FreeSpace Wiki - User contributions [en]

FreeSpace Open Installer

2008-09-26T03:39:33Z

Turey:

You can use the excellent installer by Turey, that should give you a baseline of everything you need to play. The rest of this guide is full of information if you want to start tweaking things, or tackle things manually. However, for most players, you can stop with this step.

The programs web page is [http://www.fsoinstaller.com/ here]

The most recent Installer includes:

* FreeSpace Open 3.6.9 Final (regular and debug)
* FRED2 Open 3.6.9 Final (regular and debug)
* Launcher 5.5a
* launcher6.ini
* Linux 32-bit and 64-bit Executables
* Mac Executables
* Soulstorm's OSX Launcher
* fs2open_pxo.cfg
* The OpenAL Installer (optional)
* 3.6.8 Zeta MediaVPs (optional, includes the 710 patches)
* 3.6.8 Zeta adveffects (only for those with high-power systems, requires regular MediaVPs, includes 710 patch)
* .OGG Cutscenes
* Derelict SCP Version (With optional voice)
* Just Another Day 1 & 2 (separate options for each)
* FreeSpace Port
* Awakenings
* Homesick
* Transcend
* Sync

Source:
[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html Original thread by Turey]

Walkthrough installing


Based off the walkthrough available [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,47045.0.html here]

This Installer is known to work on Windows, Linux (tested on OpenSuse, Gentoo and Fedora, should work on others), and Mac (OSX Panther, with a hacked install of Java 1.5)

First step is getting Retail FS2. You can buy it from either [http://www.gog.com Good Old Games] or off of eBay or something. Install it and the related patch, then get the FreeSpace Open Installer.

REQUIREMENTS AND NOTES
You can update your installation by simply running the Installer again. It will download files that are out of date.

The Installer requires an internet connection to install. This is because:
* It checks to see if it is out of date by pulling the number of the most recent version off of the web.
* It automatically takes you to the download page of the most recent version if your version is out of date.
* It checks that all the files are up-to-date.
* This Install process downloads about 3.5 GB of data, if you download everything. Just so you can prepare; for example, you could set it to download overnight.

Download Links:
[http://www.fsoinstaller.com/files/installer/FreeSpaceOpenInstaller.zip Windows Installer (Zipped .exe, 19 MB)] (Doesn't need Java, get this one if you are unsure and are using Windows)]: Works with Windows without having to use Java. 20 MB in size. Download it, open it, then skip to the "Using the Installer" section.
--this one is "easy" for Windows users. Not that the .JAR version is hard... but if you've never used the Control Panel before, and don't intend to, then use this option.

[http://www.fsoinstaller.com/files/installer/java/FreeSpaceOpenInstaller.jar Win/Linux/Mac Installer (.jar, 26 KB)] (Requires Java 1.5): Works with Windows, Linux, and Mac. 20 KB in size. Requires Java version 1.5 or higher. See "For Java" section, below.
--this one is cross-platform. It's also exactly the same as the .EXE version, except that it requires JAVA, and possibly using the Command Prompt. Don't worry; I have instructions...

You can also get the Installer [http://www.fsoinstaller.com/files/installer/java/ source code here.]

Install procedure:

1. Install FreeSpace 2 from your disks, if you haven't already. Install it to C:\Games\FreeSpace2. Then install [http://www.pxo.net/files/fs21x-12.exe the 1.2 patch].

2. Now, put disk 2 of FreeSpace 2 back into your CD drive.

3. Copy all the files with the extension of ".MVE" from the disk root directory ( \ ) to the folder C:\Games\FreeSpace2\data\movies\ (create this folder if it doesn't exist)

4. Do the same thing for disk 3.

5. If you ONLY have the FS2 disks, then put [http://www.fsoinstaller.com/files/installer/installedversions.txt this file] (right-click Save Target/Link As) in C:\Games\FreeSpace2\Installer\ (create this folder if it doesn't exist) If you have BOTH the FS1 and FS2 disks, skip to the next step.

6. If you don't have the Descent: FreeSpace a.k.a. Conflict: FreeSpace (aka FS1) Disks, then skip to step 10. If you do, insert disk 1 in your CD drive. Copy all of the files with the extension of ".MVE" from the disk directory \Data\movies\ to the folder C:\Games\FreeSpace2\fsport\data\movies\ (create this folder if it doesn't exist)

7. Do the same thing for disk 2.

8. If you ONLY have the Conflict: FreeSpace a.k.a. Descent: FreeSpace (aka FS1) disks (and not the FS2 disks), put [http://www.geocities.com/joshuap_richards/Installer_FS1/installedversions.txt this file] (right-click, Save Target/Link As) in C:\Games\FreeSpace2\Installer (create this folder if it doesn't exist) If you have BOTH the FS1 and FS2 disks, then skip to the next step.

9. If you have BOTH the FS1 and the FS2 disks, then put [http://www.geocities.com/joshuap_richards/Installer_both/installedversions.txt this file] (right-click, Save Target/Link As) in C:\Games\FreeSpace2\Installer (create this folder if it doesn't exist)

10. Run the Installer, under the "Installing the FreeSpace Open Installer" section, above.

Using the Installer:

1.First window, click next.

2. Press "Next" again, or click the big button to change the location for the FreeSpace 2 install. (Don't, unless you have a reason to, eg, you really want another location or you've already installed Retail FS2 to a different directory than C:\Games\FreeSpace2 .)

3. Make sure "Update Installed Sections Only" and "Say Yes to All" are not checked. Then hit "Next".

4-6. If you are a Windows user, select everything, except for "Macintosh (Universal Binary) Executables", "Launcher for OS X", and the two "Linux Executables" sections. If you are a Mac user, select everything, except for "Windows Executables" and the two "Linux Executables" sections.

7. Wait for the Installer to finish (this may take a long time!). You will know it is done when the "Next" button becomes black, instead of gray.
When it becomes black, click it. This means the installation is finshed.

8. READ the NOTES!!! They might contain important information. After you do, hit "Exit" (The notes are saved in the \FreeSpace2\Installer directory for later viewing.)

9. Hit the Close button on the Command Prompt Window.

OpenAL notes:
10-11. If you don't have it, get OpenAL: (all users, Windows / Mac / Linux) Go to www.openal.org, and click on the "Downloads" link on the left.

12. Get the correct version for your OS:
Windows users get "1.1 Installer for Windows" -
Note: If you're using Windows, and you have nvopenal.dll or ctoal.dll in your Windows\System32 directory, then delete them and then install the newest version of OpenAL. These files are older versions, and will cause problems with the new install.
Mac users get Installer for OS X.
Linux users get the Binary RPM, or compile from the source code.

If you have any issues with the installation post [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,47045.0.html here].



[[Category:Source Code Project]]

Fs2 open on Linux/Introduction

2007-09-29T16:42:44Z

Turey:

{{Page Navigation|
BookName=[[The fs2_open on Linux Guide]]|
CurrentPage=Introduction|Introduction|
PrevPage=|
NextPage=[[Fs2 open on Linux/Installation|Installation]]}}

{{Warning|This tutorial assumes some fundamental command line knowledge. As a rule of thumb, do not copy & paste commands without fully understanding them, especially as root. With great power comes great responsibility.}}

{{Note| This article deals primarily with acquiring the source code and rolling your own binary executable. If you don't want to roll your own, download the [http://fs2source.warpcore.org/exes/linux/fs2_open-3.6.9.run Linux Binary Installer].}}

Also, Turey wrote a [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html cross-platform installer (in Java)], which is able to download all you need for running fs2_open.

