[mustafa2812]

I just got Freespace 2 from GOG.com and FSO and the only big thing I noticed was that in some missions there were these weird green polygon like spheres that looked like small planets maybe or something... I don't know.  I need help knowing what this is and if I should fix it.  Thanks

[Zacam]

Those are probably the Jump Nodes. Try targeting one, it should tell you (likely with a system name or the like such as "Vega Node" or some such, it'll be different depending on what mission you are in)

[mustafa2812]

Hmm, strange.  So they are just supposed to represent..portals or something.  ok well I guess that's not a design flaw.  Is there any way to make them look better or different (seeing as there are so many mods)?  It kinda takes away from my experience (only slightly).  No big deal but they are pretty ugly

[Black Wolf]

They're not portals exactly - they're just points in space where ships can jump between systems. The reason they look the way they do is so that you know that there's no actual, physical object there - it's being generated by your fighter's onboard computer, I guess.

As for different versions, well, the mediaVPs have a slightly different model to retail, but it's... well, not really different in any functional sense, just changed so that triangulation doesn't look silly. It's still a big, green, vector sphere.

[G0atmaster]

Look at it this way. Your ship's computer is drawing a virtual graphical representation for an otherwise invisible spatial anomaly, so you can know where your jump nodes are for missions where you need to exit through them, or blockade and defend then, or escort ships to them. Jump nodes are invisible doorways to subspace corridors between systems, and represent extreme strategic importance, thus you will often find yourself using those green wireframes to get your bearings in missions.

At first, i also thought they were a placeholder for something that was missing. But this is not the case.

[NGTM-1R]

At first, i also thought they were a placeholder for something that was missing. But this is not the case.

In a sense, that's exactly what they are; it's just missing from your ability to see.

[headdie]

in missions where there are jump nodes in the mission space the briefing usually mentions them and they are usually there because they are important such as mission critical ships are going to transit through.  btw if you click on any icon in the briefing it will show you the 3D model of the object where possible.

[mustafa2812]

Wow ok this all makes perfect sense now.  Thanks everyone.  And as a side note, I just joined this community yesterday and I am already blown away by how friendly and helpful everyone is.  I have been a member of a number of forums and just one day on this one and I already love it here. 

[G0atmaster]

Don't worry, there's still plenty of time to get to know us. 

anyway, enjoy. Make sure your mod.ini files are all pointing to the 3612 MediaVP folder.

[niffiwan]

btw if you click on any icon in the briefing it will show you the 3D model of the object where possible.

When was this feature added?  Don't tell me it was in retail, because that means I've missed it for 10+ years!   

[headdie]

btw if you click on any icon in the briefing it will show you the 3D model of the object where possible.

When was this feature added?  Don't tell me it was in retail, because that means I've missed it for 10+ years!   

[X3N0-Life-Form]

btw if you click on any icon in the briefing it will show you the 3D model of the object where possible.

When was this feature added?  Don't tell me it was in retail, because that means I've missed it for 10+ years!   

\o/

[Black Wolf]

btw if you click on any icon in the briefing it will show you the 3D model of the object where possible.

When was this feature added?  Don't tell me it was in retail, because that means I've missed it for 10+ years!   

Alright then, just for you, it was added a few weeks ago.

Of course, for the rest of us...

[niffiwan]

Gah!  Don't I feel like a right twit now.

Oh well, at least I learned something new!

[Mongoose]

Don't worry, it took me a few years of playing to discover that myself.