FreeSpace Wiki - User contributions [en]

POF Constructor Suite 2

2009-03-08T16:16:03Z

Kazan:

POF Constructor Suite 2 is a significant rewrite of [[POF Constructor Suite]] written cooperatively by Kazan and Bobboau. Kazan first started writing PCS2 when he recognized significant shortcomings in PCS1 - the fixed limit on polygon size, difficulty in adding support for new file types, the inferior CPU-hogging render window, user-friendliness issues and well as platform lock on windows. PCS2 in now stable.

==Download Links==
'''PCS2 installers can be downloaded from [http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=26889&package_id=53033 Sourceforge].

Other important links include:

[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,47596.0.html Index to links]
[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,52098.0.html Version 2.0 Final]
[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,41648.0.html Feature Requests/Roadmap/Completion status]
[http://ferrium.org/mantis/ Mantis, for bug reports]'''

== FAQ ==
===PMF? What is PMF?===
PCS 1.x used POF as it's internal format, which caused a lot of problems and limited the features. So PCS2.x uses it's own format called PMF (PCS2 Model Format) internally.

A POF load goes like this: 
1) Open file 
2) Read into instance of "POFHandler" PCS1/PCS2's POF editing library 
3) Translate POF into PMF 
4) Discard POFHandler instance 
A save goes the opposite direction.

===Purge the BSP Cache? What is the BSP Cache?===
When PCS2 loads a model (.cob, .pof, etc) it has to translate that model into PMF - it's internal format. In POF the geometry is stored in a Binary Space Partition tree (aka BSP) - this must be translated into the PMF geometry format [which is very flexible unlike the very inflexible BSP].
 
When writing the POF it must translate the PMF geometry back into POF geometry - which compiles BSP compilation, which is the part of POF saving that takes a long time. Now when you simply open a model and edit a fire point and save it again there is no reason to do a recompile, it gets you nothing. However due to the PMF format being internal this would be required as it must translate back to POF. 
 
The Solution to this is the BSP Cache. When it loads a model created by the latest version of PCS2 or by Volition's compiler BSPGEN it will save a copy of the POF BSP in memory while that file is loaded, so when saving it says "Do I have a cache for this submodel?" if so it skips compilation and uses the cached copy. 
Sometimes when it's suspected that something is wrong with the geometry, bounding boxes, etc I'll ask you to do "Data->Purge BSP Cache" which will clear the cache making it recompile on save. 
Caveat: PCS2 Versions prior to RC2d occasionally would cache when they shouldn't.

==Help==
===PCS2 Documentation Project===
[[POFCS2Help/HelpHome]]

===PCS2 Won't run, something about "incorrect configuration"===
This is caused by some DLLs that are required for running most applications written with [[Microsoft Visual Studio 2005]] not being present on your system. You can get the update from Microsoft [http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=32bc1bee-a3f9-4c13-9c99-220b62a191ee&displaylang=en here].

===I found a bug===
Report it in [http://ferrium.org/mantis/ the PCS2 Mantis]

==Collada Importer==
In June 2008, a post concerning a cash prize for Collada support in PCS2 was made on the Hard-Light forums. You can view information about the [[Collada Importer]], which has been primarily developed by Spicious and a very eager league of testers.

[[Category:Tools]]

POFCS2Help/HelpHome

2009-03-08T16:15:06Z

Kazan:

This is the stub start page for the PCS2 Help Cooperative authoring... please create all pages in POFCS2Help/<pagename>

once this project is done and arranged I will export this all and include it with PCS2 releases as the official help.

Pages:
[[POFCS2Help/BlenderToPOFConversions]]

POFCS2Help/HelpHome

2009-03-08T01:06:55Z

Kazan: New page: This is the stub start page for the PCS2 Help Cooperative authoring... please create all pages in POFCS2Help/<pagename> once this project is done and arranged I will export this all and i...

Freespace 2 EULA Issues

2008-09-23T01:54:58Z

Kazan: Freespace 2 EULA Issues moved to Freespace 2 EULA: Old article (and it's title) were pontification, cleaned up to be only factual

#REDIRECT [[Freespace 2 EULA]]

FreeSpace 2 EULA

2008-09-23T01:54:58Z

Kazan: Freespace 2 EULA Issues moved to Freespace 2 EULA: Old article (and it's title) were pontification, cleaned up to be only factual

==Freespace 2 EULA==
This software product, FreeSpace 2 (the "Software"), is
intended solely for your personal noncommercial home entertainment
use. You may not decompile, reverse engineer, or disassemble the
Software, except as permitted by law. Interplay Productions and
Volition, Inc. retain all rights and title in the Software including
all intellectual property rights embodied therein and derivatives
thereof. You are granted a revocable, nonassignable limited license
to create derivative works of this Software solely for your own
personal noncommercial home entertainment use and may publicly
display such derivative works to the extent specifically
authorized by Interplay in writing. A copy of this authorization, if
any, will be provided on Interplay's World Wide Web site, located at
http://www.interplay.com, or by contacting the legal department of
Interplay Productions in the US at (949) 553-6655. The Software,
including, without limitation, all code, data structures, characters,
images, sounds, text, screens, game play, derivative works and all
other elements of the Software may not be copied (except as provided
below), resold, rented, leased, distributed (electronically or
otherwise), used on pay-per-play, coin-op or other for-charge basis,
or for any commercial purpose. You may make copies of the Software
for your personal noncommercial home entertainment use and to give to
friends and acquaintances on a no cost noncommercial basis. This
limited right to copy the Software expressly excludes any copying or
distribution of the Software on a commercial basis, including,
without limitation, bundling the product with any other product or
service and any give away of the Software in connection with another
product or service. Any permissions granted herein are provided on a
temporary basis and can be withdrawn by Interplay Productions at any
time. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

Modem and Network Play. If the Software contains modem or network
play, you may play the Software via modem transmission with another
person or persons directly without transmission through a third party
service or indirectly through a third party service only if such
service is an authorized licensee of Interplay. For the purposes of
this license, a third party service refers to any third party service
which provides a connection between two or more users of the
Software, manages, organizes, or facilitates game play, translates
protocols, or otherwise provides a service which commercially
exploits the Software, but does not include a third party service
which merely provides a telephonic connection (and nothing more) for
modem or network play. Authorized licensee services are listed on
the Interplay Productions World Wide Web Site located at
http://www.interplay.com. This limited right to transmit the Software
expressly excludes any transmission of the Software or any data
streams thereof on a commercial basis, including, without limitation,
transmitting the Software by way of a commercial service (excepting
those specific commercial services licensed by Interplay) which
translates the protocols or manages or organizes game play sessions.
If you would like information about obtaining a pay-for-play or
commercial license to the Software, please contact Interplay
Productions in the US at +(949) 553-6655. Nothing in this paragraph
is intended to prevent you from downloading the Software from
Interplay's Web site or from commercial service providers authorized
by Interplay to provide the Software to you.

Acceptance of License Terms. By downloading or acquiring and then
retaining this Software, you assent to the terms and restrictions of
this limited license. If you acquired the Software and do not accept
the terms of this limited license, you must return the Software
together with all packaging, manuals and other material contained
therein to the store where you acquired the Software for a full
refund and if you downloaded the Software, you must delete it.

Trademark and copyright (c) 1999 Volition, Inc. All rights reserved.

However, this EULA below gets installed from the retail CDs (mine are 8 years old). There was a big deal (tm) a number of years ago when they realized the "old" EULA was in a click through on the retail installers and the new one was actually installed after the fact. But this in fact, the actual EULA. The Gametap installer and readme also have this EULA.

Please note the "friends" clause is absent from this version. They realized their mistake, and they rescinded that authorization almost immediately.

SOFTWARE USE LIMITATIONS AND LIMITED LICENSE

General Product License. This copy of FreeSpace 2 (the "Software") is
intended solely for your personal non-commercial home entertainment use.
You may not decompile, reverse engineer, or disassemble the Software,
except as permitted by law. Interplay Entertainment Corp. and its
licensors retain all right, title and interest in the Software including
all intellectual property rights embodied therein and derivatives thereof.
The Software, including, without limitation, all code, data structures,
characters, images, sounds, text, screens, game play, derivative works and
all other elements of the Software may not be copied, resold, rented,
leased, distributed (electronically or otherwise), used on a pay-per-play,
coin-op or other for-charge basis, or for any commercial purpose. Any
permissions granted herein are provided on a temporary basis and can be
withdrawn by Interplay Productions at any time. All rights not expressly
granted are reserved.

Modem and Network Play. If the Software contains modem or network play,
you may play the Software via modem transmission with another person or
persons directly without transmission through a third party service or
indirectly through a third party service only if such service is an
authorized licensee of Interplay. For the purpose of this license, a
"third party service" refers to any third party service which provides a
connection between two or more users of the Software, manages, organizes,
or facilitates game play, translates protocols, or otherwise provides a
service which commercially exploits the Software, but does not include a
third party service which merely provides a telephonic connection (and
nothing more) for modem or network play. Authorized licensee services
are listed on the Interplay Entertainment Corp. World Wide Web Site
located at http://www.interplay.com. This limited right to transmit the
Software expressly excludes any transmission of the Software of any data
streams thereof on a commercial basis, including, without limitation,
transmitting the Software by way of a commercial service (excepting those
specific commercial services licensed by Interplay) which translates the
protocols or manages or organizes game play sessions.