FreeSpace Open Installer

2007-09-28T00:19:08Z

Turey: formatting fixes

You can use the excellent installer by Turey, that should give you a baseline of everything you need to play. The rest of this guide is full of information if you want to start tweaking things, or tackle things manually. However, for most players, you can stop with this step.

The programs web page is [http://www.fsoinstaller.com/ here]

The most recent Installer includes:

* Retail Freespace 2
* FreeSpace Open 3.6.9 Final (regular and debug)
* FRED2 Open 3.6.9 Final (regular and debug)
* Launcher 5.5a
* launcher6.ini
* Linux 32-bit and 64-bit Executables
* Mac Executables
* Soulstorm's OSX Launcher
* fs2open_pxo.cfg
* The OpenAL Installer (optional)
* 3.6.8 Zeta MediaVPs (optional, includes the 710 patches)
* 3.6.8 Zeta adveffects (only for those with high-power systems, requires regular MediaVPs, includes 710 patch)
* .OGG Cutscenes
* Derelict SCP Version (With optional voice)
* Just Another Day 1 & 2 (separate options for each)
* FreeSpace Port
* Awakenings
* Homesick
* Transcend
* Sync

Source:
[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html Original thread by Turey]

Walkthrough installing


Based off the walkthrough available [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,47045.0.html here]

This Installer is known to work on Windows, Linux (tested on OpenSuse, Gentoo and Fedora, should work on others), and Mac (OSX Panther, with a hacked install of Java 1.5)

First step is Installing the FreeSpace Open Installer.

REQUIREMENTS AND NOTES
You can update your installation by simply running the Installer again. It will download files that are out of date.

The Installer requires an internet connection to install. This is because:
* It checks to see if it is out of date by pulling the number of the most recent version off of the web.
* It automatically takes you to the download page of the most recent version if your version is out of date.
* It checks that all the files are up-to-date.
* This Install process downloads about 3.3 GB of data, if you download everything. Just so you can prepare; for example, you could set it to download overnight.

Download Links:
[http://www.fsoinstaller.com/files/installer/FreeSpaceOpenInstaller.zip Windows Installer (Zipped .exe, 19 MB)] (Doesn't need Java, get this one if you are unsure and are using Windows)]: Works with Windows without having to use Java. 20 MB in size. Download it, open it, then skip to the "Using the Installer" section.
--this one is "easy" for Windows users. Not that the .JAR version is hard... but if you've never used the Control Panel before, and don't intend to, then use this option.

[http://www.fsoinstaller.com/files/installer/java/FreeSpaceOpenInstaller.jar Win/Linux/Mac Installer (.jar, 26 KB)] (Requires Java 1.5): Works with Windows, Linux, and Mac. 20 KB in size. Requires Java version 1.5 or higher. See "For Java" section, below.
--this one is cross-platform. It's also exactly the same as the .EXE version, except that it requires JAVA, and possibly using the Command Prompt. Don't worry; I have instructions...

You can also get the Installer [http://www.fsoinstaller.com/files/installer/java/ source code here.]

Retail Install:

Note: Use this if you intend to save time by copying essential files from your installation CDs rather then downloading them.

1. Install FreeSpace 2 from your disks, if you haven't already. Install it to C:\Games\FreeSpace2. If you don't have the FS2 Retail Disks, skip down to step 6, below.

2. Now, put disk 2 of FreeSpace 2 back into your CD drive.

3. Copy all the files with the extension of ".MVE" from the disk root directory ( \ ) to the folder C:\Games\FreeSpace2\data\movies\ (create this folder if it doesn't exist)

4. Do the same thing for disk 3.

5. If you ONLY have the FS2 disks, then put this file (right-click Save Target/Link As) in C:\Games\FreeSpace2\Installer\ (create this folder if it doesn't exist) If you have BOTH the FS1 and FS2 disks, skip to the next step.

6. If you don't have the Descent: FreeSpace a.k.a. Conflict: FreeSpace (aka FS1) Disks, then skip to step 10. If you do, insert disk 1 in your CD drive. Copy all of the files with the extension of ".MVE" from the disk directory \Data\movies\ to the folder C:\Games\FreeSpace2\fsport\data\movies\ (create this folder if it doesn't exist)

7. Do the same thing for disk 2.

8. If you ONLY have the Conflict: FreeSpace a.k.a. Descent: FreeSpace (aka FS1) disks (and not the FS2 disks), put this file (right-click, Save Target/Link As) in C:\Games\FreeSpace2\Installer (create this folder if it doesn't exist) If you have BOTH the FS1 and FS2 disks, then skip to the next step.

9. If you have BOTH the FS1 and the FS2 disks, then put this file (right-click, Save Target/Link As) in C:\Games\FreeSpace2\Installer (create this folder if it doesn't exist)

10. Run the Installer, under the "Installing the FreeSpace Open Installer" section, above.

Using the Installer:

1.First window, click next.

2. Press "Next" again, or click the big button to change the location for the FreeSpace 2 install. (Don't, unless you have a reason to, eg, you really want another location or you've already installed Retail FS2 to a different directory than C:\Games\FreeSpace2 .)

3. Make sure "Update Installed Sections Only" and "Say Yes to All" are not checked. Then hit "Next".

4-6. If you are a Windows user, select everything, except for "Macintosh (Universal Binary) Executables", "Launcher for OS X", and the two "Linux Executables" sections. If you are a Mac user, select everything, except for "Windows Executables" and the two "Linux Executables" sections.

7. Wait for the Installer to finish (this may take a long time!). You will know it is done when the "Next" button becomes black, instead of gray.
When it becomes black, click it. This means the installation is finshed.

8. READ the NOTES!!! They might contain important information. After you do, hit "Exit" (The notes are saved in the \FreeSpace2\Installer directory for later viewing.)

9. Hit the Close button on the Command Prompt Window.

OpenAL notes:
10-11. If you don't have it, get OpenAL: (all users, Windows / Mac / Linux) Go to www.openal.org, and click on the "Downloads" link on the left.

12. Get the correct version for your OS:
Windows users get "1.1 Installer for Windows" -
Note: If you're using Windows, and you have nvopenal.dll or ctoal.dll in your Windows\System32 directory, then delete them and then install the newest version of OpenAL. These files are older versions, and will cause problems with the new install.
Mac users get Installer for OS X.
Linux users get the Binary RPM, or compile from the source code.

If you have any issues with the installation post [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,47045.0.html here].

Fan sites

2007-09-28T00:08:49Z

Turey:

==General Information==

Any information read on any of the sites indicated below are not considered canon, because all of them are 'fan sites'.

==Sites==

[http://www.hard-light.net/ Hard Light Productions] (Best-known fan site) 
Has been in existance since 2001, this site has the largest and most popular forum to talk about items related to FreeSpace. This is also the location of several projects, usually referred as Hosted projects. The site also has a mild amount of mods uploaded in the main page, but links to almost all possible mods can be reached from the forums in different threads.

