The reason why I was considering releasing using .vps is because I think it makes it easier for users who don't understand fs file management very well. Imagine compartmental release with all the folders. I can imagine what the questions would look like: So this folder goes where? Woops, I thought we were supposed to split that up. Aah dang, I unpacked that in my main fs folder and now everything's corrupt.
VP files force everything to be packed in one file (or several files) to make file management easier on the user end. I do admit, for people who are into moding/tinkering with other people's mods it's an unnecessary hassle, and you're right about patching but I've seen it done before. What was this topic again?
Jericho, highly recommend not making your mod files into a .vp until you release it. It makes moving files around very difficult. When you are ready to release mod materials then consider if you want to or not.
To get new ships in the game, just follow these steps (to use ships from already built modpacks do step 5 only):
1. Create a new mod folder and place this folder in freespace2/<mod folder name> You can name the folder whatever you want.
2. Create a ships.tbm or a ships.tbl with references for the new ships you want. Fred looks at table files to figure out which ships to make available. Place your table files in freespace2/<mod folder name>/data/tables
If you don't know how to make .tbl or .tbm files see the ships.tbl wiki or look at samples from other mods. Blueplanet has a good .tbm sample while retail fs2 has a good .tbl sample in the root VP.
3. your .tbl or .tbm file will reference a model for every ship. This model data MUST be in your mod folder or the game will crash. Place the model files which are in .pof format in freespace2/<mod folder name>/data/tables
3b. These model files will reference texture maps. These textures also must be in your mod data files or the game will crash. Place these files in freespace2/<mod folder name>/data/maps
4. For every ship you have in the game you must also include the weapons it uses or the game will crash. Weapons like the Subach HL7 are already in the main fs2 game unless you overwrite it. Make sure you have copy-pasted all the necessary weapon data your usermade ships use into a weapons.tbl file or a weapons.tbm file.
If you are curious how weapon.tbms or .tbls are made see sample table files or see the weapons.tbl wiki page.
5. This step is very important, go into your launcher program and select <your mod folder> as if you were going to play freespace. Hit 'apply' in the launcher. Freespace Open has now told FRED and the game to use data from this mod. Now, when you open FRED. You should see all the new ships you specified in the ships.tbl. Unless it crashes, in which case fix the bugs. Try this with other usermade mods you have downloaded to see how it works.
5b. (optional but recommended) Make a mod.ini to specify what data you want to add from other mods such as mediavps_3612. See other usermade sample mod.ini files for how to make one. They are all prettymuch the same format. place this mod.ini file in freespace2/<your mod folder>
It can be frustrating to get this all to run smoothly, especially for someone with no prior experience with moding. It sure was for me at the time. Be patient, once you are able to do this you will have broken into the art of FSO moding and will be able to do many fun and creative things.
Edit: lol woops, I just tried to rewrite that link above without knowing it. Glad you got things figured out.
