Guys, there is nothing more confusing than having 400 people trying to tell you how to install your game and then declaring that 'you might be screwed'. This should be simple.
Please let The_E handle it one on one with Denirio.
e: also jg18 you're cool so i guess two on one
Thanks, Battuta.
And you're not screwed, Denirio, we just need to figure out what's going on.
*sigh*
I thought I was done but it still isn't working. This is really beginning to frustrate me. I just want to play the game I shouldn't have to download multiple applications and updates just to play Freespace.
Everytime I launch the application I get a black screen. Thats it. Can someone please give me detailed ideas on how to fix this please? Remember, small words I'm not tech savvy.
Sorry that things are frustrating.
As for the applications you have to download, unfortunately, there's no way to avoid them. You need the FreeSpace Open engine (FS2_Open-Inferno 3.6.12.app and FS2_Open-Inferno 3.6.12 (debug).app) to play, the launcher to set things up, and CrossOver Games to install FreeSpace 2 retail (which is a Windows game) if you don't have access to Windows. There's probably a way to copy FS2 from your copy in Windows running in Parallels, but if you were able to install FS2 using CrossOver Games and copy it from there, then it's not important at this point. You only need the 1.2 patch of FS2 if and when you want to play multiplayer.
As for the black screen, here are some thoughts:
When you look at your FreeSpace2 folder in OS X's Finder, does it look something like this?
The MediaVPs_3612 folder is only there if you downloaded the MediaVPs (step 6 of the instructions), so you can ignore it if you don't have it. I highly recommend getting the MediaVPs at some point, though, since they make a
huge improvement to the graphics, and they're required for playing Blue Planet.
You can also ignore the players folder if you don't have it.
The wxlauncher.app doesn't have to be in your FreeSpace2 folder. It can be in your Applications folder or anywhere else.
It's okay if you have extra files and folders that aren't in the screenshot, as long as you did Step 4 from the instructions, which was moving the cutscenes (which are the .mve files) from the data2 and data3 folders in your FreeSpace2 folder to the movies folder in FreeSpace2/data/, and then deleting the data2 and data3 folders and any files left in them, since you don't need the other files in those two folders.
You should have a total of 10 .mve files in the movies folder: bastion, colossus, endpart1, endprt2a, endprt2b, intro, mono1, mono2, mono3, and mono4. I can make screenshots of step 4 later if you would like me to.
Also, your copy of FS2 is from GOG.com, right? It's not an install from retail CDs?
The most important part is that you have all 9 .vp files that are in the screenshot. They're the FS2 retail data (graphics, music, missions, and so on) and all of them are required to play. You also need to have the 3.6.12 version of FreeSpace Open (which is also called FSO or FS2_Open) in your FreeSpace2 folder, like in the screenshot.
Finally, please create a debug log (revising the
official instructions to be more OS X-specific):
(1) In wxLauncher's basic settings page, under "FS2 Open Executable", choose the option that says "Debug" instead of "Release".
(2) In the list of checkboxes in wxLauncher's advanced settings page, scroll down to the "Dev Tool" category, then check the box for "Run in window".
(3) Click on the "Play" button in the lower-right.
(4) After you reach the black screen and quit FS2, open OS X Finder (click on the icon in the lower left corner of the Dock) and go to your Library folder. This folder is hidden in Lion, so to temporarily unhide it, hold down the Option key while clicking on the Go menu at the top of the screen, then click on the Library option in the menu. (Sorry it's a pain, but it's Apple's doing, not ours.)
(5) Then find the FS2_Open folder and then the data folder within it. The debug log is called
fs2_open.log.
(6) Click on the debug log file and drag it to your Desktop. That will make the file easier to find, since then it won't be in your hidden Library folder.
(7) Now attach the log file to your next post in this thread: while you're writing your next post, click on the "Attachments and other options" text that appears just below the box where you write your post.
(8) Then click on "Browse...", then find the copy of fs2_open.log in your Desktop, and click on Open.
If you accidentally choose the wrong file, you can clear it by clicking on "Clean Attachment", which is to the right of the Browse... button. Nothing will actually get attached to your post until you click on the "Post" button.
Let us know how all of that goes.