The best-known Hosted projects are the [[FSSCP Introduction|Source Code Project]] and [[Inferno]].

[http://scp.indiegames.us/news.php The Source Code Project] (Main site) 
Contains information about the latest [[SCP builds]] as well as troubleshooting and numerous programs used for modding FreeSpace.

[http://fs2.kissifrot.com/ Skippy's campaign list] 
Valuable site for campaign and mission hunters, not only for those who are interested in modding FreeSpace on any level. This is the currently best-known collection of campaigns.

[http://www.hades-combine.com Hades Combine] 
A comprehensive collection of FreeSpace mods. The mods are uploaded by requests or nomination. Visit the Hades Combine forums to make a request.

[http://www.volitionwatch.com Volition Watch] 
Volition Watch is one of the oldest FreeSpace fan sites known, containing a large amount of downloads from the apex times of FreeSpace. The site is still updated nowadays, by the hands of an esteemed community member.

[http://www.descent-freespace.com Descent FreeSpace] 
More downloads in case you have not yet found what you are looking for on the previous sites. The FreeSpace Source code is also available from here.

[http://homepage.ntlworld.com/karajorma/freespace/intro.html The FreeSpace Oracle] 
Covers general advice about anything related to FreeSpace, mostly FREDding, modelling and troubleshooting. You can also find useful links on this site. 
This website is usually mentioned as Karajorma's FreeSpace FAQ

[http://www.expage.com/06palaro Hippo's FreeSpace site] 
Information about how to get FreeSpace.

[http://w3.enternet.hu/fscult/ The FSCult] 
Main site of the Centaur Project. You can also find downloadable COB files of old Voliiton ships from here as well as some mission backgrounds.

Interplay and Volition's Second Attempt

2007-09-27T19:38:19Z

Turey: New page: ==Interplay and Volition's Second Attempt== ''Freespace 2: Sci-Fi Sim of the Year Edition'' by: Chucker - April 14, 2000 for Freespace Watch ===The Problems=== When Freespace 2 was f...

==Interplay and Volition's Second Attempt==
''Freespace 2: Sci-Fi Sim of the Year Edition'' 
by: Chucker - April 14, 2000 for Freespace Watch

===The Problems===

When Freespace 2 was first released, it was well received in the gaming community with several reviews applauding the game for its originality and outstanding qualities. Unfortunately, relatively few people bought the game when compared to many other newly released games such as Quake 3 by huge margins. This was due to the lack of advertising for Freespace 2 by Volition's publisher, Interplay. There were no television commercials or site banners, and there were few magazine ads. I myself didn't know it even existed until I heard about the release of the Freespace 2 1.20 patch.

Another problem was Freespace 2's availability in stores. Many software retailers apparently held no confidence in Freespace 2, and many had only one copy in the entire store. In one software store I went to, there wasn't a copy of the game anywhere. In another store, I managed to find one hidden behind a Tomb Raider 3 box on one of the shelves filled with Tomb Raider games.

These problems meant a lot of financial grief for Interplay. If you would like to know specifics, Orange wrote a mini-editorial about Interplay's losses due to their lack of support and predictions on how well they could have done if it was done properly the first time. It can be reached from the articles index.

===Interplay's Solution===

Many reviewers acclaimed Freespace 2 for its originality and excellent features, with most having declared Freespace 2 as the Best Space-Sim game of 1999. Due to this response, Interplay decided to do like Half-Life did and re-release Freespace 2 with more extras added to attract more people to the game. Freespace 2: Sim of the Year Edition included:

* Freespace 2 (Patched to version 1.20)
* 12+ new user-created missions
* The single player Templar campaign (Converted from multiplayer)
* The single player gauntlet missions (Converted from multiplayer)
* New multiplayer validated missions from Volition
* MP3 files, wallpapers, and other miscellaneous downloads from the Internet

Some people felt they were being cheated having bought the original Freespace 2 release, but a great majority of the new features can be downloaded from the Internet, excluding the Templar campaign.

===Results===

Interplay's decision to re-release the game is a success. Computer retailers feature the game near the front with its own shelf dedicated to it, and many magazines run FS2 ads every issue. People are being exposed to it more, and as a result a new influx of people are being introduced to Freespace and its fan sites on the Internet. However, not all of the faults have been remedied. Interplay STILL doesn't seem to realize the full importance of advertising to Freespace's future. What they have done is definitely good, but it's not good enough! Maybe someday they'll realize that games don't just sell themselves, but that people have to know of the game's existence! Despite that however, the SOTY edition is selling quite well at the moment, and I hope it can stay that way.

===My Expectations for the Future of SOTY===

I'm going to step out on a limb here and try to predict the future of the SOTY release. Basically, it all depends on if Interplay actually wakes up and advertises the game in the way it should have been in the first place. If they do, a lot of people who've never considered the game will be able to hear how absolutely outstanding it is and will buy it. If they don't, well, Freespace will still sell well, but a lot more slowly than it could be and eventually it could stop.

===What WE Can do About it===

Since Interplay isn't doing well in the advertising of FS2, we can help out a little. Tell your friends, acquaintances, schoolmates, and anybody else you can think of about Freespace. If we can spread the word enough, Freespace will finally be recognized for the ingenious work of art it is.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

Maximizing Your FS2 Performance

2007-09-27T19:36:38Z

Turey: New page: ==Maximizing Your FS2 Performance== by: Old Staff - November 21, 1999 for Freespace Watch FreeSpace 2 is a beautiful, eye-dropping game at any detail setting and should run smoothly on th...

==Maximizing Your FS2 Performance==
by: Old Staff - November 21, 1999 for Freespace Watch

FreeSpace 2 is a beautiful, eye-dropping game at any detail setting and should run smoothly on the minimum system requirements. However, not everyone may understand enough about the game to maximize their FreeSpace 2 performance. I expect that gamers new to FreeSpace 2 might find the following technical information helpful, and even fans from the original haven't seen all this information about the game's performance all in one location. My thanks to Dave Baranec, FreeSpace 2's lead programmer, for having answered all these questions before in various places.

With that said, let's get right to the details and tips on how to maximize your FreeSpace 2 performance.

===1. System Specifications===

FreeSpace requires a 3D accelerator that supports either a Glide or D3D API. A high-speed 3D card and extra RAM will take the strain off your processor and will result in better performance. The debate between the Glide and Direct3D APIs should no longer be such a major issue (for those who have not used these FreeSpace Direct3D registry tweaks), as FreeSpace 2 supports Direct3D at the same level as Glide. Quite a few bugs in Direct3D have been fixed from the original FreeSpace.

To achieve maximum performance, the fillrate speed of your 3d video card will be important for the nebula effect. A Voodoo 1 will work well, but a Voodoo 3, TNT2 or G400 will be preferable for the most smooth framerate which results from their high fillrate speed.

