FreeSpace Wiki - User contributions [en]

Main Page

2006-01-04T00:05:10Z

80.1.224.10:

'''Welcome to the Freespace Wiki, the ultimate source for Freespace info on the web.'''


{| border=0 align=right cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=30% style="margin: 0 0 1em 1em; background: #404040; border: 1px

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! style="color: white; height: 30px; background: #613030; 70%;"|''Retail Freespace''
|-
| [[Portal:Freespace 1|Freespace 1]]
|-
| [[Portal:Freespace 2|Freespace 2]]
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! style="color: white; height: 30px; background: #613030; 70%;"|''Freespace Source Code Project''
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| [[Getting Started(Main)|Getting Started]]
|-
| [[Multiplayer(Main)|Multiplayer]]
|-
| [[Command-Line_Reference|Command-Line Reference]]
|-
| [[Development_Reference|Development Reference]]
|-
| [[Feature Requests|Feature Requests]]
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! style="color: white; height: 30px; background: #613030; 70%;"|''Modding Freespace''
|-
| [[Portal:Modding|General Modding]]
|-
| [[User-made_Campaigns|User-made Campaigns]]
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! style="color: white; height: 30px; background: #613030; 70%;"|''Freespace Universe''
|-
| [[Portal:FS Universe|The Universe]]
|-
! style="color: white; height: 30px; background: #613030; 70%;"|''Other''
|-
| [[Freespace Lingo]]
|-
| [[Freespace_Wiki:Community_Portal|Freespace Community]]
|-
| [[Getting Freespace]]
|-
| [[BitTorrent(Main)|BitTorrent]]
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! style="color: white; height: 30px; background: #462424; 70%;"|Alternately, explore the '''FreeSpace''' universe through ''[[Special:Categories|categories]].''
|-
|}

The ''Freespace'' Wiki is designed to be a comprehensive source of data for the ''Freespace'' series of games, including information about the games themselves, the Freespace universe, and community activities, such as modding and the Source Code Project. It also contains help with some of the more common problems, such as setting up multiplayer and obtaining the freespace games, which can be quite difficult in stores.

Anyone can edit the Freespace Wiki, and we encourage you to do so, but please read our [[canon|Canon Policy]] for information on what sort of data should be submitted, and how to submit it, before you begin.

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! style="color: white; height: 30px; background: #613030; 70%;"|''Featured Article of the Moment''
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|{{Featured Article}}
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Feature Requests

2005-12-31T01:33:31Z

80.1.224.10: /* New Requests */

This page is primarily to serve as a database for feature requests for the Source Code Project.

== New Requests ==

=== Toggleable subsystems ===
Support for subsystems that can be turned on and off (ie when 'off', act as though they never existed - are untargetable, leave behind no damage LOD, do not take damage, cannot be collided with, etc.) This would be useful for ships where someone might want to remove or swap a subsystem (ie fighter cockpits could have Terran and Vasudan versions).
* '''Supported By:''' No mods or campaigns AFAIK

=== Side Multipart Turrets ===
Support for fully rotating turrets on the sides of ships.
* '''Supported By:''' Battlestar Galactica, The Babylon Project, Wing Commander Saga, Nukemod - Children of Shiva

=== Gatling Turrets ===
Support for Gatling gun turrets, which work same as a regular multipart turret but has an extra subobject (child of the barel) that rotates while the turret is firing.
* '''Supported By:''' Nukemod - Children of Shiva

=== Submodel Animation Triggers & Upgrades ===

Trigger Requests:
* Subspace - Performs animation on entrance to supspace, and undoes when a ship comes out of subspace, and acts as a initial position if the "mission takes place in subspace" flag is set.
*Afterburners - Performs animation when afterburners are used and undoes the anumation when they go off.
*Weapon Fire - Performs animation when weapon is fired and undoes it before the weapon can fire again.
*Sexp - Animation triggered by sexp.
*Flight Control - Triggered by the the activation, toggle or motion of a particular flight control.
*Turret Fire - Performs animation when a particular turret is fired and undoes it before the turret can fire again.
Requested Upgrades:
*Support for "model-relative" movement in addition to "current submodel position-relitive" movement that already exists.
*Incremental movement - moves a submodel to the position indicated, but does not undo the motion.
*Glowpoint linking - Make it possible to activate/deactivate/toggel a certain bank/slot of glowpoint(s).
*Counter-rotate option - allow an object to inherit its parent's motion while counter-rotating, usefull for translation effect.
*Increase heirarchy depth instance limit to at least 10 levels of heirarchy.
*Simple linked animation support - Support for animations liked with flight controls and other variable setting ship controls, usefull for making animated cockpit controls, control surfaces, and thrust vectoring nozzels.
* '''Supported By:''' Nukemod - Children of Shiva, Twisted Infinities, Shadows of Lylat

