgrade forum (SCP forum deals with code, Upgrade forum deals with media to make use of the code, fyi), and the patches are in the same thread as the release candidate build.

The site you linked is Karajormas FS2 FAQ - He's a member of the project, but his site is not... it's just his 'helping people' hobby You can find answers to many questions there, and they are very likely to be correct unlike many other sites you might find. Basically, that and the HLP wiki are the reliable sources, anywhere else may be dodgy due to obsolete information.

[Ren]

OK, thank You both.
I'm in a middle of reading of Your site, karajorma, it's very helpful, thanx.

I made clean install of FS2 to directory without spaces. I've ready Launcher 5.3, 3.6.9. RC3 FS2O and 3.6.8zeta MVPs. All of these should be latest.
As I asked before about Lightspeed's addons, if I got it right from descriptions these are already contained in mv_effects & mv_adveffects, right? And these two (effects and adveffects) don't depend on each other, best to use both, right?
Do I need to install OpenAL even if I haven't Creative sound card? Getting "faild to read flag file" error.

[Shade]

mv_adveffects is an upgrade to mv_effects for use on very high end systems only. In my opinion, it doesn't really add anything worthwhile, but some disagree. So you can use either mv_effects, or both, but using mv_adveffects alone would be of little use as most of the upgrades are in mv_effects. And yes, some of Lightspeeds upgrades are in these VPs.

You do need to install OpenAL regardless of soundcard. Doing so should take care of that error.

[Ren]

Done so..:-)

Now I'm prety sure I can't use OGL. No nebulas, ships are rendered black after being hit and no AA with OGL..
Although with D3D I'm getting FMVs always in original size (small) independently on -noscalevid switch, it's only glitch I noticed.

C:\FreeSpace2\fs2_open_r.exe -mod mediavps -spec -glow -env -jpgtga -mipmap -nomotiondebris -2d_poof -noscalevid -missile_lighting -dualscanlines -targetinfo -orbradar -rearm_timer -ballistic_gauge -warp_flash -snd_preload -loadallweps -alpha_env

[CaptJosh]

Since when is there no anti-aliasing with OGL? What are you using for video? ATi?

[Wanderer]

You should be able to force both the AA and AF settings for the application via graphic card settings (that is... not via game launcher).

And download also the alpha patches from the 3.6.9 RC 3 thread to fix some of the graphical issues.

[ARSPR]

Done so..:-)

Now I'm prety sure I can't use OGL. No nebulas, ships are rendered black after being hit and no AA with OGL..
Although with D3D I'm getting FMVs always in original size (small) independently on -noscalevid switch, it's only glitch I noticed.

C:\FreeSpace2\fs2_open_r.exe -mod mediavps -spec -glow -env -jpgtga -mipmap -nomotiondebris -2d_poof -noscalevid -missile_lighting -dualscanlines -targetinfo -orbradar -rearm_timer -ballistic_gauge -warp_flash -snd_preload -loadallweps -alpha_env

-mipmap is useless unless you use -img2dds (IIRC). I wouldn't use it because the dds files inside vps already have mipmaps.

In your previous post you said you have Launcher 5.3. Pick Launcher 5.4 from the zip which contains RC2 (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,40410.0.html) (But keep using RC3). It enables new features as trilinear and anisotropic filtering.

The black boxes you see are defective dds files (a kind of image as jpg or tga that is very used inside FS2) which have wrong alpha channels. Check the RC3 first post where Taylor has posted patches for mv_effects and mv_adveffects. Just pick them and download to your mediavps folder (if you don't use adveffects do not download the advanced patch).

If you have an Ati GPU you can get graphic corruption in backgrounds after the FIRST mission you play. Taylor is getting mad to find what's wrong, but till then and if that is your case, disable environmental mapping (-env flag).

[Ren]

Yup..X1800XL w/ Cat 6.4.
Between us, I hate this card, but it was so expensive half-year ago that I must stick with it at last another half of year before switching back to nV..

[Ren]

Wanderer, ARSPR> Thx but I can't unpack these files..:-/ What could be wrong? All others RARs like e.g. Launcher itself I could unpack without problem but both patch archives looks empty to PowerArchiver2006. Hmm..Maybe some WinRAR-specific format? Never saw this before and using PA2k6 for a long time now.

ARSPR> /edit: I tried Launcher 5.4 but can't see options for AF. Stupid I'm, D3D ins't supported, I know.. Already disabled mipmaps, thanks for tip.

[ARSPR]

Wanderer, ARSPR> Thx but I can't unpack these files..:-/ What could be wrong? All others RARs like e.g. Launcher itself I could unpack without problem but both patch archives looks empty to PowerArchiver2006. Hmm..Maybe some WinRAR-specific format? Never saw this before and using PA2k6 for a long time now.

ARSPR> /edit: I tried Launcher 5.4 but can't see options for AF. Stupid I'm, D3D ins't supported, I know.. Already disabled mipmaps, thanks for tip.

Well use winrar. Read through RC3 thread because there's a little issue with alpha that is not solved yet with that patchs.

NEVER use D3D. Nowadays, it has no support, so if you run into trouble you're alone (in the dark).

[Ren]

ARSPR> Got it..:-) OK, used WinRAR and really..My fancy nebulas are back and hitted ships are alright too. But still, OGL=no-AA, right?

[CP5670]

If you have an Ati GPU you can get graphic corruption in backgrounds after the FIRST mission you play. Taylor is getting mad to find what's wrong, but till then and if that is your case, disable environmental mapping (-env flag).

I don't have any issues with this. It seems to only occur for some people.

[Ren]

You should be able to force both the AA and AF settings for the application via graphic card settings (that is... not via game launcher).

I did, works well now. Font problems was caused by aAA. As I think about this evening now, it was much like setting ePSXe or similar emu, you know? 
So now I'm fully satisfied and can dive to FS2 universe..Big thanks all of you, guys.. See You soon..

[CaptJosh]

Once more. Anti-aliasing is done at driver level. You can, with nVidia cards, even set up a profile to load for a specific program, FS2, for example. You'd have to always rename any new builds you might download to the same filename, but it would work.

[redmenace]

Bleeding edge builds can be found here, or atleast they will be once I have caught up with all of my missed builds from the last 3 months.

[Ren]

Once more. Anti-aliasing is done at driver level. You can, with nVidia cards, even set up a profile to load for a specific program, FS2, for example. You'd have to always rename any new builds you might download to the same filename, but it would work.

About AA: Yeah, I know, I used Your advice as I already stated above. Thx.
About nV: I remember this function well but unfortunately now I'm stuck with ATi for some time. But no big problem.