If you're looking to upgrade your 3d card with FreeSpace in mind, keep in mind the following critical requirements:

* Direct3D or Glide API compatibility (your choice)
* Speed of fillrate
* Recent generation 3D chipset for 1024x724 mode

The next important factor for frame rates is "definitely memory." One of the biggest sources of "lag" reports is hard drive swapping, where Windows uses much slower virtual memory on the hard drive to substitute for RAM. There are several ways to reduce hard drive swapping, but the best solution is to have 64 MB or more of RAM installed.

Compared to the above, the CPU speed "isn't too much of an issue" if you have a decent video card (Voodoo 1 and later). The original FreeSpace engine often ran at much lower than the system minimum requirements, so I wasn't surprised when one demo beta tester reported satisfactory performance on a Pentium 166MHz and a Voodoo 2. However, there are various levels of detail and features you can de-select in order to improve performance (all while still looking very good).

===2. Screen Resolution===

FreeSpace 2 supports a larger screen resolution of 1024x724, in addition to the standard 640x480 resolution. However, a single Voodoo 2 won't be able to handle this higher resolution. You'll need two connected in SLI mode or one of the most recent generation 3D chipsets (TNT2, Voodoo3, G400, Rage 128 or later) in order to choose the 1024x724 mode. A resolution of 800x600 is not supported, because this would require a third set of interface art and animations. Either you have a high-end system or you don't, end of story.

Of course, even the best video card won't do any good if you fail to install the high-resolution art required for 1024x724 resolution. Make sure you choose this option when installing FreeSpace 2, and look for the file "sparky_hi_fs2.vp" in the directory you've installed FreeSpace. You'll need an extra 252 MB on your hard drive, but the additional detail is definitely worth every last byte. The HUD scales back so that you can see even more of the jaw-dropping visuals that FreeSpace 2 does so well.

FreeSpace 2 also supports both 32 bit and 16 bit color. Among the changes to the graphic engine is a revamp of the bitmap and texture manager so that everything internally is in 16 bits, but video cards with 32 bit color support will have much nicer alpha blending in the nebula effect. The nebula effect is simply stunning in 32 bit color, demonstrating to me that 32 bit color does make a noticeable difference on my TNT2.

===3. CD-ROM===

Since FreeSpace 2 covers three CDs, you'll be using your CD-ROM drive quite heavily as the game loads. If you don't have the hard drive space to install the full 1 GB of FreeSpace 2, you'll use that CD-ROM drive even more frequently. This requires your CD-ROM performance to be optimized, otherwise you may experience some difficulties loading animations and cutscenes in FreeSpace 2. The solution to this problem is rather simple, but easily overlooked.

Go to your System Properties (either through the Control Panel or by right-clicking on My Computer). Click on the Performance tab. Look on the bottom in the Advanced Settings area and select the File System button. Now select the tab for your CD-ROM. Now make sure that your supplemental cache size is set to the largest possible (all the way to the right). While you're here, check that you have optimized access pattern for Quad-speed and higher CD-ROM drives.

Without these settings, your computer will not manage CD-ROM data access efficiently -- resulting in problems while the CD-ROM loads, even if you have an incredibly fast drive. Take my word for it, a SCSI-3 Ultra 40x CD-ROM will have difficulties if you don't have a full supplemental cache for your system.

===4. Virtual Memory===

The more daring will wish to adjust their virtual memory settings. This trick is something I learned a long time ago playing Unreal (an expecially system-demanding game), but it's not something which should be entered into lightly. Any problems you cause with your system is on your own head -- so tread carefully and be very careful you understand the consequences before you do anything.

One possible cause of delays and apparent hiccups during gameplay is the virtual memory resizing itself as more (or less) hard drive space is required for the additional memory Windows creates on your hard drive (virtual memory). The constant resizing of the virtual memory causes something called "thrashing," which can delay your games because of the constant change in the size of virtual memory required. Often, gamers will find that setting your own virtual memory settings for memory-intensive games will be more efficient than letting Windows manage it for you.

On my system at home, I have set aside a 500 MB minimum and maximum space for virtual memory on my primary hard drive. The size of the virtual memory no longer changes, because any reading or writing to the virtual memory is now in the same amount of dedicated space -- any free space will sit unused until the program requires that it be filled again. Windows and the hard drive no longer has to spend valuable clock-cycles increasing and decreasing the size of the virtual memory, thus reducing the thrashing. I have found the result to be a more consistent performance in games.

===5. Game Settings===

There is always a trade-off between graphics and performance in computer games. Higher resolutions, more detail and additional features will result in an impact on your performance, even if it is unnoticable. FreeSpace 2 is no different. If you're having difficulty with FreeSpace 2's performance, be certain to use the Setup Option in the FreeSpace 2 Launcher to auto-detect the default detail level. Even at "low" detail settings, FreeSpace 2 is a gorgeous game. However, the first impulse of every gamer is to crank up the visual details. Call it the Spinal Tap Syndrome...everything just seems better when set to 11 instead of 10, even if there is no difference at all. Let reason prevail -- tweak back your game settings a little if you're looking for more performance and you might find yourself a lot happier.

On nebula missions, which really taxes your system, turning the nebula detail to "minimum" has a negligible effect on visual quality but has an incredible effect to reduce system thrashing and improving frame rate. If you're having any difficulties in these nebula missions, you can go a long way towards fixing the problem this way while losing very little of the effect.

Do you know of additional ways to optimize your performance in FreeSpace 2? If so, let me know. If you have technical problems with FreeSpace 2, then contact Interplay's techical support or visit the Interplay FreeSpace 2 support site. They know much more about different systems and special compatability problems than I do. No, really, truthfully. Just ask my mother. :) Believe it or not, technical support has been known to send more helpful replies to problems than I have (bascially because that's what they get paid to do).

[[Category:VW Articles]]

Freespace 3 Wishlist

2007-09-27T19:32:39Z

Turey: New page: ==Freespace 3 Wishlist== ''From the Entire DC Staff'' by: Old Staff - February 09, 2000 for Freespace Watch In no particular order: * A bigger Escort list. Pretty much everyone is g...

==Freespace 3 Wishlist==
''From the Entire DC Staff'' 
by: Old Staff - February 09, 2000 for Freespace Watch

In no particular order:

* A bigger Escort list. Pretty much everyone is going to be running FS3 at a resolution of at least 1024, and even at 640, there's enough room for a bigger Escort list. Five slots would be great, and let me monitor all the ships I want to keep an eye on.
* Corvette fighterbays. The Moloch has 'em, so why not the Sorbek and Deimos classes? Adding bays to all corvette-class ships allows for a much more interesting storyline in many cases, since new fighters can be introduced to the mission without having to have them appear out of nowhere (warping in) or dragging a full destroyer into the mix.
* Weaker anti-fighter weapons. As it is, a standard pair of Promethei will chew up a Basilisk or Mara in under a second flat in a steady pair of hands. More importantly, a well-aimed missile salvo spells death for almost anything. But because guns are so powerful, I rarely have cause to use those spiffy missiles. So, if fighter cannon and missiles were weaker, fights would last longer, not to mention that Volition could add a speedy, maneuverable fighter with very limited gunnery capacity but huge anti-fighter missile power.
* More powerful flak cannon! I've only rarely seen these turrets actually do more than look really, really cool.
* More variety in Command Briefing animations. While the FS1 animations were so plentiful and generic that user missions could easily add a bit of splash to their openings, the FS2 images are so few and mission-specific that third-party missions have to make do with a couple of rotation images of Rakshasas and Myrmidons.
* Put the Mission Simulator on the main screen! There's no reason for it to be nestled away in the Tech room, and it's used pretty damn often once the main campaign is finished off.
* Easier testing in FRED3. Let us click a button and very quickly launch into our mission's Command Briefing and go from there, quickly exiting back to FRED3 on command. It'd be a godsend.
* More variety in ships! We still don't have Vasudan or Shivan installations, or civilian traffic at all. Where are the huge cruise liners? The speedy little civvies craft that so love to wander into war zones? And so on.
* Jump Point Defenses! Why, why, why, is every single jump point in the game left completely undefended? There should be dozens of Mjolners and other turrets, not to mention a specialized fort, watching over every side of every node, waiting for Shivans to poke their noses through.
* Built-in standalone missions would be great, not to mention that they'd clue in newbies to the existence of user mission archives on the internet. Just provide a few escorts, defenses, and other missions in the Simulator, and it'll more quickly get people to go hunting for new ones online.
* More campaigns! Why not offer the main story from two points of view? FS1 would have been fantastic if it had just included gameplay from the Vasudan and Terran perspectives. FS2 could have featured a Neo-Terran Front campaign. And so on.
* Go back to smaller ANIs and bigger blocks of text in command briefings; they're about words anyway, and it looks better in the opinion of me and Pastel.
* Make bombing more complex, and add more types of bombs - dropping in a load should be a real skill.
* Capships! I mean, flyable. That kind of shifts the entire field of play, and likely couldn't be slammed into an FS-esque game, so why not FreeSpace: Armada, focusing on flying and commanding capital ships in squadron sizes, commanding fighters and bombers as wings? Action/strategy, perhaps, to add some complexity and gameplay to the game. If you don't think there's enough gameplay in just being a Destroyer or 'Vette, just play Independence War for a while.
* Landings in and taking-offs from fighter bays in big ships. Yes, yes, Volition has many times said they don't like this, but I'd love it, and we'd be able to end a mission with the player and his home base in the same place!
* NO SHIELDED CAPITAL SHIPS. Ignore the fools - capships have their flak cannon and beam turrets already. Shields belong on happy little fighter people.
* I want my turrets! Return turrets to bombers, and let us command them via the Comms menu. It'd be fun as all hell.
* We want Terra! The return to the homeworld had better be impressive. What if Nazis or some similar unpleasant group took over and we had to kick our own asses? Or perhaps Earth is lain ruin by the isolation and lack of imports.
* Make the medal-granting system better. Offer some medals automatically (get credit for nuking a Sethanis, get the You're Obviously Cheating medal; put the smack down on a Ravana for the Good for You! Medal, etc.)
* I want my rank! I've got all but one medal, two or three of most of 'em, and I've got over 300 confirmed kills. So why the hell am I just a Lieutenant JG? Rank should be awarded a little more automatically, for making kills and getting assists.
* As the player advances in rank, he should automatically get the ability to command more fighters and give more orders - at least in the main campaign.
* Let me be Vasudan! I've been using a Vasudan pilot-pic, but I was able to "join" the NTF, not to mention hear the Vasudan pilots go on about how I'm pretty good for a Terran.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

Chat With Volition

2007-09-27T19:24:33Z

Turey:

==Chat With Volition==
by: Old Staff - November 20, 1998 for Freespace Watch

Freespace Watch sponsored a chat with Volition on November 6th, 1998. I thought it would be worthwhile to condense the discussion for those who couldn't make the chat. In the following space, I'll provide the questions and piece together/paraphrase the answers so that you can read a brief summary of what happened. Hopefully, this will help even those who attended get a better idea of what exactly was asked and answered. Although I will try to capture the entire answer, something may be lost in translation.

Without further ado, here are the highlights of the chat in a question/answer format:

===FREESPACE===

Q: Exactly how is FreeSpace "Descent"? 
A: In name only. The game was named Descent as the best and easiest way to avoid trouble over a trademark issue with a utility called "Free Space."

Q: Overall, are you satisfied with the gaming community's reaction to FreeSpace? 
A: Definitely. FreeSpace has been reviewed well, its sales are great, and it's fun to play. Any flak we've taken over multiplayer is certainly fair.

Q: So, are you guys *completely* done with FS1? No more patches, add-ons, etc.? 
A: Well, we think we're done. If something quite serious comes up we'll do a patch, but it seems unlikely. The focus is now on FS2 and new projects, and we can't do both at the same time.

Q: What 3D software were the cutscenes rendered and the ships designed in? 
A: 3D Studio MAX 1.2, mostly off the shelf stuff. We had some in-house plugins for some of the cutscene character stuff.

Q: What area in FreeSpace do you feel could be improved the most? 
A: "It's perfect. Cancel FS2." More seriously, there are a few things we could work out in the networking. Plus, the primary weapons could have been a bit more diverse. And the story will be improved in FreeSpace 2.

Q: There weren't enough enough ships in FreeSpace, will there be more specialized vessels in FS2? 
A: There were about 40 ships in FreeSpace, which is a lot since we don't have a number of ships already designed and modeled from something like Star Wars. It takes time to do good ships, but we thought FS had a great variety.

Q: What's your standing on the hacking out of the .tbl files? Would you permit the release of a .tbl editor? 
A: We plan on removing any encryption. In fact, with FS 1.05, hacking of ships.tbl is detected for multiplayer. I doubt we'd make complaints unless it broke multiplayer somehow or made cheating easy. We'd like to encourage user expansion of our stuff, and people will hack it anyway.

Q: Do any of you play any user designed FS missions? 
A: Yes, we think they're great. We even validate multiplayer missions.

===SILENT THREAT===

Q: Why was Silent Threat campaign so short? 
A: Doing good new missions takes time. We couldn't work on it any longer, but we'll try to make the next one longer.

Q: Why where there no cutscenes in Silent Threat? 
A: Cutscenes are very very hard, they cost a ton of money, and our timeframe was too tight. So we did some new Command Briefing animations instead, even though we would have liked to do more.

Q: Why does the Loki suck? 
A: The Loki was written to be a failed experiment in stealth tech.

Q: Why were there no new Vasudan ships? 
A: Vasudans were too busy evacuating the remains of Vasuda Prime to build ships.

===FREESPACE 2===

Q: What is the time scale for FS2? When is it expected to be released? 
A: Christmas next year.

Q: When can the online FS community expect to start seeing some information/screen shots of FS2? 
A: Probably in a few months. We're planning on doing a website overhaul for FS2 around January.

Q: What area in FreeSpace do you feel could be improved the most for FreeSpace 2? 
A: I think everyone will be really impressed by how far the story will progress. Rest assured, the FS universe will get REALLY deep.

Q: If the Earth is cut off from the rest of the universe, how are you going to bring the GTA and Shivans face to face again in FS2? 
A: The storyline is pretty much set now. We can't talk much, but the Shivans and Terrans are nowhere near done. The story kicks ass. Our new story writer did a great job. Trust me, all you FS story people will have a field day with it.