=== Arrays and Other Collections ===
Support for FRED using arrays or other collections (or both) in a similar fashion to variables as there is currently no way to directly associate two variables with each other. Obviously some way to search the collection for a certain value would be needed.
* '''Supported By:''' MindGames, The Babylon Project

== In Progress ==
=== Customizable ship types ===
Add a new table (or an addendum to ships.tbl) that would allow modders to turn on and off individual aspects of ship types, as well as define new ones. Type should be settable in the $Flags: variable, just as it is now, and the :V: defaults should be integrated so that they may be overriden by mods.
* '''Supported By:''' The Babylon Project

== Implemented ==
=== Flak Screen ===
Ability to set detonation range/time for flak shots so that flak weapons could fire at approaching ships beyond their 'detonation range' thus generating a flak screen in front of the approaching ships with the flak explosions. Preferably with little variance in the exact detonation time as there is always a little variance in normal flak explosions. Beams already support this sort of firing with +range: option. 
[[User:Wanderer|Wanderer]] 10:56, 9 Dec 2005 (GMT)
* '''Supported By:''' The Apocalypse Project

Installing Mods for FS2 Open

2005-12-20T22:47:56Z

80.1.224.10: /* Installing the mod */

== Improvements upon Retail ==

While installing mods for FreeSpace has never been hugely difficult FS2_Open has made considerable improvements to the way that they are handled. Under retail installing more than one mod involved either installing several copies of FS2 or tiresome dragging and renaming of folders and files. Under FS2_Open less than a minutes work when installing a mod can mean that you can swap between mods with nothing more than a click of a button.

== Imstalling the Media VP files ==

To truly take advantage of FS2_Open's modding features you should install the media VP files to a subfolder of your Freespace2 folder. Although you can call this folder anything you like the assumption that will generally be made is that if you have put them in a folder it will be called MediaVPs so it is probably best to stick to that. Now that you have put the media VP files in that folder you must go to the mod tab on the launcher and select MediaVPs as your mod when running FS2. If you don't do this FS2 will run with none of the media VPs features. It will be like playing retail again.

== Installing the mod ==

Be very wary of what the readmes that come with mods tell you to do. Many mods were written before FS2 or FS2_Open had these new features or by people only vaguely aware of what they do. For this reason I'll give you a golden rule.

'''NEVER install anything to Freespace2\Data regardless of what the instructions say'''.

If you are following this guide there is no reason to install there (with one exception I'll come to later). Installing to that folder means that FS2 retail and multiplayer will load the mod and probably break. The only exception is if you want the mod to work on multiplayer or retail. For instance if you have downloaded the validated multiplayer missions then there is no harm in placing them there as you want retail multiplayer to be able to access them. However you must take great care when doing this. Any problems you experience later could very easily be due to you installing a retail mod and then forgetting you did it.
Since FS2_Open will run the vast majority of retail mods you're probably better off simply installing the mod for FS2_Open.

What you should do is make a folder within your Freespace2 folder. Make sure that this folder has no spaces and no hyphens (In fact FS2_Open doesn't like it if there is a space anywhere in the path so C:\Program Files\Freespace 2\ModName\ is right out). If the mod consists completely of VP files stick them all in there and you're done with this step.
If the mods readme tell you to install to Freespace2\Data make a new folder called Data within the one you just created and then follow the instuctions using this new Data folder as if it were Freespace2\Data (i.e if told to stick a file in Freespace2\Data\Tables you stick it in Freespace2\ModName\Data\Tables).

The last step is only required if you want the mod to be able to access the media VP files. For most FS2 based mods this will be true. This is done by creating a new text file called mod.ini (be careful that the computer doesn't call it mod.ini.txt). Cut and paste this into the file

[multimod] 
secondrylist = ,Media_VPs; 

Place this file in the mods folder. Run the launcher, click on mod, select the new folder and you're ready to play.