Acceptance of License Terms. By downloading or acquiring and then retaining
this Software, you assent to the terms and restrictions of this limited
license. If you acquired the Software and do not accept the terms of this
limited license, you must return the Software together with all packaging,
manuals and other material contained therein to the store where you acquired
the Software for a full refund and if you downloaded the Software, you must delete it.

FreeSpace 2 EULA

2008-09-23T01:54:26Z

Kazan: Removed inappropriate pontification from the entry

POF Constructor Suite 2

2008-01-30T21:00:54Z

Kazan:

POF Constructor Suite 2 is a significant rewrite of [[POF Constructor Suite]] written cooperatively by Kazan and Bobboau. Kazan first started writing PCS2 when he recognized significant shortcomings in PCS1 - the fixed limit on polygon size, difficulty in adding support for new file types, the inferior CPU-hogging render window, user-friendliness issues and well as platform lock on windows. PCS2 is currently in the beta stage of development.

==Download Links==
'''Currently PCS2 can be obtained from [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,51649.0.html PCS2 RC2 Builds thread]'''

== FAQ ==
===PMF? What is PMF?===
PCS 1.x used POF as it's internal format, which caused a lot of problems and limited the features. So PCS2.x uses it's own format called PMF (PCS2 Model Format) internally.

A POF load goes like this: 
1) Open file 
2) Read into instance of "POFHandler" PCS1/PCS2's POF editing library 
3) Translate POF into PMF 
4) Discard POFHandler instance 
A save goes the opposite direction.

===Purge the BSP Cache? What is the BSP Cache?===
When PCS2 loads a model (.cob, .pof, etc) it has to translate that model into PMF - it's internal format. In POF the geometry is stored in a Binary Space Partition tree (aka BSP) - this must be translated into the PMF geometry format [which is very flexible unlike the very inflexible BSP].
 
When writing the POF it must translate the PMF geometry back into POF geometry - which compiles BSP compilation, which is the part of POF saving that takes a long time. Now when you simply open a model and edit a fire point and save it again there is no reason to do a recompile, it gets you nothing. However due to the PMF format being internal this would be required as it must translate back to POF. 
 
The Solution to this is the BSP Cache. When it loads a model created by the latest version of PCS2 or by Volition's compiler BSPGEN it will save a copy of the POF BSP in memory while that file is loaded, so when saving it says "Do I have a cache for this submodel?" if so it skips compilation and uses the cached copy. 
Sometimes when it's suspected that something is wrong with the geometry, bounding boxes, etc I'll ask you to do "Data->Purge BSP Cache" which will clear the cache making it recompile on save. 
Caveat: PCS2 Versions prior to RC2d occasionally would cache when they shouldn't.

==Troubleshooting==
===PCS2 Won't run, something about "incorrect configuration"===
This is caused by some DLLs that are required for running most applications written with [[Microsoft Visual Studio 2005]] not being present on your system. You can get the update from Microsoft [http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=32bc1bee-a3f9-4c13-9c99-220b62a191ee&displaylang=en here].

===I found a bug===
Report it in [http://ferrium.org/mantis/ the PCS2 Mantis]

[[Category:Tools]]

Command-Line Reference

2008-01-08T00:39:15Z

Kazan: /* Gameplay */

==Launcher Flags==
The following command-line options can be chosen from the launcher.
===Graphics===
====-spec====
Enables specular mapping. Only polygons mapped with textures for which a shinemap exists will recieve specular mapping; no attempt is made to generate spec maps where they do not exist. Specular maps are specified with the base map name plus "-shine" (i.e. TCov3A-shine.pcx).
====-env====
Enables environment mapping. Environment mapping intensity will be determined from the intensity of specular maps. At the time of this writing (build 3.6.9 RC7), environment mapping only works when the video mode is OpenGL. [[Installing_fs2_open#Video setup|See Video setup.]]

====-glow====
Enables glowmapping. Only polygons mapped with textures for which a glowmap exists will be glowmapped. Glow maps are specified with the base map name plus "-glow" (i.e. TCov4A-glow.pcx)

====-jpgtga====
{{Note | This option is not present in builds after 3.6.9 and is now always on.}}
Enables the use of TGA and JPG file formats for image files. If a ship is showing up partially invisible, select this option.

====-pcx32====
{{Note| This option is not present in builds post version 3.6.7 ([http://tinyurl.com/3eynan 2007/03/22]).}}

{{Warning|This will not improve the rendering of any ships in-game, and is usually more of a burden on performance than is worthwhile. Use at your own risk.}}
Enables PCX files to be loaded into 32-bit memory.

====-cell====
Enables cell shading. This will make graphics appear more "cartoonish". For use with media in mv_cell.vp. Not considered a standard enhancement.
====-mipmap====
Enables mipmapping.

====-nomotiondebris====
Disables motion debris.
====-2d_poof====
Applies nebula poofs in 2d, effectively preventing them from forming intersections with ships.
====-noscalevid====
Disables scaling of video clips.
====-missile_lighting====
Applys lighting to missiles.
====-rlm====
{{Note| This option is not present in builds after [http://tinyurl.com/2yndle 2005/09/30] and is now always on.}}
Enables more accurate lighting model for OpenGL mode.

----

===Game Speed===
====-img2dds====
Converts all images to DDS (compressed) format. Decreases memory usage but potentially reduces image quality.
====-no_vsync====
Disables vertical sync.
====-cache_bitmaps====
Caches bitmaps between missions, which will ideally reduce the load-time from one mission to another.

----

===HUD===
====-dualscanlines====
Adds a second pair of scanning lines to the target window when scanning an object.
====-targetinfo====
Displays target info, such as name and class, beside the targeted object.
====-orbradar====
Enables 3D radar (the Orb). 3D radar will replace the standard 2D version.
====-ballistic_gauge====
Adds an ammo gauge to the HUD when armed with a ballistic weapon.
====-rearm_timer====
Displays time remaining until rearm and repair from a support ship is complete.

----

===Gameplay===
====-smart_shields====
Enables "smart" shield recharging. Shield recharge is distributed to the most damaged shield quadrant instead of being distributed equally across the entire shield and be wasted when a quadrant is full.
====-ship_choice_3d====
Use ship and weapon models in ship selection and weapon loadout. It completely disables the standard ANI interface on those screens.
Some mods need a compulsory use of this flag because they don't have available animations for their ships and secondary weapons. In this situation, and if it is not used, the game will probably crash to desktop in the ship selection or weapon loadout screens.

====-3dwarp====
Use full geometry for the subspace warp effect.
====-warp_flash====
Enable a flash at warp in and warp out.
====-UseNewAI====
Tells the game to use new AI routines. This argument alters mission balance and is not considered a standard feature.
====-no_ap_interrupt====
Tells the game to not allow players to interrupt an autopilot already-in-progress.
====-tbp====
Enable feature set for The Babylon Project
====-wcsaga====
Enable feature set for The Wing Commander Saga.

It does the following changes to the normal FS2 engine behaviour:
* It removes -class name in the briefing ship render window, (the window that appears when ship icons are clicked).
* It removes enemy names ingame for wings of ships.
* Enemies can scream when dying. (Without the flag only friendlies scream).

----

===Audio===
====-snd_preload====
Preload mission sounds. Useful in preventing game stuttering when sounds are played for the first time.
====-nosound====
Disables all sounds.
====-nomusic====
Disables music only.

----

===Multiplayer===
====-standalone====
Creates a standalone server.
====-startgame====
Once you launch and choose a pilot within the game, you will immediately have begun to host a game. This can be used in conjunction with several options to customize the game you create: -closed, -restricted, -password, -gamename, -allowabove, and -allowbelow. -startgame has no effect when -standalone is used.

See related: [[Command-Line_Reference#-closed|-closed]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-restricted|-restricted]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-password|-password]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-gamename|-gamename]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-allowabove|-allowabove]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-allowbelow|-allowbelow]]

====-closed====
Hosts a new game in a closed state, where no one can join until the in-game "Close" button is cleared. This only works when used in conjunction with -startgame. Cannot be used in conjunction with -restricted or -password.

See related: [[Command-Line_Reference#-startgame|-startgame]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-restricted|-restricted]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-password|-password]]

====-restricted====
Hosts a new game in a restricted state. The host is presented with option to accept or deny each client's request to join the game. This only works when used in conjunction with -startgame. Cannot be used in conjunction with -closed or -password.

See related: [[Command-Line_Reference#-startgame|-startgame]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-closed|-closed]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-password|-password]]

====-multilog====
Creates a log file with a summary of packets sent and received in multiplayer games. The file is saved as \data\multi.log within the active mod folder - or with main data folder if no mod is active.

====-clientdamage====
This feature is not available in current builds.

====-mpnoreturn====
Disables return to the flight deck screen after a mission completes.

----

===Troubleshooting===
====-fixbugs====
{{Note| This option is not present in builds post version 3.6.7 ([http://tinyurl.com/3eynan 2007/03/22]).}}
Originally used to disable certain crashing behavior as a stop-gap measure.

====-nocrash====
{{Note| This option is not present in builds post version 3.6.7 ([http://tinyurl.com/3eynan 2007/03/22]).}}
Originally used to disable certain crashing behavior as a stop-gap measure.

====-oldfire====
This feature is not available in current builds.

====-nohtl====
{{Warning| Enabling this will significantly reduce performance.}}
Reverts to software rendering mode.

