[FSU Staff]

This is a thread where you can make requests as to what you would like to see added/changes in the FSU. Remember, all requests are just that; requests, which means there is no guarantee we'll agree or have the manpower to implement every request.

Jumpin' on the bandwagon.

[T-LoW]

Shadows - but writing a code for that is a pain in the ass, I guess

[Fury]

Uh, I think requests that are not currently possible to implement should be excluded, no? Otherwise they should be SCP requests.

[Woolie Wool]

Bringing back the old tiles from previous FSU versions that aren't available in current versions--Aten, Hatshepsut, etc. The lack of these tiles breaks several models.

[MatthTheGeek]

Tiles are part of the past. And fixing those is a 5 min job anyway. However having a separate pack containing all those unused tiles could be good.

[Droid803]

Yeah, maybe a "upgraded retail tiles" pack, separate download, containing, well, the upgraded versions of all retail textures would be nice.

[Rga_Noris]

Kinda of a waste of time. If you are using an outdated mod, feel free to download an old version of the MVP's and get them there. That's how I feel anyways.

[Droid803]

That's really annoying when you're having to do this with multiple mods some of which aren't even yours, just so you can play them - using the Older MediaVPs doesn't work as they don't even run with the latest builds now (some decal error **** prevents even non-debug builds from starting up). Don't tell me to just use an older build cause I don't get sound at all on builds 3.6.12 or older with vanilla FS2.

Thus, I feel it is rather necessary, else a lot of old mods are just, well, unplayable.

I'd do it myself but I don't even have some of the older mediavps where some of the textures are anymore...

[Rga_Noris]

1) Find old MVP
2) Find the Maps folder
3) Copy it to the MOD directory

That should work for all of your mods, without having to find each tile.

 OR, just copy the old maps directory into the new MVP directory. If it ask you to replace anything click 'no' so it will only add the missing ones.

[General Battuta]

You're assuming a lot of the average end user who already finds FSO's installation procedure stupidly complex.

[Rga_Noris]

No. I'm assuming that a person who can effectively use the multimod function with old, outdated MODs is capable of doing what is described.

And I have an idea. Droid803, follow these instructions:

Use Maja, or some other VP editor. 3.6.8 Zetas should have the tiles in them, so grab that. Extract the Maps directory and pack back into another VP. Put it somewhere for download.

[Fury]

That's really annoying when you're having to do this with multiple mods some of which aren't even yours, just so you can play them - using the Older MediaVPs doesn't work as they don't even run with the latest builds now (some decal error **** prevents even non-debug builds from starting up).

That is kinda a special case, since a feature that was deprecated is being referenced by tables of said mod. I'm afraid blame lies in SCP this time though, as deprecation of a feature should not make a mod crash in agony, only ignored and a notice put into debug log. The latter shouldn't pop up even if a debug build is ran. The problem should be corrected by SCP.

Don't tell me to just use an older build cause I don't get sound at all on builds 3.6.12 or older with vanilla FS2.

Err, wat? I'm pretty sure there should be reasonable explanation and solution to that, but this is not to be discussed in this topic.

[Woolie Wool]

Tiles are part of the past. And fixing those is a 5 min job anyway. However having a separate pack containing all those unused tiles could be good.

Unless you can bring in at least 10 good texturers with a lot of free time, tiles will never be part of the past.

[SD-Beast]

I would love to see squadron colors. For example, the Tuskegee Airmen had their entire tails painted red, or the Yellow Squadron from Ace Combat 4, things like that. Not outlandishly overdone stuff. Little things, like sections of the wings as a special color, or tail sections, etc.  (Though an all red Perseus as the GTVA's Red Baron would be fun to see, lol.)

[General Battuta]

No. I'm assuming that a person who can effectively use the multimod function with old, outdated MODs is capable of doing what is described.

You expect end users to download additional MediaVPs and old 3.6.10 builds to play stuff the Installer gives them (but gives no instructions on how to use)? That's not exactly user-friendly.

I trawl forums for user reactions to the SCP and so many of them are just utterly turned off by the install process or by getting bizarre errors the first time they select a mod and try to play it. Very few mods are safe to play these days, it's basically just Wings of Dawn, BP, Vassago's Dirge or straight MVPs.

[Shivan Hunter]

And Transcend, which I've played three times with no problems, and Derelict, which two people have informed me works once beam fade is removed.

Although, yeah, we are still in that gray area where a bunch of campaigns have to be tested and/or fixed.

Also, Desura.

Also, I wanna see the SJ Space Flea ^____^

[Rga_Noris]

Fair enough. My issue is that the FSU, an effort that is in place to make the retail assets prettier, is being asked to make everyone's mods prettier too. Sure, it helps with backwards capatibility, but the MVP's are growing as it is, and these tiles do not help our effort to make retail assets prettier.

I'm not saying it is bad idea and that no one should do it. It just does not make sense doe the FSU to take time to do it. What astounds me the most is that the people asking are perfectly capable of creating this VP. They just want a group, whose project has no need for these tile, to do it for them.

So Woolie, Droid, and you too Battuta: If you think it is needed to help other MODs (again, I reiterate it does not help the FSU visuals AT ALL) then please make it. The community would love you for it.

[Kolgena]

I can't see a hosted VP with the old maps, and short blurb on how to use them could possibly be so much trouble that it's not worth looking into. What's wrong with a backwards compatibility patch that is released along-side the mediavps?

Glass textures on some cockpits of terran fighters. I'm not sure if it's my lighting settings or what, but with cockpit view, there are big fat white streaks all over the diffuse of the glass and it's ugly.

[Fury]

I trawl forums for user reactions to the SCP and so many of them are just utterly turned off by the install process or by getting bizarre errors the first time they select a mod and try to play it. Very few mods are safe to play these days, it's basically just Wings of Dawn, BP, Vassago's Dirge or straight MVPs.

I don't get it.

Why are FS mods compared to individual stand-alone games? It's apples to oranges. If you want to draw comparisons, compare the total conversions to games. If you want to compare mods, compare them to mods of other games. To my knowledge there is not a single game out there that has some kind of installer setup for their mods to handle version conflicts, dependencies, etc.

Games like WoW come close, but even those tools are made by 3rd parties like Curse, not Blizzard. Managing mods in other games is more often than not, even more difficult than in FS.

I know you didn't compare to other games in this particular post, but I've seen it happen in other posts. The point stands however, FS mod management is really well off compared to a lot of games out there, better than most in fact.

[Droid803]

The 3.6.8 Zeta don't seem to have Normal Maps, (unless I'm wrong) and the download is no longer functioning, at least on the release thread.
I have uh....3.6.10 mediavps, but I don't know how many of the retail maps were replaced already in that one.