Installing Mods for FS2 Open

2005-12-20T22:44:36Z

80.1.224.10: /* Installing the mod */

== Improvements upon Retail ==

While installing mods for FreeSpace has never been hugely difficult FS2_Open has made considerable improvements to the way that they are handled. Under retail installing more than one mod involved either installing several copies of FS2 or tiresome dragging and renaming of folders and files. Under FS2_Open less than a minutes work when installing a mod can mean that you can swap between mods with nothing more than a click of a button.

== Imstalling the Media VP files ==

To truly take advantage of FS2_Open's modding features you should install the media VP files to a subfolder of your Freespace2 folder. Although you can call this folder anything you like the assumption that will generally be made is that if you have put them in a folder it will be called MediaVPs so it is probably best to stick to that. Now that you have put the media VP files in that folder you must go to the mod tab on the launcher and select MediaVPs as your mod when running FS2. If you don't do this FS2 will run with none of the media VPs features. It will be like playing retail again.

== Installing the mod ==

Be very wary of what the readmes that come with mods tell you to do. Many mods were written before FS2 or FS2_Open had these new features or by people only vaguely aware of what they do. For this reason I'll give you a golden rule.

'''NEVER install anything to Freespace2\Data regardless of what the instructions say'''.

If you are following this guide there is no reason to install there (with one exception I'll come to later). Installing to that folder means that FS2 retail and multiplayer will load the mod and probably break. The only exception is if you want the mod to work on multiplayer or retail. For instance if you have downloaded the validated multiplayer missions then there is no harm in placing them there as you want retail multiplayer to be able to access them. However you must take great care when doing this. Any problems you experience later could very easily be due to you installing a retail mod and then forgetting you did it.
Since FS2_Open will run the vast majority of retail mods you're probably better off simply installing the mod for FS2_Open.

What you should do is make a folder within your Freespace2 folder. Make sure that this folder has no spaces and no hyphens (In fact FS2_Open doesn't like it if there is a space anywhere in the path so C:\Program Files\Freespace 2\ModName\ is right out). If the mod consists completely of VP files stick them all in there and you're done with this step.
If the mods readme tell you to install to Freespace2\Data make a new folder called Data within the one you just created and then follow the instuctions using this new Data folder as if it were Freespace2\Data (i.e if told to stick a file in Freespace2\Data\Tables you stick it in Freespace2\ModName\Data\Tables).

The last step is only required if you want the mod to be able to access the media VP files. For most FS2 based mods this will be true. This is done by creating a new text file called mod.ini (be careful that the computer doesn't call it mod.ini.txt). Cut and paste this into the file

[multimod]
secondrylist = ,Media_VPs;

Place this file in the mods folder. Run the launcher, click on mod, select the new folder and you're ready to play.

Installing Mods for FS2 Open

2005-12-20T22:43:33Z

80.1.224.10:

== Improvements upon Retail ==

While installing mods for FreeSpace has never been hugely difficult FS2_Open has made considerable improvements to the way that they are handled. Under retail installing more than one mod involved either installing several copies of FS2 or tiresome dragging and renaming of folders and files. Under FS2_Open less than a minutes work when installing a mod can mean that you can swap between mods with nothing more than a click of a button.

== Imstalling the Media VP files ==

To truly take advantage of FS2_Open's modding features you should install the media VP files to a subfolder of your Freespace2 folder. Although you can call this folder anything you like the assumption that will generally be made is that if you have put them in a folder it will be called MediaVPs so it is probably best to stick to that. Now that you have put the media VP files in that folder you must go to the mod tab on the launcher and select MediaVPs as your mod when running FS2. If you don't do this FS2 will run with none of the media VPs features. It will be like playing retail again.

== Installing the mod ==

Be very wary of what the readmes that come with mods tell you to do. Many mods were written before FS2 or FS2_Open had these new features or by people only vaguely aware of what they do. For this reason I'll give you a golden rule.

'''NEVER install anything to Freespace2\Data regardless of what the instructions say'''.

If you are following this guide there is no reason to install there (with one exception I'll come to later). Installing to that folder means that FS2 retail and multiplayer will load the mod and probably break. The only exception is if you want the mod to work on multiplayer or retail. For instance if you have downloaded the validated multiplayer missions then there is no harm in placing them there as you want retail multiplayer to be able to access them. However you must take great care when doing this. Any problems you experience later could very easily be due to you installing a retail mod and then forgetting you did it.
Since FS2_Open will run the vast majority of retail mods you're probably better off simply installing the mod for FS2_Open.

