[NovaTurd]

Hey there,

So I'm brand new to Freespace 2, and naturally I wanted to increase the sex appeal so I went to the open source page and installed everything I needed. Now everything is in the Freespace 2 folder (VPs, Fred2s open 3.6.9) and launches fine (not bad for a n00b eh?) BUT, BUT the shock and awe is not as huge as I expected. If I may demonstrate here is what I expected:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Freespace2Open_Screen01.jpg (I like this one which is why I'm showing an image from wiki)
and here is what I got:


Granted this is an improvement over FS2 without the Open Source stuff but I just get the distinct feeling somethings missing. So I went here: http://scp.indiegames.us/e107_plugins/custompages/scpfiles.php and I thought these may add to the sex appeal I'm looking for so now for my n00btastic question: How do I install those add on packs. None of them have a readme, well one does but it dosent have install instructions and I'm left with an orgy of .ani and .tga files. I know they go somewhere in the data folder but I have no idea as to which one in the data folder.

[Turey]

Don't install those. Those are old.

Which files have you downloaded and where to?

[NovaTurd]

I had a bunch of older ones earlier today but I deleted them and replaced everything except for the OpenAL drivers with the ones on this page: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html

It's all in the Freespace 2 root directory. Upon furthing reading I think most of those files are included the the VPs now anyways. So maybe this thread is kinda pointless now.

[Turey]

it SHOULDN'T all be in the root folder. The mediavps should be in a folder called mediavps. Oh, and if you turn on more of the launcher features, your game should look better.

[NovaTurd]

Well they were in a mediavp folder but then it would just load FS2 without any effects. And I have all the graphic options enabled.

[Turey]

Well they were in a mediavp folder but then it would just load FS2 without any effects. And I have all the graphic options enabled.

Put them back into the mediavps folder, open the launcher, go to the mod tab, and select the mediavps folder as your mod.

[NovaTurd]

AHA! That did it! I just uninstalled it all and started from scratch, did that Mod thing and it works! YAY 

Oh and thanks for the help.

[Kaboodles]

You might also want to look into custom flags, found here, especially -ambient_factor.  Default is -ambient_factor 120, but using lower values adds a lot of atmosphere to the game, and shows of the neat lighting effects and env-mapping quite nicely.  I play with -ambient_factor 0, which is pretty dark, and sometimes I use -no_emissive_light, which removes all ambient light in the game.  Really neat stuff.

[taylor]

...and sometimes I use -no_emissive_light, which removes all ambient light in the game.

Actually, -no_emissive_light simply turns off emissive light.   Emissive light is a general glow that objects give off (well, certain objects anyway).  It's not the least bit realistic for a game like this, but it prevents everything from getting pitch black.  Even if there is no ambient light the emissive light should still show objects to a basic degree.  But without emissive light you will only see something if there is light actually shining on it, either from the sun(s) or weapons/explosions.  Turning it off really adds to the atmosphere, but it's on by default as an aid to users.

Now, using -ambient_factor 0 will deffinitely disable ambient light.  At least down to 2%, which is the lowest possible value the game allows.  At that level you are relying largely on emissive light to actually see anything in general.  You'll mostly just be able to see things which are lit up by weapons fire or explosions, or other 3rd-source light.

[Snail]

Just how I like it.

*tries that*