====-no_set_gamma====
Disables the gamma settings in the options screen.
====-nomovies====
Disables all video playback.
====-noparseerrors====
Disables some parsing warnings and makes other parse errors non-fatal. Do not rely on this when creating new tables, the errors are there for a reason.
====-safeloading====
Loads missions the old way. Typically safer, but slower.
====-query_speech====
Determines if the current build includes text-to-speech.
====-d3d_bad_tsys====
Enable inefficient texture system.
====-novbo====
Disables OpenGL VBO.
====-noibx====
Disables IBX caching of model geometry data. This will dramatically increase load times, but will help troubleshoot a model if one is working incorrectly.
====-loadallweps====
Load all weapons, even those not used.

----

===Experimental===
====-alpha_env====
Enables alpha environment mapping. OpenGL only. Environment mapping intensity will be determined from the alpha channel of specular maps.
====-decals====
Enables damage decals.
(Decals have been disabled in builds after May 4, 2006)

====-ingame_join====
Enables ingame joining in multiplayer. FIXME: Host option?
====-tga16====
{{Note| This option is not present in builds post version 3.6.7 ([http://tinyurl.com/yr8tub 2006/04/05]).}}
Originally used to converts TGA images to 16-bits in order to reduce memory footprint (at the expense of image quality), superseded by [[Command-Line_Reference#-closed|-img2dds]].
----

===Development Tools===
====-fps====
Displays current frames per second.
====-pos====
Displays current position coordinates of camera.
====-window====
Runs the game in a window. No check to make sure that resolution is no higher than your desktop resolution, so be careful.
====-timerbar====
Displays a timing bar across the top of the screen. Timebar format varies by build.
====-stats====
Shows total and free physical memory, virtual memory and system pagefile.

====-coords====
Shows coordinates of the mouse cursor.
====-show_mem_usage====
Shows detailed RAM usage in HUD.

The meaning of the info displayed in the upper right corner is:

'''DYN''' = dynamic memory, basically anything that's been allocated by the vm_* memory functions. This does NOT indicate total memory usage but does account for most of it.

'''POF''' = model memory, how much memory is being used by models (does not include textures)

'''C-BMP, BMP''' = bmpman memory, how much is used by the textures/images that are loaded. C-BMP means that you are using -cache_bitmaps and it will try to keep textures in memory between level loads and as the new level is loading it will keep what it needs and unload what it doesn't. Can greatly increase level loading speed, but does so at the cost of memory between level loads. This does not increase overall memory usage though, only during the loading screen. BMP means that it is not cached and all textures are unloaded from memory at the start of level load and all needed textures are then loaded from the disk again.

'''S-RAM''' = sound memory, how much is used by the sounds loaded in memory at the time. This counts static sounds only (from sounds.tbl, etc.) and not streaming sounds (music, voices, briefing stuff, etc).

'''V-RAM''' = approximate memory usage of video textures. This does not mean that your card has this much memory, and can report higher numbers that your card actually has memory. For OpenGL it also includes some of the geometry data, but this number does not reflect the total memory that your video card is using. It only reports how much data the game has purposefully loaded into API memory (meaning it could be in system memory, video card memory, or AGP memory).

''(It only works with debug builds, not with release builds).''

====-pofspew====
Reads all objects in the pof file of the selected mod, and creates an ibx cache file for each object in the data/cache folder for that mod.
Details for each object are output to a pofspew.txt file created in the data folder.
Otherwise ibx files are created in game before each mission.

====-tablecrcs====
{{Sectstub}}

====-missioncrcs====
{{Sectstub}}

====-dis_collisions====
Disables all collisions.
====-dis_weapons====
Disables weapons rendering.
====-output_sexps====
Outputs SEXPs to sexps.html.
====-output_scripting====
Outputs scripting to scripting.html.
====-nograb====
Unix only. Disables focus grabbing in a window.
==Other==
The following options are not available as checkboxes in the launcher. Many require parameters, which follow the flag seperated by a space. The prototype for use in this case is "-option argument"
===Graphics===
====-ambient_factor====

This must be entered into the "Custom flags" field. This is a multiplier applied to the intensity of ambient lighting. Ambient light is lighting applied to all parts of a ship. FS2's standard value is 120. Try 75 for a good and realistic looking value. However, that is relative.

====-no_emissive_light====
By default, all ships in FS2 have a light generated on their own, it is more or less similar to a minimal amount of -ambient_factor. This feature was implemented to help the player seeing the ships over a black background. This flag disables this feature. Use it with a low -ambient_factor value to obtain an ultra realistic dark looking.

====-spec_exp====

This must be used with the -spec command line parameter and must be entered into the "Custom flags" field. Adjusts the size of the shiny spot on ships. Higher number mean smaller spots. Default is 16, however 11 is recommended. However, that is relative.

====-spec_point====

This must be used with the -spec command line parameter and must be entered into the
"Custom flags" field. Adjusts how much laser weapons contribute to specular highlights. Higher number mean greater contributions. Default is 1.0, however 0.6 is recommended. However, that is relative.

====-spec_static====

This must be used with the -spec command line parameter and must be entered into the "Custom flags" field. Adjusts how much suns contribute to specular highlights. Higher numbers mean a greater contribution. Default is 1.0, however is 0.8 recommended. However, that is relative.

====-spec_tube====

This must be used with the -spec command line parameter and must be entered into the "Custom flags" field. Adjusts how much Beam Weapons contribute to specular highlights. Higher numbers mean a greater contribution. Default is 1.0, however 0.4 is recommended. However, that is relative.

====-clipdist====
Changes the distance from the viewpoint for the near-clipping plane.

Takes one argument decimal specifying the distance to the near-clipping plane.

====-ogl_spec====
'''''OpenGL Only'''''. Takes a numerical argument. This value changes the basic shininess of the specular light in OpenGL. A lower value reduces the overall intensity of the light making it broader and less powerful. A higher value makes it more focued and brighter. The default value is 80, and the usable range is 0 to 128 (clamped). The original default value was 60, but it was raised to behave more D3D like.

----

===Gameplay===
====-mod====
{{Note| Please note that the ''mod.ini'' file is a feature exclusive to the Windows Launcher.}}
Specifies in which folders inside Freespace2 directory, the game looks for all the game data (models, missions, textures, tables, ...). Retail version only looks inside ''Freespace2/data/'' structure and ''Freespace2/vp archives''.

This flag allows installing several different mods that modify retail behaviour, and switching between them without needing to erase files or having undesired cross effects. Each mod should be installed in its own folder.

It takes one argument string: the chain of names of the used directories. Comma (''',''') must be used as separator. In this way, '''-mod dir1,dir2,dir3,...,dirx''' causes the game to use the following directory precedence:

#Freespace2/dir1/
#Freespace2/dir2/
#Freespace2/dir3/
# ... (the rest of the typed directories) ...
#Freespace2/dirx/
#Freespace2/

This flag can be indirectly set, (and it is normally set), through Launcher MOD tab and mod.ini file. Within this Launcher tab you can select one directory, (let's call it ''moddir''), so the flag is at least set to '''-mod moddir'''. If ''Freespace2/moddir/mod.ini'' exists, (its format must be plain text), it will be read and, inside it, the following section and lines can be used to modify the -mod flag too:

[multimod]
PrimaryList = Pri1,Pri2,...(the rest of desired directories)...,Prix;
SecondaryList = Sec1,Sec2,...(the rest of desired directories)...,Secx;

(Please note the ending semicolon (;) in each list line). With these lines the following flag would be built:
: '''-mod Pri1,Pri2,...,Prix,moddir,Sec1,Sec2,...,Secx'''

If primary or secondary folders aren't used, their respective line can be erased or it can be typed as ''xxxxxxList = ;''.

::: '''''PLEASE NOTE''': '''Launcher v 5.4''', or later, '''must be used'''. Earlier versions had some bugs that would cause the previous explanation about mod.ini fail.''

::: The most common use of mod.ini and SecondaryList is sharing resources between mods. And the best example is the enhaced media vps from SCP crew. Most of the people install them in a folder called ''mediavps'' inside ''Freespace2''. In this way when running retail FS2 they do not interfere with this original game version that doesn't use this -mod flag feature. When using FS2_Open but without mods, you just need to select ''mediavps'' in Launcher MOD tab to use them. And if you want to enjoy those enhacenments while playing any 'real' mod, you just need to put a mod.ini file inside its ''moddir'' with at least a ''SecondaryList = mediavps;'' line.

Nested directories can be also used. As example imagine that you have all your mods inside a main folder called ''MyMods'' and that shared resources like Media VPs are also in another folder called ''Resources''. In this way you could have:

*/Freespace2/MyMods/ModWhatever1/
*/Freespace2/MyMods/ModWhatever2/
*...
*/Freespace2/MyMods/ModWhateverx/
*/Freespace2/Resources/mediavps/

Then imagine that you want to use ''ModWhatever1'' with ''mediavps'' enhacenment. Your mod flag should be set to '''-mod MyMods/ModWhatever1,Resources/mediavps'''. Like always, you could type this flag as a custom flag or you could select ''MyMods/ModWhatever1'' in Launcher MOD Tab and in its mod.ini file type:
[multimod]
SecondaryList = Resources/mediavps;
{{Note|Please note that your path structure will use \ instead of / in a Windows environment.}}

'''Data precedence'''

Inside each directory, data precedence is the following:

#Individual files located in ''Current_dir/data/'' subdir structure. See [[FS2_Data_Structure|FS2 Data Structure topic]] for deeper info about the different folders and contents this structure has.
#Files located inside vp archives. (These vp archives are 'similar' to zip archives, they just contain other files and folders. Moreover, files have to be stored using the same ''data/'' structure used outside it). Vp archives are read in alphabetical order so aaa.vp files have higher priority than aab.vp files and so on.