What you should do is make a folder within your Freespace2 folder. Make sure that this folder has no spaces and no hyphens (In fact FS2_Open doesn't like it if there is a space anywhere in the path so C:\Program Files\Freespace 2\ModName\ is right out). If the mod consists completely of VP files stick them all in there and you're done with this step.
If the mods readme tell you to install to Freespace2\Data make a new folder called Data within the one you just created and then follow the instuctions using this new Data folder as if it were Freespace2\Data (i.e if told to stick a file in Freespace2\Data\Tables you stick it in Freespace2\ModName\Data\Tables).

The last step is only required if you want the mod to be able to access the media VP files. For most FS2 based mods this will be true. This is done by creating a new text file called mod.ini (be careful that the computer doesn't call it mod.ini.txt). Cut and paste this into the file

[multimod]
secondrylist = ,Media_VPs;

Place this file in the mods folder. Run the launcher, click on mod, select the new folder and you're ready to play.

Source Code Project index

2005-12-20T22:05:37Z

80.1.224.10: /* Getting Started with the Source Code Project */

===Getting Started with the Source Code Project===

[[FSSCP Introduction]]
 [[Installing fs2_open]]
 [[Installing mods for fs2_open]]
 [[Troubleshooting]]
 [[Bug Reporting]]

[[Category:Source Code Project]]

Installing fs2 open

2005-12-20T22:00:21Z

80.1.224.10: /* Step Four: Choosing your MediaVPs */

This guide assumes you already have a working copy of Freespace 2 installed. If not, see [[Installing Freespace 2]]. Also, this build assumes you do not use an installer. If you do, skip down to the part where it talks about configuring fs2_open.

== Step One: Understanding what you need ==

There are three main components that you need to get the most out of fs2_open.

First, the Launcher. This lets you configure the fs2_open executable for your particular system, in much the same way the original Freespace 2 launcher is used to configure it.

Next, the fs2_open build. This is the core game engine, a single executable file.

Finally, the MediaVPs. These contain all sorts of graphical improvements and are highly recommended. Version numbers of mediaVPs generally agree with the fs2_open build that they're supposed to be used with.

== Step Two: Getting the Launcher ==

Unless you are using an extremely old build, you will want to get Launcher 5.3. Otherwise, go with Launcher 4. To install either, extract it to your main Freespace 2 folder. (You can have both on your computer at the same time, although it's not recommended)

[http://scp.indiegames.us/download.php?view.133 Launcher 5.3 download page]

== Step Three: Choosing a build ==
There are two main types of fs2_open builds, at the time of this writing. A "build" is any executable built from source code. Any build may also be a debug build. (Debug builds usually have names that end with "_d" or "_dbg" or somesuch) If you don't know why you'd want to use a debug build, you're almost certainly better off not using one.

All builds should be extracted to your main Freespace 2 folder.

=== Official Releases ===
The first type is the "stable" release build. Depending on the version, there may be some minor bugs that made it into the final release. (In 3.6, you can't warp out in Very Easy difficulty; in 3.6.5, OGG music, and thus the MediaVP package mv_music, will cause a crash to desktop). However, they are more consistently stable than "recent builds", as they represent a group effort to get a stable build out, by all coders on the [[FSSCP]].

Additionally, some official release builds are available with installers. It's a good idea to get the most recent official release, even if you end up deciding to get a recent build anyway.

[http://scp.indiegames.us/download.php?list.8 Official release download page]

=== Recent Builds ===
Recent Builds are ones that individual coders release. These may be more stable than Official Releases, in some cases. Most of the time they're released to either test or showcase some particular new feature. If you're curious about how reliable a build is, your best bet is to check the original thread it was posted in and see what people's responses were.