Q: What new weapons will there be in FreeSpace 2? 
A: I rather doubt there will be a Fusion Cannon like in Descent. But there will be plenty of other new weapons. We're experimenting with WWII style flak guns, among other things.

Q: Will there be more ships in FreeSpace 2? 
A: Installations will be changing and growing.

Q: Will FS2 make a multi-purpose ship for the Shivans? 
A: Certainly. Actually, our biggest problem with new ships is coming up with even-more-evil names. How can you top the Lucifer and the Hades?

Q: What do you plan in FS2 to increase the threat posed by Cap Ships? 
A: This was one of the things Dave has dreamed of improving, and its gonna get done. Like we said, we're experimenting with new weapon types like the flak gun. Although we have no specific plans for cap ship vs. cap ship weapons, its in the general mix. Capital ships weren't designed to defend themselves alone. They're supposed to rely on fighter cover.

Q: Will the FS2 engine be able to handle gigantic space battles like in the movies, say about 35-50 fighters with a few capital ships as well? 
A: FreeSpace 2 will be geared to handle a greater number of ships, but will generally target the higher end of the FS1 platform. We plan on having support for "scalability" for FS2, so you can try sticking in as many ships as you want if you're machine can handle it. A lot of the stuff which was hardcoded before, like the maximum number of ships, will become more "flexible".

Q: Then what will the minimum system requirements be for FS2? 
FreeSpace 2 will generally target the higher end of the FS1 platform. We can't really make a huge quantum leap just yet, but Dave would love to target today's high-end machines as a minimum due to the new technology being released.

Q: Will FS2 be hardware only, like Descent3? 
Yes, that's our plan. We're 99-100% sure.

Q: Can we make our own ships with an editor in FS2? 
A: No, not really. Odds are we'll have those abilities in FRED via sexpressions. But as with all things FS2, we have to balance time vs. features. Nothing is certain yet about doing that type of thing.

Q: Will the FS2 engine allow for engine created cutscenes and can mission designers create cutscenes in the new FRED? 
A: We have no plans for that. It would require a major new system, which we don't have the time for.

Q: In FreeSpace 2 will there be any planet missions where fight in planet's atmosphere? 
A: Well, we're planning on a "gaseous" battle type of effect. We're experimenting with it as a nebula effect, but I have a feeling that anything we do will work well within the context of "atmosphere" or "gas giant. But, fill rates on lower end 3D cards can't really keep up and we're trying to make it fast now.

Q: Will FS2 have something like a waypoint-autopilot system (WCP) to make escort missions a bit more interesting? 
A: No. It's much "better to have a big-ass battlefield, than multiple small-ass ones." We dig the big battle scene thing better. Well, almost all of us anyway.

===DESCENT 4===

Q: When are you guys starting on Descent 4? Will it use the same Fusion engine as D3? 
A: D4 is well underway, but it uses a new engine. It had a netgame test this afternoon and it's making great progress.

===VOLITION===

Q: What do you require for Internships? 
A: We don't really do internships.

Thanks to Volition and everyone who participated in the chat.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

Freespace 2 - In Need of Support From Its Publisher

2007-09-27T19:24:05Z

Turey: New page: ==Freespace 2 - In Need of Support From Its Publisher== by: Old Staff - November 08, 1999 for Freespace Watch Similar to the original, FreeSpace 2 has been well received by gamers and the...

==Freespace 2 - In Need of Support From Its Publisher==
by: Old Staff - November 08, 1999 for Freespace Watch

Similar to the original, FreeSpace 2 has been well received by gamers and the gaming press. Every review gives FreeSpace 2 high marks for its impressive graphics, captivating gameplay, and improved multiplayer support. Many Wing Commander fans are giving FreeSpace their hard-earned respect and my local friends have (finally) found something worthy to replace StarCraft during our frequent LAN parties. FreeSpace 2 is bigger and better than the original, which was a damn good game to start. All indicators point to FreeSpace 2 being another critically-acclaimed hit with overwhelming support for "Best Space Simulation of 1999." In addition, the enthusiastic voice of the FreeSpace community will definitely be heard when the inevitable polls are taken on the "Best Games of 1999."

With this level of support from the gaming community, you would expect the game developer and publisher to announce a sequel or add-on disk. However, this will not be the case for FreeSpace 2. Volition's president, Mike Kulas, announced on the Volition Bulletin Board that: "Prior to the release of FS2 and shortly thereafter it was my assumption that we'd be working on an addon. For a variety of reasons things changed and Interplay elected to not have us go ahead with development." Read another way, Interplay decided that it didn’t support the idea of a FreeSpace 2 add-on or mission disk. Why?

Whatever the possible reasons for their decision, Interplay doesn't have a very good track record for its support and promotion of FreeSpace 2. With the decision not to go forward with a FreeSpace 2 add-on or mission disk, serious questions are raised about interplay's commitment to FreeSpace 2. Let's take a look at the evidence that leads me to this conclusion:

The lack of support is obvious when you look at Interplay's FreeSpace 1 web site and compare it to Interplay's FreeSpace 2 web site. To support the original FreeSpace, Interplay supported a major mission design contest and commissioned fiction from science-fiction writers and fans. Compare their FreeSpace 2 website, which lacks even the correct system specifications for FreeSpace 2. If the publisher can't even bother to update its web site, what does this tell you about their support for the game in the marketplace? Volition's FreeSpace 2 web site shows what a game page should look like -- it is not only well designed but also constantly updated with relevant news about the game. The comparison between the developer's site and the publisher's site is especially appalling, as the reason a developer obtains a publisher in the first place is to obtain the best marketing and distribution exposure possible for its game.

Unfortunately, Interplay has also failed to generate the attention in the gaming news which FreeSpace 2 richly deserves. Compare the pre-game hype generated before the release of FreeSpace 1 to the circumstances surrounding the release of FreeSpace 2. Before the original's release, there were lengthy previews in almost every video game magazine and a wide release of the demo. (It was the preview in PC Gamer caught my attention, and the excellent gameplay and customizable controls in the original demo converted me from a skeptic to a hard-core FreeSpace fan). However, you would have hardly noticed the release of FreeSpace 2, other than the entire controversy over whether the game was, in fact, released to the duplicators (going "gold"). What happened to the pre-release buzz over the first space simulation game which creates epic capital ship battles in all their glory? The initial reaction at E3 was an overwhelming impression that the jaw-dropping graphics of FreeSpace 2 was something to look forward to during the holidays. Why, then, was next-to nothing heard about the release of this much-awaited game? Even now, post-release, you'll hear more in the gaming news about Tachyon and Starlancer than FreeSpace 2 (not to mention Homeworld). Why do the promises of a game still in development receive more press than a game that delivers the goods in abundance that's on store shelves right now?