The highest priority file overrides the rest of them. In this way, if you have a ''Mission.fs2'' inside ''Freespace2/Pri1/data/missions/'' it doesn't matter how this ''Mission.fs2'' is inside ''Freespace2/Pri1/aaa.vp'', ''Freespace2/Pri1/aab.vp'', ... or ''Freespace2/data/missions/''. This data precedence allows the user to quickly replace old files by corrected or enhaced ones adding them in a higher priority place.

'''Additional notes'''
# As derived from the explanation, the exact names for directories or vp archives are actually irrelevant. It only matters the directory order inside -mod flag argument and the alphabetical order for vp archives inside each used directory.
# This flag is also used by FRED. So if there is special mod info, (like backgrounds maps, ship models or whatever), it must be typed, (''Fred2_Open_r.exe -MOD whatever''), or FRED won't be able to use it. No Launcher MOD tab is available for this use.
# Be careful while typing the directory names in the flag argument or inside mod.ini files. The program doesn't check if the typed directories exist. If they do not exist, they are just ignored. No warnings, no errors, no messages at all.

{{Warning| '''Priority and Texture Formats'''

''Obsolete behaviour - Until FS2_open v3.6.9.:''

FS2_Open can use several file formats in textures: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCX PCX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectDraw_Surface DDS], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPG JPG] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGA TGA]. Make sure you keep the format when you update your texture. For example if you update the old ''TextureOfMyFighter.tga'', do not save it as ''TextureOfMyFighter.dds'' in a higher priority place, because there is a chance of the game loading the old one despite of all.

The reason to do this is that, loading process (including priorities) is applied firstly for a kind of textures (TGAs), then for another kind (JPGs), and so on. This behaviour can lead to situation where your new, updated and higher priority placed texture is not read because the format of the older one.

''New behaviour - From FS2_open v3.6.10. (including previous beta testing releases):''

The former issue has been fixed. Now texture format priority is only applied within the same location. In this ''strange'' situation it goes DDS -> TGA -> JPG -> PCX. Examples:
* ''/Freespace2/MyVp.vp>>>data/maps/MyTexture.dds'' is loaded instead of ''/Freespace2/MyVp.vp>>>data/maps/MyTexture.tga''.
* But your improved ''/Freespace2/data/maps/MyTexture.xxx'' will override them both despite of its format.
In this way, when you update any texture, you don't have to pay attention to its original format. Just place it in a higher priority place.

}}

====-fov====
Specifies the Field of View for the player eyepoint.

Takes one argument decimal specifying the angle of the viewing cone in radians, from 0 to 2*pi

You can set the cone of view making things look bigger/smaller. The problem with this is that if you choose a small FOV, you will have a squashed look on the edges of your screen - stretched edges with a too high FOV. It is recommended to change the FOV as FS2 normally has some perspective distortion at the screen edges (FOV too high). Set the FOV to something like 0.39 - it will fix the distortion problem, and (as a nice side effect) will make everything look bigger and more realistic scale-wise. The default is 0.75, if you go higher, you'll get the fish-eye effect. Feel free to experiment. This must be entered into the "Custom flags" field

''Because of an active bug, FOV can misalign target boxes, effects, etc. Please check [http://scp.indiegames.us/mantis/view.php?id=83 Mantis bug 083 status]if you are going to change the default value. Even with the default value, (no flag), there are small distortions.''

----

===Multiplayer===
====-gamename====
Specifies the name of the game to be created by the host. This only works when used in conjunction with -startgame.

Takes one argument string, the name to be assigned to the game being created.

This argument does nothing when used with -standalone. To set the name for a standalone server, see [[Multiplayer(Main)#Standalone Servers|Standalone Servers]].

See related:   [[Command-Line_Reference#-startgame|-startgame]]   [[Multiplayer(Main)#Standalone Servers|Standalone Servers]]

====-password====
Specifies the password for a stand-alone server. This only works when used in conjunction with -startgame. Cannot be used in conjunction with -closed or -restricted.

Takes one argument string, the required password for the game being created.

See related: [[Command-Line_Reference#-startgame|-startgame]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-closed|-closed]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-restricted|-restricted]]

====-allowabove====
Specifies a player's minimum rank for joining a game. This only works when used in conjunction with -startgame.

Takes one argument integer, the points ranking above which a player must be to enter the game.

See related: [[Command-Line_Reference#-startgame|-startgame]]

====-allowbelow====
Specifies a player's maximum rank for joining a game on a stand-alone server. This only works when used in conjunction with -startgame.

Takes one argument integer, the points ranking below which a player must be to enter the game.

See related: [[Command-Line_Reference#-startgame|-startgame]]

====-port====
Specifies the port on which to host a game or serve a stand-alone game.

Takes one argument integer, the port on which the host will listen for clients.

====-connect====
{{Sectstub}}

====-timeout====
{{Sectstub}}

====-cap_object_update====
Caps the maximum object update the server will respond to regardless of what the client has set. If the client is set to request high object updates but the server is capped to low then that's all the client will get.

Takes one argument integer (0 to 3) which corresponds to the object update cap (With 0 being low and 3 being LAN).

[[Category:Lists]]
[[Category:Source Code Project]]

Command-Line Reference

2008-01-07T23:40:38Z

Kazan: /* Gameplay */

==Launcher Flags==
The following command-line options can be chosen from the launcher.
===Graphics===
====-spec====
Enables specular mapping. Only polygons mapped with textures for which a shinemap exists will recieve specular mapping; no attempt is made to generate spec maps where they do not exist. Specular maps are specified with the base map name plus "-shine" (i.e. TCov3A-shine.pcx).
====-env====
Enables environment mapping. Environment mapping intensity will be determined from the intensity of specular maps. At the time of this writing (build 3.6.9 RC7), environment mapping only works when the video mode is OpenGL. [[Installing_fs2_open#Video setup|See Video setup.]]

====-glow====
Enables glowmapping. Only polygons mapped with textures for which a glowmap exists will be glowmapped. Glow maps are specified with the base map name plus "-glow" (i.e. TCov4A-glow.pcx)

====-jpgtga====
{{Note | This option is not present in builds after 3.6.9 and is now always on.}}
Enables the use of TGA and JPG file formats for image files. If a ship is showing up partially invisible, select this option.

====-pcx32====
{{Note| This option is not present in builds post version 3.6.7 ([http://tinyurl.com/3eynan 2007/03/22]).}}

{{Warning|This will not improve the rendering of any ships in-game, and is usually more of a burden on performance than is worthwhile. Use at your own risk.}}
Enables PCX files to be loaded into 32-bit memory.

====-cell====
Enables cell shading. This will make graphics appear more "cartoonish". For use with media in mv_cell.vp. Not considered a standard enhancement.
====-mipmap====
Enables mipmapping.

====-nomotiondebris====
Disables motion debris.
====-2d_poof====
Applies nebula poofs in 2d, effectively preventing them from forming intersections with ships.
====-noscalevid====
Disables scaling of video clips.
====-missile_lighting====
Applys lighting to missiles.
====-rlm====
{{Note| This option is not present in builds after [http://tinyurl.com/2yndle 2005/09/30] and is now always on.}}
Enables more accurate lighting model for OpenGL mode.

----

===Game Speed===
====-img2dds====
Converts all images to DDS (compressed) format. Decreases memory usage but potentially reduces image quality.
====-no_vsync====
Disables vertical sync.
====-cache_bitmaps====
Caches bitmaps between missions, which will ideally reduce the load-time from one mission to another.

----

===HUD===
====-dualscanlines====
Adds a second pair of scanning lines to the target window when scanning an object.
====-targetinfo====
Displays target info, such as name and class, beside the targeted object.
====-orbradar====
Enables 3D radar (the Orb). 3D radar will replace the standard 2D version.
====-ballistic_gauge====
Adds an ammo gauge to the HUD when armed with a ballistic weapon.
====-rearm_timer====
Displays time remaining until rearm and repair from a support ship is complete.

----

===Gameplay===
====-smart_shields====
Enables "smart" shield recharging. Shield recharge is distributed to the most damaged shield quadrant instead of being distributed equally across the entire shield and be wasted when a quadrant is full.
====-ship_choice_3d====
Use ship and weapon models in ship selection and weapon loadout. It completely disables the standard ANI interface on those screens.
Some mods need a compulsory use of this flag because they don't have available animations for their ships and secondary weapons. In this situation, and if it is not used, the game will probably crash to desktop in the ship selection or weapon loadout screens.

====-3dwarp====
Use full geometry for the subspace warp effect.
====-warp_flash====
Enable a flash at warp in and warp out.
====-UseNewAI====
Tells the game to use new AI routines. This argument alters mission balance and is not considered a standard feature.
====-no_autopilot_interrupt====
Tells the game to not allow players to interrupt an autopilot already-in-progress.
====-tbp====
Enable feature set for The Babylon Project
====-wcsaga====
Enable feature set for The Wing Commander Saga.

It does the following changes to the normal FS2 engine behaviour:
* It removes -class name in the briefing ship render window, (the window that appears when ship icons are clicked).
* It removes enemy names ingame for wings of ships.
* Enemies can scream when dying. (Without the flag only friendlies scream).