[http://scp.indiegames.us/download.php?list.7 Recent builds download page]

== Step Four: Choosing your MediaVPs ==

There are a variety of different [[MediaVP]]s available for download. No matter what system you have, it should be able to support mv_core with no degradation in performance. This will enable a few interface improvements that require extra art.

mv_music should only be used with builds from April 2005 or after. mv_models should not be used on systems that do not support HT&L (video cards such as the TNT2 and below do not support HT&L). mv_adveffects should only be used if you have an extremely high-end system. (In the neighborhood of an X800 or 6800, and with a P4 or AMD64 processor.) The rest of the MediaVPs can be installed as your computer allows. (You may want to download them one at a time after you have configured fs2_open so you can get an idea of how much they will slow fs2_open down)

There are two ways to set up the media VPs. The quick and dirty method is to simply dump them in your main Freespace 2 folder. This will allow FS2_open to work but will prevent you from playing the standard retail version or from playing games on FS2NetD (The FS2 online service) without getting a "hacked tables" error message. The second way preserves both of these and requires minimal extra time to set up. (See step six for further details)

[http://scp.indiegames.us/download.php?list.2 MediaVP download page]

== Step Five: Configuring Everything ==

=== Basic setup ===

At this point, you have one final stage remaining before fs2_open is ready to go. Open up the Launcher. (It should be in your main Freespace 2 folder). Select the EXE you'd like to use by clicking the "Browse..." button at the top of the Launcher.

Next, ensure that the "Audio/Joystick" and "Network" tabs have the proper settings. (If you have trouble with your joystick not working properly in fs2_open, you may try the "Force 0" or "Force 1" options, which will force fs2_open to use the first or second joysticks, respectively.

=== Speech setup ===

If you are using Windows XP, or have the Speech API installed, fs2_open will be able to read briefings, techroom descriptions, and even ingame messages to you using computer-generated voices. Although no match for real voice acting, it is convenient when valid plot points are mentioned in the middle of combat. Speech in the various locations can be turned on and off by checking and unchecking the check boxes; you can choose which of the installed voices to use in fs2_open by changing the drop-down menu. As of this writing, fs2_open will only use the voice you choose for everything.

=== Video setup ===

On the "Video" tab, you can choose which API to use (OpenGL or Direct3D), what resolution to run in, and whether to use anti-aliasing (Multisampling) or not. Note that if you're using an ATI card, with Catalyst drivers above 4.3, shinemaps will not work in Direct3D. However, environment mapping will not work in OpenGL.

"Allow non standard modes" will let you choose resoltuions other than 1024x768 and 640x480. There may be some small graphics alignment errors, but these are generally small and virtually unnoticeable.

=== Features setup ===

This tab is where most of fs2_open's options can be toggled on and off. At the top is a readout of your current command line; you should include this in any debugging reports you make.

The next box, with the buttons "Select mod" and "No mod" allow you to choose a mod directory to use; files in the mod directory will be given precedence over other files, so you can easily switch between mods by installing them to different directories.

"Custom flags" allows you to add any command line flags that don't show up in the Launcher. This may be because they require additional arguments, as is the case with the "-fov" command line argument. For more information, see the [[Command Line Flags]] page.

Finally, the two boxes below this let you toggle the various new features in fs2_open, many of which are graphical improvements. Recommended options for midrange systems are "Enable specular", "Enable glowmaps", "Enable jpg,tga textures", "Enable more realistic lighting", and "Load only used weapons". (You may have to choose a different section in the drop-down box to get to some of these days). There are many, many more options, but these should get you started.

[http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Command-Line_Reference Command line Flags]

== Step Six: (Optional) Preserving Freespace 2 ==

At this point, if you try to start the original Freespace 2 executables, they'll likely crash at some point or other. To prevent this, do the following:

=== Move the mediaVPs to a mod dir ===
You can take advantage of the SCP's -mod feature and move the mediaVPs to a folder inside your main Freespace 2 folder; this folder can be named anything you like, such as "scp" or "mediaVPs". However, whenever you run Freespace 2, you must remember to select that folder as the current mod. If you want to play another mod, you must make use of the SCP's multiple mod feature.

=== Save any existing pilot files ===
Fs2_open upgraded the pilot files to allow for better mod handling in version 3.6.5. To prevent double entries from showing up, a new, upgraded version of the pilot file is created, and then the old one is deleted. To save your progress, copy all *.plr, *.csg, and *.css files that start with your pilot name. Then, rename the copies so that they're in the form of <your name>_scp. For example, my player file would be called "WMCoolmon_scp.plr". Then, only use the "_scp" versions when running fs2_open.

It's recommended you back up the originals as well, in case you accidentally click on the non-SCP version while in the SCP. (It should warn you that it's going to destructively convert them, however.)

[[Category:Source Code Project]]