If a casual gamer can't find a game on the shelves of a local retailer, they often won't even know that the title exists. To get this exposure, many retailers require publishers to guarantee a title's sales or pay for shelf-space. This is the price for the opportunity sales received from wandering gift-givers looking for "something to buy" for that special gamer. In my experience, I found it hard to find FreeSpace 2 on the shelves of large retailers. That's not because the game has been selling off the shelves, but because of its poor placement in major retailers. In the CompUSA on Chicago's Michigan Avenue, FreeSpace 2 was tucked away in the middle of all of the realistic flight simulators and far, far away from similar action games such as X-Wing Alliance and Descent 3. In what was clearly the high-visibility "Interplay self space," I saw several rows of Descent 3 and Starfleet Command boxes. Although I certainly won't complain about Descent 3 receiving shelf space, the decision to devote all of the remaining shelf space to Starfleet Command indicates that Interplay is trying to sell a product in a licensed universe over its proprietary universe (as Interplay owns the rights to FreeSpace). Worst of all, this high-traffic CompUSA had only ordered five copies on its original order -- and they arrived several weeks after the game's release. Even the smaller retailers didn't seem to be buying many copies of FreeSpace 2. Electronics Boutique was sold out in two of the three Chicago locations on the day of its release, and the copy I did receive was only one of ten reserved by the Old Orchard EBX. That's not an overwhelming show of support by retailers, who are influenced by the sales pitch of the publishers. With the excellent marketing and awards of the original FreeSpace, why couldn't Interplay find a way to effectively convince retailers to purchase copies of FreeSpace 2?

The longer I spend writing this editorial, the more convinced I am that Interplay has only put forth the minimum effort at distributing and marketing FreeSpace 2. In my opinion, it appears that FreeSpace 2 has fallen victim to one of the worst aspects of the gaming industry -- poor support of the titles from independent developers by large publishers. The marketplace is overlooking too many good titles due to the decision by publishers and gamers alike to focus on only a few "mass-market" titles of the moment. But when a publisher doesn't even support their good games, then what are its chances of realizing its full potential audience? In the crowded holiday market, I fear that FreeSpace 2 will not receive the attention and distribution that it deserves. This is a shame, especially when there is already a growing body of FreeSpace developers using FRED 2 to create excellent user-designed missions and campaigns that could be enjoyed in the months to come.

Fortunately, Volition has been more than supportive of FreeSpace 2 and has re-affirmed their support of FreeSpace community and their fans. But Interplay seems to be leaving Volition to take over basic marketing and public relations support. Even though Volition has done a great job, it's not right for the publishers to ignore their own efforts.

What, then, can we do about it? That's a good question, and one for which I wish I knew the answer. The best thing to do, of course, is to buy a copy of the game (for yourself or for a friend). The next best thing is to tell your friends and fellow gamers about how FreeSpace 2 is one of the "best games" of its genre, a great game that everyone who enjoys a space dogfighting simulator should buy. You can help create the buzz by posting on newsgroups and participating in the FreeSpace community. Another option would be a collective e-mail from the FreeSpace community (and friends) to Interplay, suggesting that they quickly reconsider their decision not to support FreeSpace 2. Look for such a petition to appear at the Descent Chronicles in the near future.

To anyone at Interplay who reads this editorial, I suggest that you take a second look at FreeSpace 2 and you'll see what a good game you have on your hands. With a "Best of its Class" title on your hands, why not promote the game fully to reach a wider audience? When you have a good product, you tell people about it, get it into stores and sell it to the wider market who are hungry for a good game like FreeSpace 2, but don't know that much about the title. The best way to recapture the hype and convince people to take a second look at FreeSpace 2 would be to create an add-on pack that would extend the life of the game. That's the strategy that worked well with the original FreeSpace, and the strategy that's being taken with Descent 3. Why not FreeSpace 2? It's every bit as good of a game, if not better, than the other two titles. FreeSpace 2 is set to dominate the space dogfight simulation market, if only it receives the support it deserves. Whatever internal difficulties you're experiencing, it doesn't pay to let a winner fall by the wayside for lack of support. Get FreeSpace 2 the exposure it deserves, and you'll find that it makes good business sense. Isn't that why your motto is "By Gamers For Gamers"?

[[Category:VW Articles]]

Chat With Volition

2007-09-27T19:22:38Z

Turey: New page: ==Chat With Volition== by: Old Staff - November 20, 1998 for Freespace Watch Freespace Watch sponsored a chat with Volition on November 6th, 1998. I thought it would be worthwhile to cond...

Silent Threat: Hit or Miss?

2007-09-27T19:15:27Z

Turey: New page: ==Silent Threat: Hit or Miss?== by: Old Staff - August 16, 1998 for Freespace Watch It was only a few days ago that Silent Threat was "officially" announced by Interplay. Most people prob...

==Silent Threat: Hit or Miss?==
by: Old Staff - August 16, 1998 for Freespace Watch

It was only a few days ago that Silent Threat was "officially" announced by Interplay. Most people probably already saw it coming, even before there were rumors. After all, FreeSpace rocked in every ways but one – replayability. Ultimately, when a game doesn’t have playable multiplayer, it will eventually die. Warcraft II, which came out YEARS ago, is still popular. Yet the X-Files game, which came out just weeks ago, is already starting to fade. Why is this? Because, without multiplayer, games get boring and get shelved. And then the game vanishes from the gaming arena.

To me, Silent Threat is an attempt by Volition to delay this "Replayability Effect" as much as possible. Even with huge sites like Xanadu’s archive, not EVERYONE knows about it. By releasing Silent Threat, Volition WILL succeed in making FreeSpace’s life longer. 60 new missions are a lot, and the new weapons/ships are added incentives.

Yet another thing that caught my attention is Interplay’s deal "if you make a mission and submit it, you get a free copy of Silent Threat." This made me wonder exactly what Interplay’s and Volition’s goals are. Its obvious to almost anyone that Silent Threat is a game not being released for profit, but to make FreeSpace itself live longer and thus sell more copies. You must wonder how much time Volition is actually putting into this. I am willing to bet that 2 weeks – MAX – are spent developing this expansion. I would say of the 60 missions included, 30 of them will be from submitted entries. This is because, obviously, if Volition is going to be giving away thousands of copies of the game, it can’t spend much time developing the expansion. It can be said that they will give away more copies than copies it will sell.

So what does this do for the FreeSpace community? Well, because of it, we will no doubt see more missions incoming. Yet most of these will be first-time attempts, which generally are not worth playing (as a generalization; there are exceptions.) Volition will make little money off Silent Threat, but it will give FreeSpace players more fun before the game is eventually shelved. Silent Threat will also stir up some more news and forum discussions, which is always good (whether the feedback is good or bad).

So was it a good idea to release Silent Threat? Yes, it was. But is it something that will work twice? No, it isn’t. It will give players a chance to play more Volition-quality missions (similar to those by Peter Drake and a few others) and will encourage people to use FRED more, which eventually means they will play the game more. Silent Threat was probably never conceived until about a month ago, when Volition realized that multiplayer would never be popular. However, that doesn’t change my point that it is a great idea. Lets just hope it lives up to our expectations, for if it doesn’t, it spells certain doom for FreeSpace and all sequels.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

FreeSpace Chronicled: The First Three Months

2007-09-27T19:14:25Z

Turey: New page: ==FreeSpace Chronicled: The First Three Months== by: Old Staff - September 13, 1998 for Freespace Watch About three months ago, Volition Inc. and Interplay Productions released an incredi...