----

===Audio===
====-snd_preload====
Preload mission sounds. Useful in preventing game stuttering when sounds are played for the first time.
====-nosound====
Disables all sounds.
====-nomusic====
Disables music only.

----

===Multiplayer===
====-standalone====
Creates a standalone server.
====-startgame====
Once you launch and choose a pilot within the game, you will immediately have begun to host a game. This can be used in conjunction with several options to customize the game you create: -closed, -restricted, -password, -gamename, -allowabove, and -allowbelow. -startgame has no effect when -standalone is used.

See related: [[Command-Line_Reference#-closed|-closed]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-restricted|-restricted]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-password|-password]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-gamename|-gamename]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-allowabove|-allowabove]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-allowbelow|-allowbelow]]

====-closed====
Hosts a new game in a closed state, where no one can join until the in-game "Close" button is cleared. This only works when used in conjunction with -startgame. Cannot be used in conjunction with -restricted or -password.

See related: [[Command-Line_Reference#-startgame|-startgame]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-restricted|-restricted]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-password|-password]]

====-restricted====
Hosts a new game in a restricted state. The host is presented with option to accept or deny each client's request to join the game. This only works when used in conjunction with -startgame. Cannot be used in conjunction with -closed or -password.

See related: [[Command-Line_Reference#-startgame|-startgame]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-closed|-closed]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-password|-password]]

====-multilog====
Creates a log file with a summary of packets sent and received in multiplayer games. The file is saved as \data\multi.log within the active mod folder - or with main data folder if no mod is active.

====-clientdamage====
This feature is not available in current builds.

====-mpnoreturn====
Disables return to the flight deck screen after a mission completes.

----

===Troubleshooting===
====-fixbugs====
{{Note| This option is not present in builds post version 3.6.7 ([http://tinyurl.com/3eynan 2007/03/22]).}}
Originally used to disable certain crashing behavior as a stop-gap measure.

====-nocrash====
{{Note| This option is not present in builds post version 3.6.7 ([http://tinyurl.com/3eynan 2007/03/22]).}}
Originally used to disable certain crashing behavior as a stop-gap measure.

====-oldfire====
This feature is not available in current builds.

====-nohtl====
{{Warning| Enabling this will significantly reduce performance.}}
Reverts to software rendering mode.

====-no_set_gamma====
Disables the gamma settings in the options screen.
====-nomovies====
Disables all video playback.
====-noparseerrors====
Disables some parsing warnings and makes other parse errors non-fatal. Do not rely on this when creating new tables, the errors are there for a reason.
====-safeloading====
Loads missions the old way. Typically safer, but slower.
====-query_speech====
Determines if the current build includes text-to-speech.
====-d3d_bad_tsys====
Enable inefficient texture system.
====-novbo====
Disables OpenGL VBO.
====-noibx====
Disables IBX caching of model geometry data. This will dramatically increase load times, but will help troubleshoot a model if one is working incorrectly.
====-loadallweps====
Load all weapons, even those not used.

----

===Experimental===
====-alpha_env====
Enables alpha environment mapping. OpenGL only. Environment mapping intensity will be determined from the alpha channel of specular maps.
====-decals====
Enables damage decals.
(Decals have been disabled in builds after May 4, 2006)

====-ingame_join====
Enables ingame joining in multiplayer. FIXME: Host option?
====-tga16====
{{Note| This option is not present in builds post version 3.6.7 ([http://tinyurl.com/yr8tub 2006/04/05]).}}
Originally used to converts TGA images to 16-bits in order to reduce memory footprint (at the expense of image quality), superseded by [[Command-Line_Reference#-closed|-img2dds]].
----

===Development Tools===
====-fps====
Displays current frames per second.
====-pos====
Displays current position coordinates of camera.
====-window====
Runs the game in a window. No check to make sure that resolution is no higher than your desktop resolution, so be careful.
====-timerbar====
Displays a timing bar across the top of the screen. Timebar format varies by build.
====-stats====
Shows total and free physical memory, virtual memory and system pagefile.

====-coords====
Shows coordinates of the mouse cursor.
====-show_mem_usage====
Shows detailed RAM usage in HUD.

The meaning of the info displayed in the upper right corner is:

'''DYN''' = dynamic memory, basically anything that's been allocated by the vm_* memory functions. This does NOT indicate total memory usage but does account for most of it.

'''POF''' = model memory, how much memory is being used by models (does not include textures)

'''C-BMP, BMP''' = bmpman memory, how much is used by the textures/images that are loaded. C-BMP means that you are using -cache_bitmaps and it will try to keep textures in memory between level loads and as the new level is loading it will keep what it needs and unload what it doesn't. Can greatly increase level loading speed, but does so at the cost of memory between level loads. This does not increase overall memory usage though, only during the loading screen. BMP means that it is not cached and all textures are unloaded from memory at the start of level load and all needed textures are then loaded from the disk again.

'''S-RAM''' = sound memory, how much is used by the sounds loaded in memory at the time. This counts static sounds only (from sounds.tbl, etc.) and not streaming sounds (music, voices, briefing stuff, etc).

'''V-RAM''' = approximate memory usage of video textures. This does not mean that your card has this much memory, and can report higher numbers that your card actually has memory. For OpenGL it also includes some of the geometry data, but this number does not reflect the total memory that your video card is using. It only reports how much data the game has purposefully loaded into API memory (meaning it could be in system memory, video card memory, or AGP memory).

''(It only works with debug builds, not with release builds).''

====-pofspew====
Reads all objects in the pof file of the selected mod, and creates an ibx cache file for each object in the data/cache folder for that mod.
Details for each object are output to a pofspew.txt file created in the data folder.
Otherwise ibx files are created in game before each mission.

====-tablecrcs====
{{Sectstub}}

====-missioncrcs====
{{Sectstub}}

====-dis_collisions====
Disables all collisions.
====-dis_weapons====
Disables weapons rendering.
====-output_sexps====
Outputs SEXPs to sexps.html.
====-output_scripting====
Outputs scripting to scripting.html.
====-nograb====
Unix only. Disables focus grabbing in a window.
==Other==
The following options are not available as checkboxes in the launcher. Many require parameters, which follow the flag seperated by a space. The prototype for use in this case is "-option argument"
===Graphics===
====-ambient_factor====

This must be entered into the "Custom flags" field. This is a multiplier applied to the intensity of ambient lighting. Ambient light is lighting applied to all parts of a ship. FS2's standard value is 120. Try 75 for a good and realistic looking value. However, that is relative.

====-no_emissive_light====
By default, all ships in FS2 have a light generated on their own, it is more or less similar to a minimal amount of -ambient_factor. This feature was implemented to help the player seeing the ships over a black background. This flag disables this feature. Use it with a low -ambient_factor value to obtain an ultra realistic dark looking.

====-spec_exp====

This must be used with the -spec command line parameter and must be entered into the "Custom flags" field. Adjusts the size of the shiny spot on ships. Higher number mean smaller spots. Default is 16, however 11 is recommended. However, that is relative.

====-spec_point====

This must be used with the -spec command line parameter and must be entered into the
"Custom flags" field. Adjusts how much laser weapons contribute to specular highlights. Higher number mean greater contributions. Default is 1.0, however 0.6 is recommended. However, that is relative.

====-spec_static====

This must be used with the -spec command line parameter and must be entered into the "Custom flags" field. Adjusts how much suns contribute to specular highlights. Higher numbers mean a greater contribution. Default is 1.0, however is 0.8 recommended. However, that is relative.

====-spec_tube====

This must be used with the -spec command line parameter and must be entered into the "Custom flags" field. Adjusts how much Beam Weapons contribute to specular highlights. Higher numbers mean a greater contribution. Default is 1.0, however 0.4 is recommended. However, that is relative.

====-clipdist====
Changes the distance from the viewpoint for the near-clipping plane.

Takes one argument decimal specifying the distance to the near-clipping plane.

====-ogl_spec====
'''''OpenGL Only'''''. Takes a numerical argument. This value changes the basic shininess of the specular light in OpenGL. A lower value reduces the overall intensity of the light making it broader and less powerful. A higher value makes it more focued and brighter. The default value is 80, and the usable range is 0 to 128 (clamped). The original default value was 60, but it was raised to behave more D3D like.

----

===Gameplay===
====-mod====
{{Note| Please note that the ''mod.ini'' file is a feature exclusive to the Windows Launcher.}}
Specifies in which folders inside Freespace2 directory, the game looks for all the game data (models, missions, textures, tables, ...). Retail version only looks inside ''Freespace2/data/'' structure and ''Freespace2/vp archives''.

This flag allows installing several different mods that modify retail behaviour, and switching between them without needing to erase files or having undesired cross effects. Each mod should be installed in its own folder.

It takes one argument string: the chain of names of the used directories. Comma (''',''') must be used as separator. In this way, '''-mod dir1,dir2,dir3,...,dirx''' causes the game to use the following directory precedence:

#Freespace2/dir1/
#Freespace2/dir2/
#Freespace2/dir3/
# ... (the rest of the typed directories) ...
#Freespace2/dirx/
#Freespace2/

This flag can be indirectly set, (and it is normally set), through Launcher MOD tab and mod.ini file. Within this Launcher tab you can select one directory, (let's call it ''moddir''), so the flag is at least set to '''-mod moddir'''. If ''Freespace2/moddir/mod.ini'' exists, (its format must be plain text), it will be read and, inside it, the following section and lines can be used to modify the -mod flag too:

[multimod]
PrimaryList = Pri1,Pri2,...(the rest of desired directories)...,Prix;
SecondaryList = Sec1,Sec2,...(the rest of desired directories)...,Secx;

(Please note the ending semicolon (;) in each list line). With these lines the following flag would be built:
: '''-mod Pri1,Pri2,...,Prix,moddir,Sec1,Sec2,...,Secx'''

If primary or secondary folders aren't used, their respective line can be erased or it can be typed as ''xxxxxxList = ;''.

