[NFSRacer]

Hey!  Dose anyone know how to make or edit a VP file?  I've got this idea of combining a few mods.

[Droid803]

Just use a VP editor. Maja works well, I've heard.

[NFSRacer]

Just use a VP editor. Maja works well, I've heard.

Can you post a mirror or download link?

[Droid803]

http://freespacemods.net/download.php?list.51

EAT

[NFSRacer]

Cool!  Thanks, man!

OK.  That VP editor you tipped me off to, I'm not sure what to make of all those CLASS files.  Could you help me out?

[Droid803]

If you didn't understand from the "I've Heard", that means I haven't used it myself.
I personally use QVP, though I am not sure about its VP-making capabilities, it extracts just fine.

[Dark Hunter]

Cool!  Thanks, man!

OK.  That VP editor you tipped me off to, I'm not sure what to make of all those CLASS files.  Could you help me out?

It's a Java executable. If your computer has Java installed, double-clicking the .jar file should run it.

Java's free, BTW, so if you don't have it it's easy to find and install.

Myself, I prefer using VPMage to do my editing... mainly because I haven't taken the time yet to figure out Maja.

[Jeff Vader]

In short:

1. Download Maja.
2. Download and install Java from www.java.com.
3. Run Maja (double-click it). If you are asked about what program you want to use to open it, select Java(TM) Platform SE binary.

I personally use QVP, though I am not sure about its VP-making capabilities

What vp-making capabilities?

[NFSRacer]

...VPMage to do my editing...

Yea, I think I've found out how to build a VP file using VPMage, but, for some odd reason, when I click "Build VP", it start's working, but it seems like it'll take forever to do.  How long did it take for your VPMage to make a VP file?

[Dark Hunter]

Depends on how large the VP file is. Small ones generally take only a few seconds, while larger ones (such as edits to Inferno's monster-sized VP) can take several minutes.

There is no progress bar or pop-up of any kind to indicate progress. After you hit "Build VP", wait a few minutes and a message will eventually appear to say that it is done.

[NFSRacer]

Depends on how large the VP file is. Small ones generally take only a few seconds, while larger ones (such as edits to Inferno's monster-sized VP) can take several minutes.

There is no progress bar or pop-up of any kind to indicate progress. After you hit "Build VP", wait a few minutes and a message will eventually appear to say that it is done.

So, take the FS2's "root_fs2.vp" file.  If I were to change the ship.tbl in the VP file and rebuilt it, how long would you say it would take?

[Dark Hunter]

I really hope you're not messing with the root.vp... but I would guess around 15-20 seconds.

(For frame of reference, root.vp is 6.10 MB. INFR1 is 251 MB.)

(No, I did not forget a decimal on the second one.)

[WMCoolmon]

Depends on how large the VP file is. Small ones generally take only a few seconds, while larger ones (such as edits to Inferno's monster-sized VP) can take several minutes.

There is no progress bar or pop-up of any kind to indicate progress. After you hit "Build VP", wait a few minutes and a message will eventually appear to say that it is done.

So, take the FS2's "root_fs2.vp" file.  If I were to change the ship.tbl in the VP file and rebuilt it, how long would you say it would take?

Yeah, please don't do that. Maja won't let you do that at all, no override even, because it's pure and utter hell when somebody has a problem and they're working with things that look correct but has all kinds of mods in it that might be causing the problem.

Same goes for the media VPs as well.

Changing either set and then resaving with the original name is never necessary and can waste a lot of people's time troubleshooting. Just make a new VP with modular tables. That way you can get rid of everything (including the model and textures) all at once, and you can see exactly what mods you have just by looking at VP names.

As for VPMage, it can take a long time, since it basically has to copy all that data from one part of your hard drive to the other, but it can't do it all at once or as efficiently as the OS.

[NFSRacer]

Yeah, please don't do that. Maja won't let you do that at all, no override even, because it's pure and utter hell when somebody has a problem and they're working with things that look correct but has all kinds of mods in it that might be causing the problem.

Same goes for the media VPs as well.

Changing either set and then resaving with the original name is never necessary and can waste a lot of people's time troubleshooting. Just make a new VP with modular tables. That way you can get rid of everything (including the model and textures) all at once, and you can see exactly what mods you have just by looking at VP names.

As for VPMage, it can take a long time, since it basically has to copy all that data from one part of your hard drive to the other, but it can't do it all at once or as efficiently as the OS.

So is there a simple fix, or better yet, I've got a better question.  How do the developers of the different mods get the SCP enhencements to work with their mod's VP files?  Does the SCP simple run off the MediaVPs?

[WMCoolmon]

Files from the VPs are used in alphabetical order, and modular tables take precedence in the same way as well. Using a -mod command line toggles loading of a directory within the main Freespace 2 directory, and when files from a mod folder are loaded, they are always used before files in the main Freespace 2 directory structure.

This is true in all cases except where you put files in the same directory as the EXE. Those should be loaded before everything else.

It doesn't matter what the VPs are called as long as the files inside are the same as Freespace 2 defaults ("ships.tbl"). There are also a few tables built into the EXE itself that can be overridden. Many tables support "modular tables", which are automatically loaded in addition to everything else (As long as there isn't an identically named modular table).

So if you want to make a ship and add it to the list of ships, all you have to do is create a -shp modular table, put it in a VP with the model and textures, and then put that in the Freespace 2 directory. Modular tables will also let you selectively change values, so:

Code: [Select]

#Ship Classes
$Name: GTF Ulysses
+nocreate
$Hitpoints: 9001
#Endwill modify the GTF Ulysses entry in the main Freespace 2 ships.tbl so that the Ulysses has 9001 hitpoints. The +nocreate is there so if you do use a mod which overrides ships.tbl, the game won't try to create the GTF Ulysses ship.

As long as you put the -shp modular table in Freespace 2/data/tables, Freespace 2/<mod>/data/tables, or data/tables in a VP and put the VP in either "Freespace 2" or Freespace 2/<mod> (And activate the mod), the above table will be loaded and the Ulysses will be much harder to kill than normal.

In addition to the modular tables link above, I suggest you look at the first big section of FS2 Data Structure in the wiki.