[floridagizzi]

im new to these forums. i played FS1 way back and now am downloading FS2 from underdogs. I am on a brand new (jan) Vista computer and was wondering what i should be going ahead and downloading to be able to play the game and install some new mods and missions. i tried looking over the forums for the past hour and i just dont really understand of the abbreviations and local lingo. any help would be appreciated. or, perhaps i should just wait for the download to finish and let you guys know problems from there... or maybe this should just be deleted. idk, its up to you, but im going to thank you all in advance for any and all help

thanks

floridagizzi

[Turey]

Install using HotU, then use my Installer to upgrade.

[Wobble73]

Install using HotU, then use my Installer to upgrade.

Didn't he just say he doesn't understand the abbreviations and local lingo?

HoTU = Home of the Underdogs
JAD3 = Just Another Day 3 (Shivans on a Plane)
ST:R = Silent Threat Reborn (Soon to be relaeased (I hope! ))
DEM = Deus Ex Machina
FS:SCP = FreeSpace 2 Source Code Project (Highly recommended)

Just a few of the top of my head, what else aren't you understanding? We are here to help! I highly recommend that you use Turey's installer to obtain the cutscenes that are missing from the underdogs version and also get the FS Open engine (FS:SCP) with all the mediavps, this brings the game visuals upto current generation games quality (almost).

Recommended mods???? Hmmmmm

FSPort (FS1 ported to the FS2 SCP engine)
Derelict
Transcend (Spooky)
Sync (Spooky)
Cardinal Spear (FSPort required)
Procyon Insurgency


Recommended total conversions??? (TC = Total conversion, installation of FreeSpace2 not required)

BattleStar Galatica BTRL (Beyond The Red Line) Demo
Wing Commander Saga Prologue.


And.......





Oh yes! and HLPBB means Hard Light Productions Bulletin Board, just in case you were wondering! 

[floridagizzi]

after running the launcher i was informed the app failed to start because OpenAL32.dll was not found. where can i download this .dll and where should i put it? thanks. sorry for all the questions...

edit: nevermind. found it and installed. i should try a little harder before i ask dumb questions...

edit2: can i just say how awesome it is to be playing this game again....

[jr2]

Make sure that if you are playing the FS2 campaign, that you select the "mediavps" folder as your mod, otherwise you'll miss out on the new graphics and stuff.  Selecting FSPort automatically also enables mediavps, so you are all set there.

[floridagizzi]

i think im having some graphics problems. On the mission where the Iceni jumps (3rd mission) the game crashes after the other enemy fighters jump in. if i exit the mission before the crash, the graphics in the main screen (doors opening for new mission/exiting the game) turn in to big white chunks of missing animation. i have the graphics on the launcher set to OpenGL, res 640x480, 32-bit color depth, and trilinear texture filter. like i said before, i am running a brand new vista system. i wish i could make the graphics a bit better, but id like the thing not to crash more than anything.

thoughts and help?
thanks

[Turey]

Jpeg/Tga Textures on?

Try 1024x768.

[floridagizzi]

Ill try that. Also, every time i try to turn on the FSport mod the game crashes as soon as i enter the ready room. i appologize for all the questions. thanks for your patience and help

[jr2]

  Don't apologize.  We like answering questions.. well, most questions. 

[Wobble73]

Ill try that. Also, every time i try to turn on the FSport mod the game crashes as soon as i enter the ready room. i appologize for all the questions. thanks for your patience and help

Ensure you have the sparky_hi_fs1.vp in your FSPort folder, also check that the mod.ini is pointing to the correct mediavps folder. (i.e. if your media vps folder is named MediaVPs ensure that the mod.ini says that and not mediavps etc.)

[jr2]

Or better, change your mediavps dir to be just that, with no caps... mediavps is currently the standard name for that mod directory.  Ask kara..

[karajorma]

My bet is that the crash gives an error about the turrets on the Belisarius.

In which case floridagizzi all you need to do is to go to the campaign room and select something other than the FS2 Main Campaign.


As for the mod.ini thing. I don't think case matters on Windows systems. When mod.ini files start working with Linux, then you'll see problems.

[Stormkeeper]

  Don't apologize.  We like answering questions.. well, most questions. 

One of which is the 'Why not do ***' is under do not ask.


I have to agree Transcend is spooky. I mean, damn. An entire frigate disappearing from under my nose, and that warping Pegasus. I almost freaked an dropped my glass of water on my laptop when he warped infront of me.

I'll poke around HLP for the other campaigns...

Whats with the Belisarius? Is there some error with its turrets?

[jr2]

Ah, right... when running FSPort, The FS2 Main Campaign crashes... IIRC, sometimes it doesn't autoselect the FS1 Campaign.  There should be made a way to disable FS2 Main Campaign via mod.ini... ?

EDIT: Because the FS2 Main Campaign wasn't made to run on FSPort VPs..

[Stormkeeper]

Ah. That kinda error. It ran my FS2 campaign, just that the Erynies was replaced by an Ulyssess and my Kaysers were gone.

[jr2]

If you are running the FS2 Main Campaign, then select your "mediavps" folder as the mod to be run in the Launcher.  For FS1 + ST, use FSPort, and select either of those two campaigns from the Campaign room. 

[Wobble73]

  Don't apologize.  We like answering questions.. well, most questions. 

One of which is the 'Why not do ***' is under do not ask.


I have to agree Transcend is spooky. I mean, damn. An entire frigate disappearing from under my nose, and that warping Pegasus. I almost freaked an dropped my glass of water on my laptop when he warped infront of me.

I'll poke around HLP for the other campaigns...

Whats with the Belisarius? Is there some error with its turrets?

It's not the frigate disappearing that's spooky, (well it is but ya know), Its the breathing I found unsettling!

And yes if you play the FS2 campaign with the FS1 data, that will bork things up to.

As for capital sensitivity of the mediavps, I seem to recall having a problem that my folder was named MediaVPs and the mod.ini was looking for mediavps and so I had none of the mediavp goodness, so I think that it does effect Windoze. Try it and see, (I am using Windows XP Media centre edition (or somesuch)).

[karajorma]

The error is that he was trying to run the FS2 main campaign on the FS1Port. The FS1 Port doesn't contain any table entry for the the Deimos since it's an FS2 era ship.

FS2 changes any ships it doesn't recognise into something it does recognise (Usually a Ulysses) so the usual symptom of this problem is that you find ships changed into fighters. The problem is that this particular mission references one of the Belisarius' turrets in the mission events. The game then goes looking for a turret on a Ulysses fighter and crashes when it can't find one.

[jr2]

[case sensitive issue]

It will also affect Linux & Mac OSX, IIRC.. the problem is that some versions of windows, unless a setting is changed in the registry, are not case sensitive like the rest of the world.  You get comfy with that, and then stuff like this happens.  

[karajorma]

AFAIK Windows is case insensitive unless you tell it not to be. In which case that's your problem to deal with.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929110