::: '''''PLEASE NOTE''': '''Launcher v 5.4''', or later, '''must be used'''. Earlier versions had some bugs that would cause the previous explanation about mod.ini fail.''

::: The most common use of mod.ini and SecondaryList is sharing resources between mods. And the best example is the enhaced media vps from SCP crew. Most of the people install them in a folder called ''mediavps'' inside ''Freespace2''. In this way when running retail FS2 they do not interfere with this original game version that doesn't use this -mod flag feature. When using FS2_Open but without mods, you just need to select ''mediavps'' in Launcher MOD tab to use them. And if you want to enjoy those enhacenments while playing any 'real' mod, you just need to put a mod.ini file inside its ''moddir'' with at least a ''SecondaryList = mediavps;'' line.

Nested directories can be also used. As example imagine that you have all your mods inside a main folder called ''MyMods'' and that shared resources like Media VPs are also in another folder called ''Resources''. In this way you could have:

*/Freespace2/MyMods/ModWhatever1/
*/Freespace2/MyMods/ModWhatever2/
*...
*/Freespace2/MyMods/ModWhateverx/
*/Freespace2/Resources/mediavps/

Then imagine that you want to use ''ModWhatever1'' with ''mediavps'' enhacenment. Your mod flag should be set to '''-mod MyMods/ModWhatever1,Resources/mediavps'''. Like always, you could type this flag as a custom flag or you could select ''MyMods/ModWhatever1'' in Launcher MOD Tab and in its mod.ini file type:
[multimod]
SecondaryList = Resources/mediavps;
{{Note|Please note that your path structure will use \ instead of / in a Windows environment.}}

'''Data precedence'''

Inside each directory, data precedence is the following:

#Individual files located in ''Current_dir/data/'' subdir structure. See [[FS2_Data_Structure|FS2 Data Structure topic]] for deeper info about the different folders and contents this structure has.
#Files located inside vp archives. (These vp archives are 'similar' to zip archives, they just contain other files and folders. Moreover, files have to be stored using the same ''data/'' structure used outside it). Vp archives are read in alphabetical order so aaa.vp files have higher priority than aab.vp files and so on.

The highest priority file overrides the rest of them. In this way, if you have a ''Mission.fs2'' inside ''Freespace2/Pri1/data/missions/'' it doesn't matter how this ''Mission.fs2'' is inside ''Freespace2/Pri1/aaa.vp'', ''Freespace2/Pri1/aab.vp'', ... or ''Freespace2/data/missions/''. This data precedence allows the user to quickly replace old files by corrected or enhaced ones adding them in a higher priority place.

'''Additional notes'''
# As derived from the explanation, the exact names for directories or vp archives are actually irrelevant. It only matters the directory order inside -mod flag argument and the alphabetical order for vp archives inside each used directory.
# This flag is also used by FRED. So if there is special mod info, (like backgrounds maps, ship models or whatever), it must be typed, (''Fred2_Open_r.exe -MOD whatever''), or FRED won't be able to use it. No Launcher MOD tab is available for this use.
# Be careful while typing the directory names in the flag argument or inside mod.ini files. The program doesn't check if the typed directories exist. If they do not exist, they are just ignored. No warnings, no errors, no messages at all.

{{Warning| '''Priority and Texture Formats'''

''Obsolete behaviour - Until FS2_open v3.6.9.:''

FS2_Open can use several file formats in textures: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCX PCX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectDraw_Surface DDS], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPG JPG] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGA TGA]. Make sure you keep the format when you update your texture. For example if you update the old ''TextureOfMyFighter.tga'', do not save it as ''TextureOfMyFighter.dds'' in a higher priority place, because there is a chance of the game loading the old one despite of all.

The reason to do this is that, loading process (including priorities) is applied firstly for a kind of textures (TGAs), then for another kind (JPGs), and so on. This behaviour can lead to situation where your new, updated and higher priority placed texture is not read because the format of the older one.

''New behaviour - From FS2_open v3.6.10. (including previous beta testing releases):''

The former issue has been fixed. Now texture format priority is only applied within the same location. In this ''strange'' situation it goes DDS -> TGA -> JPG -> PCX. Examples:
* ''/Freespace2/MyVp.vp>>>data/maps/MyTexture.dds'' is loaded instead of ''/Freespace2/MyVp.vp>>>data/maps/MyTexture.tga''.
* But your improved ''/Freespace2/data/maps/MyTexture.xxx'' will override them both despite of its format.
In this way, when you update any texture, you don't have to pay attention to its original format. Just place it in a higher priority place.

}}

====-fov====
Specifies the Field of View for the player eyepoint.

Takes one argument decimal specifying the angle of the viewing cone in radians, from 0 to 2*pi

You can set the cone of view making things look bigger/smaller. The problem with this is that if you choose a small FOV, you will have a squashed look on the edges of your screen - stretched edges with a too high FOV. It is recommended to change the FOV as FS2 normally has some perspective distortion at the screen edges (FOV too high). Set the FOV to something like 0.39 - it will fix the distortion problem, and (as a nice side effect) will make everything look bigger and more realistic scale-wise. The default is 0.75, if you go higher, you'll get the fish-eye effect. Feel free to experiment. This must be entered into the "Custom flags" field

''Because of an active bug, FOV can misalign target boxes, effects, etc. Please check [http://scp.indiegames.us/mantis/view.php?id=83 Mantis bug 083 status]if you are going to change the default value. Even with the default value, (no flag), there are small distortions.''

----

===Multiplayer===
====-gamename====
Specifies the name of the game to be created by the host. This only works when used in conjunction with -startgame.

Takes one argument string, the name to be assigned to the game being created.

This argument does nothing when used with -standalone. To set the name for a standalone server, see [[Multiplayer(Main)#Standalone Servers|Standalone Servers]].

See related:   [[Command-Line_Reference#-startgame|-startgame]]   [[Multiplayer(Main)#Standalone Servers|Standalone Servers]]

====-password====
Specifies the password for a stand-alone server. This only works when used in conjunction with -startgame. Cannot be used in conjunction with -closed or -restricted.

Takes one argument string, the required password for the game being created.

See related: [[Command-Line_Reference#-startgame|-startgame]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-closed|-closed]] [[Command-Line_Reference#-restricted|-restricted]]

====-allowabove====
Specifies a player's minimum rank for joining a game. This only works when used in conjunction with -startgame.

Takes one argument integer, the points ranking above which a player must be to enter the game.

See related: [[Command-Line_Reference#-startgame|-startgame]]

====-allowbelow====
Specifies a player's maximum rank for joining a game on a stand-alone server. This only works when used in conjunction with -startgame.

Takes one argument integer, the points ranking below which a player must be to enter the game.

See related: [[Command-Line_Reference#-startgame|-startgame]]

====-port====
Specifies the port on which to host a game or serve a stand-alone game.

Takes one argument integer, the port on which the host will listen for clients.

====-connect====
{{Sectstub}}

====-timeout====
{{Sectstub}}

====-cap_object_update====
Caps the maximum object update the server will respond to regardless of what the client has set. If the client is set to request high object updates but the server is capped to low then that's all the client will get.

Takes one argument integer (0 to 3) which corresponds to the object update cap (With 0 being low and 3 being LAN).

[[Category:Lists]]
[[Category:Source Code Project]]

SCP Additions

2007-07-25T16:31:43Z

Kazan: /* 3.6.9. and former builds */

==Introduction==

The main purpose of the Source Code Project is enhancing the game with new features. And this has been done in such successfully way that maybe ''nobody'' knows them all. So this success can actually become a major flaw in the project because:
# Coders are sometimes unmotivated because they see that a lot of the effort they spend upgrading the engine is scarcely used.
# Modders could build better campaigns and mods if they knew all the available extra stuff.

This page is intended as an enormous log where coders can make public all their huge and great work:

#'''Main objective:''' From now on, (july 2007), coders will have an '''only''' place where ''easily'', (more or less), post all their additions sorted by date. In this way, you will be able to check what you've missed in the last two weeks you've been on holidays without needing to dig through all HLP forum threads.
#Secondary objective: With time and effort, we will be able to start compiling here all the outstanding features already present. Although a bit more difficult, digging through this page, (using the search function of your web browser), you can learn a lot of ''hidden'' things you didn't know about fs_open.

This list of features is indeed two lists because, more or less since version 3.6.9., the game source code was split in two branches. ''([[Getting_the_Source|Here]] you've got info about getting the source code in both branches).''

*'''[[SCP_Additions#HEAD_Branch_.28CVS.29_-_Experimental.2C_non-canon_features|HEAD branch]]'''. It contains all unstable or experimental new features. Builds based on this branch should be used only for testing and only by experimented users. They can easily crash, have bugs, corrupt pilot files or have any other undesired effect.
*'''[[SCP_Additions#Stable_Branch|Stable branch]]'''. This branch has more tested features and, although bugs can always appear, they are supposed to be allot more stable than the ''HEAD branch''. This branch of the code is the one used for ''official releases'' like 3.6.9. As a general rule, ''HEAD branch'' has all the ''Stable branch'' features, but ''Stable branch'' doesn't have all the ''HEAD branch'' capabilities.

