[lefkos]

hi all!
i completed my newest mission and i thought (i used so much diffrent ships etc maybe im gonna start a mod)
but i dont have a clue were to begin
can some of you tell the basics to construct a mod? before i  do something stupid and screw whole my Fs 

edit: btw im not gonna create new stuff! i just use stuff of other campaignes etc(with premission offcourse)
edit: ow and can you explain how to create own beam cannons / lasers with existing effects i mean : i want to use the suback laser files and recolor it. how can i do this?

edit: my Modelviewer doesnt show the textures how can i solve this? also i get this error sometimes :
 
 An Error Occured!

Error #6027:
Too many bounding boxes.
Should be <=4886184

   Open a different model or archive

[karajorma]

My FAQ's modding guide should cover the basics. It's a little old though so it doesn't cover many of the SCP additions.

[Mustang19]

Yes, copy Karajorma's signature somewhere and you'll have all the modding info you need. To solve your problem with Modelview, get Modelview High Limits, you'll find it on Karajorma's site.

Some programs you will want (look them up on Google or FSWiki):

VPMage
VPVIEW
Notepad, of course

FS2 is great for modding. It's very simple, you'll figure it out quickly. Download VPVIEW and browse your game VPs. Look for the table files, as these let you do pretty much anyting. Extract a table and edit it in Notepad, then place it in your \data\tables directory. For example, if you want to change the Subach texture, edit weapons.tbl, type in a new texture file under the Subach entry, and when you play the game with your new weapons.tbl in the \data\tables folder, you'll have modded Subachs. Adding models, textures, interface graphics, etc. is basically the same thing, just put them in the relevent \data folder. VPMage will allow you to build a VP file out of these modded files, if you want to.

Basically, FreeSpace modding is pretty intuitive, and it's best if you learn it on your own. Download the files I listed above and play around with them for a month or so, you'll learn quickly.

[Grizzly]

well, since you already have a lot of ships, you already started! you just to dump every modified file into a seperate folder (or vp) and you are done. (kinda)

just put every modified file from FreeSpace2/Data into FreeSpace2/modfolder(ornameyouwanttochoose)/data,

thats it really.

[lefkos]

Yes, copy Karajorma's signature somewhere and you'll have all the modding info you need. To solve your problem with Modelview, get Modelview High Limits, you'll find it on Karajorma's site.

Some programs you will want (look them up on Google or FSWiki):

VPMage
VPVIEW
Notepad, of course

FS2 is great for modding. It's very simple, you'll figure it out quickly. Download VPVIEW and browse your game VPs. Look for the table files, as these let you do pretty much anyting. Extract a table and edit it in Notepad, then place it in your \data\tables directory. For example, if you want to change the Subach texture, edit weapons.tbl, type in a new texture file under the Subach entry, and when you play the game with your new weapons.tbl in the \data\tables folder, you'll have modded Subachs. Adding models, textures, interface graphics, etc. is basically the same thing, just put them in the relevent \data folder. VPMage will allow you to build a VP file out of these modded files, if you want to.

Basically, FreeSpace modding is pretty intuitive, and it's best if you learn it on your own. Download the files I listed above and play around with them for a month or so, you'll learn quickly.

thanks! very usefull infomation!
but i made a folder called :freespace mod(that  wil be my mod) and i first extracted the normal freespace 2 files + the edited tables. now there are of models i dont want to use. but if i delete them out of the table files its still appear in the tech data base. 

[karajorma]

Are you using .tbl or .tbm files?

Cause the latter would not prevent the standard FS2 tables being read.

[lefkos]

Are you using .tbl or .tbm files?

Cause the latter would not prevent the standard FS2 tables being read.

i am using .tbl

[Mustang19]

I believe you have to reset the tech database somehow. Restart the FS2 campaign, maybe. I know that there is an option in FRED that resets the techroom, that's all I can say.

[Dark Hunter]

I highly reccomend .tbm files, incidentally. They're a lot easier than hacking the .tbl files.

[lefkos]

I highly reccomend .tbm files, incidentally. They're a lot easier than hacking the .tbl files.

the problem is  i dont understand tbm files and i do understand tbl files
whats the diffrence anyway?

[Grizzly]

TBM files are additions/modifications to the original table files, just only fill (for example) the ships you want to change, change the name of the table to something-shp (for ships).tbm, and you are good to go.

-shp for ships
-wep for weapons

[karajorma]

If you're making a mod with more than a few ships then you're better off using tables most likely. At least for ships.

[lefkos]

TBM files are additions/modifications to the original table files, just only fill (for example) the ships you want to change, change the name of the table to something-shp (for ships).tbm, and you are good to go.

-shp for ships
-wep for weapons

so tbm files are modded tbl files?
damn all this is a little confusing 
is it possible to  explain it in dutch  ?
edit: also i mixed all the downloaded  ships with the normal ship table ...

[Dark Hunter]

OK: I'll try to explain better:

You mixed all your new ships in with the normal ships.tbl file, which does work, but a .tbm would be easier.

Basically, cut-and-paste all the new ships out of the ships.tbl and into a blank text document called, say, mymod-shp.tbm. The "-shp.tbm" part is the important part, the rest is up to you. Freespace will now read the .tbm file as an extension of the ships.tbl file, which eliminates the need to alter ships.tbl.

If that explanation didn't work: go here.

[Mustang19]

The game can only read one TBL file at a time. However, it will read all TBM files in your \tables directory. Make sense?

[lefkos]

The game can only read one TBL file at a time. However, it will read all TBM files in your \tables directory. Make sense?

i think i got it!
uhm
like i got a ship named GTC Pyros(just as a sample) and i want to make a Tbm of it than it wil be like : Pyros-shp.tbm
right?

[Dark Hunter]

Right, except you can put more than one ship into a tbm. 

[lefkos]

Right, except you can put more than one ship into a tbm. 

DAMN! my notepad file is TXT how can i change that to TBM?

[brandx0]

The best way to make your own mod is to give me copious amounts of cash to do it for you.

[lefkos]

The best way to make your own mod is to give me copious amounts of cash to do it for you.

lol!
naah
i want to try it my self
thanks