[colecampbell666]

I am a Noob, so don't flame me, but i read that inferno is self sufficient, so why are there only VP files with INFA
     Thanks

[neoterran]

it's self sufficient of the mediavp files, not the fs2_open executable program. And why it's like that I don't know, it's a very bad idea, because mediavps is always being upgraded, while inferno and INFA are limited to the effects the author chose when the mod was released.

[Agent_Koopa]

Well, the effects chosen by the author are presumably chosen for a reason, are they not?

[neoterran]

there are often better effects that come along later. look at bob's beams as an example.

[Dark Hunter]

Probably because there are some custom effects in Inferno that the Medias would interfere with or over-ride. The white beams the EA use, for instance. I don't believe the Medias would affect them?

[Snail]

Because it was originally a *standalone* mod.

[Woomeister]

INFA was designed to run as a mod of the standalone Inferno mod, it was then rebuilt to also run on regular FS Open. The next release of INFA will be standalone.

And why it's like that I don't know, it's a very bad idea, because mediavps is always being upgraded, while inferno and INFA are limited to the effects the author chose when the mod was released.

That's the point actually. The media vps change too much and if an effect is actually removed from them and is referenced in a custom weapon then that weapon won't work or you get chances of crashes. That means you have to change the weapons every time this occurs. Also it would get very boring if every custom campaign uses the exact same effects as each other as no new stuff would be made if you only use the media vp effects.
You also have chances of getting unwanted bugs and complaints like when someone didn't put a nocreate flag on a tbm for the Pegasus quite some time ago, or the black boxes problem as many still don't seem to get the latest patch for 3.6.9. Also some useful files are in that high res pack which causes systems to slow down to a crawl, and you can get animated glowmaps for some textures and not for others.

I prefer to have direct control over every file that the mod needs to load, that way its easier to patch and update when there are any problems.

[Mobius]

Welcome to the HLPBB...and welcome to the Inferno Night Cafè,colecampbell!

[neoterran]

INFA was designed to run as a mod of the standalone Inferno mod, it was then rebuilt to also run on regular FS Open. The next release of INFA will be standalone.

And why it's like that I don't know, it's a very bad idea, because mediavps is always being upgraded, while inferno and INFA are limited to the effects the author chose when the mod was released.

That's the point actually. The media vps change too much and if an effect is actually removed from them and is referenced in a custom weapon then that weapon won't work or you get chances of crashes. That means you have to change the weapons every time this occurs. Also it would get very boring if every custom campaign uses the exact same effects as each other as no new stuff would be made if you only use the media vp effects.
You also have chances of getting unwanted bugs and complaints like when someone didn't put a nocreate flag on a tbm for the Pegasus quite some time ago, or the black boxes problem as many still don't seem to get the latest patch for 3.6.9. Also some useful files are in that high res pack which causes systems to slow down to a crawl, and you can get animated glowmaps for some textures and not for others.

I prefer to have direct control over every file that the mod needs to load, that way its easier to patch and update when there are any problems.

Uh, the problem with this approach is 1.) crashes happen anyway. It's not like Inferno was immune to changes in the .exe over the years. 2.) Having different effects for things like explosions in one campaign (INFA) versus ALL the others is very disorienting and begs the question..."why ??? "

[Woomeister]

1. No, but I don't have to factor those VPs into the crashes, and it makes our mod more universal, as long as a build has the requires sexps and features, it'll run the mod. The media vps are more limited with that, new ones don't work right with older builds which our mods would work on.

2. Our stuff is standalone and near a total conversion, it doesn't matter what other FS2 campaigns use, as I really don't care what they do use. The attitute of 'you must use this because everyone else has to use it' is silly IMO. If I want to use different stuff then I will do so.

[colecampbell666]

Thanks for the help.