==Posting rules==

'''Please follow the rules.'''

Even if you don't agree with some of them, follow them. This section can grow huge and it can become a damn hell. So we need one and only set of rules. And we all must follow it.

No discussion here, please. If you want any of them changed, post it to discussion in [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,44892.0.html this HLP forum thread].

# '''1st. GOLDEN RULE: Be extremely brief.'''
#* Do not make long explanations within the lists.
#* In each entry ''Description'' section write a brief explanation.
#* If you need a deeper explanation for that feature put a link, (or links), in the ''See'' section. Even create new pages if needed.
# '''2nd. GOLDEN RULE: Be extremely tidy.'''
#* As you can imagine, this Wiki section can become a mess quite easily.
#* Always check that all the links work.
# As they should be quite intuitive, please follow any other example you find already posted.
# '''Be sure you know''' if the feature must go to '''HEAD Branch''' or '''Stable Branch'''. And please, if your feature is ''upgraded'' from the HEAD to the stable branch, '''please update the lists and dates'''.
# '''Be extremely tidy in the place and date you post'''. The lists, (both HEAD and stable), should be always kept sorted in descending date order (the most recent additions should go in the upper part of each section).
# If the CVS date for your feature doesn't exist, create a new one.
# Always '''use Japanese YYYY-MM-DD format'''. So January 27th in 2007 should be 2007-01-27. (In this way the ''number'' of the date always grows when a day advances).
# Each new date should be a list item, ie. start it with *
## Each new feature in a given date should be a sublist item, ie. start it with **
## Each new feature has four sections. These subsections are sub-sublist items, ie. start them with ***:
##*''Description:'' A brief description of the feature.
##*''Category:'' The game category this feature falls in. It can be useful for people that want to look for just new "Sound" features for example. '''Please check the spelling and do not invent new categories'''. If you type "suond" or if we have one thousand different categories, this field is useless. You can assign several categories if you feel the feature you are posting about can fall in several areas. The ''official'' categories are:
##**''Mission features''. All the new stuff you can add to missions through FRED, ie. new sexps, backgrounds, new mission options, ...
##**''FRED interface''. Any other FRED improvements, like Voice Acting Manager, which don't fall in the previous one.
##**''Graphics''. All the extra graphical capabilities added like OGL support, shine, glow, env or normal mapping...
##**''Sound''. Just the same with sound and music (ogg support as example).
##**''Game interface''. All the game enhancements in the game mainhall and screens. Examples: F3 Lab, showing models in loadout screen, showing ship info in hud, extended hud capabilities...
##**''Models''. Everything that has to do with ship models like higher poly limits, glow points...
##**''Tables and modding''. Everything that allows modders to customize FS2 and it is not directly set in FRED as a mission feature. Examples: Data management (-MOD flag), extended texture format support, modular tables, "un-hardcoded" tables like iff_defs, 3D shockwaves, 3D warp effects...
##**''Scripting''. All the scripting enhancements. You can get a lot of info about scripting in [[Scripting.tbl|Scripting.tbl table help]].
##**''Multiplayer''. Enhancements in multi player rather than general single player ones.
##**''Coding''. Technical coder info which maybe is not directly seen in game but needs to be told. Like "I have changed all the arrays with pointers in this subroutine". (Sorry if I'm telling nonsenses but I'm no coder at all, I think you can imagine what I want to say).
##*''See:'' Put the links here to related pages with deeper info about that feature. If you want to post a lot of info about your feature, create your own page and put the link here.
##* ''Usage Tips:'' In the future, creating a tips page somewhere in the Wiki is intended. In this section you could explain useful tricks. Put here the links to the tips this feature is useful for here. ''If you feel like it, you can even start that tricks page ;) . Some discussion can be found [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,44892.0.html here].''
# Optionally, you can use the next colour code to tell the addition importance:
#* '''Critical update'''. (This would be an extremely important update over retail behaviour).
#** ''Description:'' Whatever... ...
#** ''Usage Tips:''
#* '''Common update'''. (Normal updates).
#** ''Description:'' Whatever... ...
#** ''Usage Tips:''
#* '''Just a tweak'''. (This would be just a tweak over retail Freespace2).
#** ''Description:'' Whatever... ...
#** ''Usage Tips:''
#When a new official release appears, '''Stable > CVS''' subsection name is just changed to the new build denomination and a new '''Stable > CVS''' section is created.

==Feature list sorted by date==
===HEAD Branch (CVS) - Experimental features===

===Stable Branch===

====CVS====

====3.6.9. and former builds====
* '''YYYY-MM-DD'''. Unknown date:
**'''OpenGL support'''
***''Description:'' The game has been ported from original DirectX to OpenGL API. Moreover, DirectX is depreciated and can become unsupported in future versions.
***''Category:'' Graphics.
***''See:''
***''Usage Tips:''
**'''Modular Tables'''
***''Description:'' [[TBM|*.TBM]] modular tables allow partial modifications over [[TBL|*.TBL]] standard tables.
***''Category:'' Tables and modding.
***''See:'' [[Modular Tables]]
***''Usage Tips:''
**'''New ''un-hardcoded'' iff_defs.tbl table'''
***''Description:'' This table allows modifying AND/OR adding teams to the default FS2 ones (friendly, hostile, neutral, traitor and unknown).
***''Category:'' Tables and modding.
***''See:'' [[iff_defs.tbl]], [[Tables#Hardcoded_table_files]]
***''Usage Tips:''
**'''New ''un-hardcoded'' species_defs.tbl table'''
***''Description:'' This table allows modifying AND/OR adding species to the default FS2 ones (Terran, Vasudan and Shivan).
***''Category:'' Tables and modding.
***''See:'' [[species_defs.tbl]], [[Tables#Hardcoded_table_files]]
***''Usage Tips:''
**'''New ''un-hardcoded'' Objecttypes.tbl table'''
***''Description:'' This table allows modifying AND/OR adding ship classes, (like fighter, capital, bomber, etc.) and their behaviour over default FS2 ones.
***''Category:'' Tables and modding.
***''See:'' [[Objecttypes.tbl]], [[Tables#Hardcoded_table_files]]
***''Usage Tips:''
**'''Launcher flags'''
***''Description:'' Some of the new fs2_open and FRED2_open features are switched on through command line parameters. They can also be set through Launcher utility.
***''Category:'' Coding.
***''See:'' [[Command-Line Reference]]
***''Usage Tips:''
**'''-MOD flag'''
***''Description:'' It allows the usage of extra game data folders inside FS2 main folder. It is mainly used to avoid undesired mod data cross-effects.
***''Category:'' Tables and modding.
***''See:'' [[Command-Line Reference#-mod]], [[FS2 Data Structure]]
***''Usage Tips:''
**'''Enhanced texture support'''
***''Description:'' The game now supports [[Wikipedia:Truevision TGA|*.TGA]], [[Wikipedia:JPG|*.JPG]] and [[Wikipedia:DirectDraw Surface|*.DDS]] textures. There's also a new format for animated textures — [[EFF|*.EFF]].
***''Category:'' Tables and modding, Graphics.
***''See:'' [[Texturing]], [[Command-Line Reference#-jpgtga]]
***''Usage Tips:''
**'''Specular mapping'''
***''Description:'' Additional maps used to set the reflectiveness and its colour of real time lighting over the ships (light from suns, explosions, weapons, warps...). It allows a huge improvement in game looking.
***''Category:'' Tables and modding, Graphics.
***''See:'' [[Texturing]], [[Command-Line Reference#-spec]]
***''Usage Tips:''
**'''Glow mapping'''
***''Description:'' Additional maps used to set full intensity rendered details over the ship hulls. They are used to simulate lights. It allows a huge improvement in game looking. They support animated textures too.
***''Category:'' Tables and modding, Graphics.
***''See:'' [[Texturing]], [[Command-Line Reference#-glow]]
***''Usage Tips:''
**'''Environmental mapping'''
***''Description:'' Ship hulls reflect background bitmaps. Additionally, alpha channel of specular maps can be used to set the reflection intensity.
***''Category:'' Graphics.
***''See:'' [[Command-Line_Reference#-env]], [[Command-Line_Reference#-alpha_env]], [[Texturing]], [[Command-Line_Reference#-spec]]
***''Usage Tips:''
**'''The Laboratory'''
***''Description:'' In every place outside a running mission press F3 key to go to The Laboratory. Here you can check details, data and appearance of all the ships and weapons that campaign or mod can use. ''WARNING: Its usage can be a huge spoiler, so use it at your own criterion''.
***''Category:'' Game interface.
***''See:'' [[The F3 Laboratory]]
***''Usage Tips:''
**'''AutoPilot/Nav Points'''
***''Description:'' Autopilot and nav points system reminiscent of wing commander. Prior to july 2007 cinematics had to be done with creative sexping, starting mid july 2007 cinematics were hardcoded and enabled via mission flag or sexp (and can be disabled via sexp). System includes ships needing linkup (jul 07+), messages (jul 07+), autopilot is not allowed near hostiles (5k), debris/asteroid fields (1k, jul07+), messages and linkup distance are defined via [[autopilot.tbl]].
***''Category:'' Game Play
***''See:'' [[The F3 Laboratory]]
***''Usage Tips:'' Make sure to set the mission flag to use cinematics

POF Constructor Suite 2

2007-07-02T21:02:56Z

Kazan: /* Troubleshooting */

POF Constructor Suite

2007-07-02T21:01:13Z

Kazan:

'''POF Constructor Suite''', or '''PCS''', is a program created by Kazan, and is one of the two main pieces of software used in the creation and editing of POF files (the other being [[ModelView]]). This program is capable of converting truespace .COB files into POF files. POF fils are the model file format that Freespace can read and use in-game. Additionally, the POF format contains data solely for Freespace 2. This data includes the center of the object, dockpoints, eyepoints, engine glows, primary and secondary gunpoints, mass, fighter insignias, paths, shields, subsystems, textures, turrets, subobjects and FS_Open glowpoints.

[[POF Constructor Suite 2]] is an up coming major update to this application, coded by Kazan and Bobboau.

==Download Links==

'''====> The latest build of PCS can be downloaded [http://www.ferrium.org/misc/PCS_1.3.6_b73_20060408.zip here]'''

'''====> Bobboau's Auto-Facet build (explained below) of PCS can be downloaded [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,18798.0.html here]'''

===The Auto-Facet build & smoothing explained===

''Note: The Auto-Facet build should ONLY be used for converting. For all actual POF editing, use the latest standard version.''

Bobboau's Auto-Facet build is a slightly older PCS build (1.3.41) that has a single difference from the standard PCS version. Where the standard PCS will either completely smooth geometry or leave it completely faceted depending on the material settings in Truespace, the Auto-Facet build will, as it's name suggests, apply an auto-facet instead.

The image below illustrates the differences between the three types of smoothing: (left to right) Faceting, Auto-Facet and Smooth shading.

[[Image:SmoothTypes.jpg]]

The settings needed to achieve each type of smoothing in each build are as follows:
 
====Faceting====
''Standard Build:''
In Truespace, set the smoothing to either Faceted or Smooth. (Both settings achieve a faceted type of shading) Setting it to Auto-facet with an angle value of 0 will also achieve faceted smoothing.

''Auto-Facet Build:''
Set the smoothing to Faceted. Again, setting it to Auto-facet with an angle value of 0 will also achieve faceted smoothing.
 
====Auto-Faceting====
''Standard Build:''
(Unable to achieve as far as I have been able to tell)

''Auto-Facet Build:''
Set the smoothing to auto-faceted and enter in an appropriate angle value.(You may need to experiment to find the ideal angle. They range between 0 and 120)
 
====Smoothing====
''Standard Build:''
In Truespace, set the smoothing to auto-faceted.

''Auto-Facet Build:''
(Unable to achieve as far as I have been able to tell. Setting the auto facet value to 120 gives poor and buggy smoothing)

 
==Using PCS==

===Getting Started===

When you start PCS, you will notice another window has opened. This is a render window of whatever model is open - you can see where things are, what your ship looks like etc.

If you do want to be able to see your model in PCS, keep in mind that the render window will be taxing on your system. It will usually consume 100% of your CPU's runtime, often choking other applications including PCS itself in some cases. (This will be fixed with Kazan's upcoming release of PCS2, which has a model viewing window integrated into it in the same way ModelView32 does.)

Additionally, getting PCS to display textures is unpredictable at best. They will usually display as a solid white object. For just viewing and some pof editing, [[ModelView]]32 is generally a better choice. At least until PCS2 is out anyway.

 
===Conversion Settings===

Setting up the Options screen is quite important, because it tells PCS the default directories for things like models, maps, and cobs/scns. To get to it, go to Conversion > Options. A small options window will appear.

*In the 'Default Model Directory' section, select the COB/SCN type from the drop down list and set it to the path to which you have installed Truespace, or wherever you save all your cob or scene files from.
*Select POF from the drop down list and set it to wherever you want PCS to find your FS2 model files (this will be the default folder PCS will save files to and open files from. (Typically "C:\Games\Freespace2\data\models")
*The scaling factor refers to how many FS meters to turn EACH trueSpace meter into during cob->pof conversions. This should usually be set to 20, but it can be anything you want really. (This is the setting you can fiddle with to fix the "'''Too many polygons in same average location!'''" error. For more information on this, read the tips section at the bottom of this page.)
*The Texture Path field seems to be only partially functional. Setting it to your root FS2 directory (typically "C:\Games\Freespace2") allows you to view some textures, but I haven't found all that much of a pattern to it.

 
===COB to POF Conversions===

''This is a general guide to converting only. For a more complete guide to getting a ship in-game, have a look at [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/karajorma/FAQ/shipmods.html Karajorma's Turreting Tutorial]''

 
Let's suppose you already have your COB or SCN file modelled and waiting in Truespace. You want to see how it works in-game. 
You should now be ready to do your first model conversion. Go to Conversion > COB to POF. Select your model (if it's a SCN file, tell PCS to look for SCN files instead of COB). Hit OK.

If all goes well, depending on the complexity of your model and the power of your CPU, the conversion process may take anywhere from an instant to 10 minutes. Assuming it fits the geometry and hierarchy requirements of the Freespace 2 engine (and PCS), a message box shows up with general model and conversion information. This means the model has been successfully converted, and is now waiting to be saved. Do that first. (If you converted using the Auto-Facet build, save and switch over to using the standard version now)

For information on the geometry requirements as well as how to fix the common problems, go to [http://underworld.fortunecity.com/pacman/106/fs2mods/shipcreationguide/creatingstablegeometry.html IPAndrews tutorial] for TS or to its [http://underworld.fortunecity.com/pacman/106/fs2mods/shipcreationguide/ main page] 

 
===POF to COB conversions===

The opposite of COB to POF conversions, this feature allows you to convert a Freespace POF file into a COB file - for use in things like renders, or just general model editing. From the COB format, you can convert it to just about any other 3d model format for use in just about any 3d program. 
To do this, just open up the POF file you want to convert, go to Conversions > POF to COB, and decide on a place (and filename) to save your new COB to.

Remember that when you convert from POF to COB, all the centres of everything in the model are ignored, an annoying bug in PCS that should get fixed with Kazans PCS 2.

This means that though your objects will still be in the right places, their centers and the lights glued to them will be at 0,0,0, meaning that in all likelihood, nothing will rotate correctly. If you plan to reconvert back to POF after some editing, you'll need to manually fix the centres of all affected objects.

==POF Editing==
Before you can create a fully working Freespace model, you must add POF data to your new POF file. This is the data that controls things like the center of the model, dockpoints, eyepoints, engine glows, primary and secondary gunpoints, mass, fighter insignias, paths, shields, subsystems, textures, turrets, subobjects and FS_Open glowpoints. (You'll recognise most of these as the various tabs in PCS' main window)

A brilliant guide on each of these 'chunks' can be found here; in [http://freespace.volitionwatch.com/blackwater/fstut/fstut_index01.htm Bobboau's PCS tutorial].

 
==Tips / Common Problems==

#If PCS gives a "'''You forgot to group those objects!'''" error message during COB > POF conversions, it just means that you need to glue a local light to the main hull object in Truespace. (This usually only occurs when PCS encounters a piece of geometry not glued to anything, such as a test hull for conversion or a forgotten bit just lying about your workspace)
#If PCS gives a "'''Too many polygons in same average location!'''" error, it can mean one (or both) of two things. Either there is a duplicate of one of the objects in the SCN in the EXACT same position as another of the EXACT same shape and size, or your object is too small in TS for PCS to be able to clearly tell the difference between two polygon locations during conversion. (This is a common problem for fighters and bombers because of how small they will appear in TS in order to fit the standard conversion ratio of 20 FS meters to each TS meter.) To fix the first problem, find the duplicate object and delete or move it. To fix the second, scale the whole ship up in TrueSpace to the size you want it to appear as in Freespace - meter for meter. Then, before converting, set PCS's scaling to 1 rather than 20 and convert. This should fix it by effectively giving PCS more accuracy when it gets to really small numbers. The up-scaling of your model is counteracted by telling PCS that one TrueSpace meter should equal one Freespace meter, so you don't end up with cruiser sized fighters and the like.
#Only the latest versions of PCS (those above 1.1) have correct collision detection calculations during conversion. Older versions will often have problems such as weapons fire going through them, suns showing through them or even other ships going through them.
#If PCS crashes during the conversion, or spits out any other sort of error, there is a problem with the model's geometry and/or hierarchy. If you don't understand the error and a search on HLP doesn't return anything helpful, post your question in the [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/board,8.0.html Freespace Modding] section of HLP.
#In the Misc menu, there is a "Global data import" function. This is a very handy tool that will import all pof data from one model file into the one that is open. Very useful if you completely POF a particular ship and then notice that you forgot something before conversion. You can simply re-convert and then import all the data you painstakingly entered.
#PCS is unable to view or edit the '''moment of inertia''' (MOI) data. This is the data (a tensor) that controls how the model physically rotates and reacts to kinetic impacts. PCS sets it all to 0 upon conversion, which will prevent your model from spinning around when hit at all. Currently, the only way to edit this data is in [[ModelView][32. The best way to set it is to find a similar sized standard craft and use it's values here.
#If you have any other questions/problems, ask in the [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/board,8.0.html Freespace Modding]forum, but don't forget to search first, since chances are the problem has been encountered before.

[[Category:Tools]]

POF Constructor Suite 2

2007-07-02T21:01:13Z

Kazan: New page: POF Constructor Suite 2 is a significant rewrite of POF Constructor Suite written cooperatively by Kazan and Bobboau. Kazan first started writing PCS2 when he recognized significant ...