==FreeSpace Chronicled: The First Three Months==
by: Old Staff - September 13, 1998 for Freespace Watch

About three months ago, Volition Inc. and Interplay Productions released an incredible game called FreeSpace. Aside from receiving wonderful reviews from the gaming press, FreeSpace found a home on many hard drives. This column will attempt to highlight the major events in FreeSpace history. Those active in the FreeSpace community will remember many, if not all, of these events, but those new to FreeSpace will find this column provides some context. In many respects, this is my attempt to answer a message I once read that "FreeSpace is Dead." To the contrary, the FreeSpace community is dynamic and energetic. And, from all indications, the FreeSpace community shall continue to grow and prosper.

The most visible embodiment of the FreeSpace community, its Internet presence, has changed in the last few months. These changes were reflected in the Official FreeSpace Webring, which changed with the community. Many of the original FreeSpace news sites (the TTD, FSC and FSE) closed, but other sites resolved to fill the gap and expand their content. Descent-FreeSpace.com and FreeSpace Intelligence continued unaffected by changes in the community, but the changes resulted in the Descent Chronicles being revitalized as its team expanded. Other news sites, such as Strobe and A Talent For War, continued after being hosted at new locations. Fan interest resulted in a number of personal FreeSpace pages, often with personal tools, resources, and missions. Groups of fans created FreeSpace squardon sites. One squad, the CyberRaptors, created a "Site of the Month" award for FreeSpace sites. Each site continued its search to find a niche in the FreeSpace community.

With the release of FRED, the FreeSpace editor, the design community flourished after the release of FreeSpace. Volition showed their presence in the design community, helping answer many questions about FRED and mission design. More experienced designers continue to assist other authors with their design questions on the FDL. Peter Drake created a comprehensive FRED FAQ, and then included a walkthrough of mission design. Pastel created a FreeSpace FAQ and continues to be one of the authoritative voices on FreeSpace design. As mission design issues became more complex, sites such as the SwapMeet and the FDL Review were created to give more detailed mission feedback. The Descent Chronicles staff began to review and rate missions for gamers, and other sites announced a similar intent.

Xanadu's Mission Archive soon became the central location for these third-party mission designs, providing a Top 10 and polls for the FreeSpace community. The number and quality of missions were noticed by Volition and Interplay. Interplay announced a FreeSpace mission pack called "Silent Threat" that would contain missions designed by the the FreeSpace community, as well as a new campaign. Many authors submitted their designs to Interplay's Mission Design Contest in hopes of winning prizes and securing a free copy of Silent Threat.

Many tools were released to assist those designers. The DDN released VPView32, which allowed users to peek inside the VP game files. This allowed animation and sound lists to be created. The AC utility allowed conversion of ANI animation files into PCX files. John Hanton created new ships and weapons for the FreeSpace Universe by editing the game files. And Garry Knudson created a Ship Viewer. Programmers in the community continue their work on several other tools, such as a mission organizer, a ship editor and a sound mixer.

Others in the community called for more detail in the FreeSpace universe. A group of FreeSpace fans created the FreeSpace Universe Reference Project, in hopes of filling in the technical gaps and creating a backstory. I created several summaries of the Great War campaign. Others began to debate the physics of FreeSpace wherever they could. Volition created an official star map and released clips of Vasuan speech and, finally, its FreeSpace Reference Bible of game development information. Interplay contributed weekly "FreeSpace Stories" from well-known science fiction authors, and announced another contest for amateur authors to contribute to the FreeSpace mythology. Techical and general FreeSpace discussions continue on FreeSpace bulletin boards at Deathlands (formerly ELM) and the FreeSpace Forum.

Internet and multiplayer play recieved attention as well, at first for their underachivements. But Volition continued to improve multiplayer performance, releasing several patches and a separate standalone server program. Many of the initial problems were resolved by the version 1.03 patch, but additional improvements should be noticed after the upcoming 1.04 patch. Parallax Online (PXO), the multiplayer service integrated with FreeSpace, promises to accurately track pilot statistics after the 1.04 patch. And to avoid an existing problem with some multiplayer missions giving excessive scores, multiplayer missions will be "verified" in the future. However, PXO allowed the FreeSpace community a central location to meet and fly missions against other pilots.

Single player gameplay revolves around completing the Great War campaign on ever-harder levels of difficulty and third party created missions or campaigns. The most difficult missions in the Great War campaign have created much discussion, particularly Clash of the Titans and Playing Judas.The cheat codes were finally published, allowing gamers to experiment within the game.

In the next few months, we can look forward to more missions and the Silent Threat mission pack. New animations, sounds and music is sure to be released by fans. And we can only hope for a release of a ship editor. Mission authors are developing more advanced designs and many campaigns are in the works. Resources for the designer are available and we can expect many will use them to fill in the gaps within the FreeSpace universe. More detailed FAQs are sure to be created, and current ones will inevitably be revised. With accurate ranking on PXO, squadrons can be expected to flourish and ladders will likely be created. Walkthroughs must surely be on the horizon to assist those still struggling with the Great War campaign. All things considered, the future of FreeSpace is very bright indeed. I am proud to be a part of the FreeSpace community, and I hope that many others join in to create the content necessary to make this wonderful game a classic, never to be forgotten.

Author's Note:
I am sure that I have missed or, perhaps, misdescribed some of the important FreeSpace events during the last few months. Any inaccuracies or omissions are my own oversights, so please let me know of them. It is difficult to keep track of everything that happens, but I have done my best and hope that that everyone considers the scope of this task. However, I believe that this chronicle highlights many of the important developments in the FreeSpace community.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

Find the MOON Challenge Results

2007-09-27T19:11:26Z

Turey: New page: ==Find the MOON Challenge Results== ''Freespace Mini-Contest Results'' by: Old Staff - May 13, 1999 for Freespace Watch ===The Origin of the Challenge=== A few people have been looki...

==Find the MOON Challenge Results==
''Freespace Mini-Contest Results'' 
by: Old Staff - May 13, 1999 for Freespace Watch

===The Origin of the Challenge===

A few people have been looking for hidden "features" and Easter Eggs in FreeSpace. Only a small handfull were found, such as these:

* Cheat codes: Type in Volition's web address (www.volition-inc.com) and the cheats will be enabled.
* Planet code: If any object in the game is named "planet," then a piece of legacy code where Volition was experimenting with planetary effects will kick in. The result will be that approaching within a distance of the object will result in a message "You are too close to planet!" and your hull will begin to take damage.
* Secret Weapon 1 (GTW-99 Shield Breaker): Hidden in the weapon tables (weapons.tbl) was an unused weapon designed to damage shields.
* Secret Weapon 2 (GTW-99 Railgun): Also hidden in the weapon tables (weapons.tbl) was an unused weapon designed to decimate subsystems.
* Red-Alert Ship Loadouts: Simply by creating red-alert missions, which force the player to use a particular ship and weapon loadout, in FRED the player will be able to pilot Vasudan or Shivan fighters and bombers.
* "Unique" Ships: In the game, certain ships have unique effects, like the GTSC Faustus#2 (big boom), or unique texture maps, like the GTD Orion#1 (Galatea) or the GTD Orion#2 (Bastion). Simply by opening up any mission in a text editor, you can edit the ship names to modify a ship to any of these unique ships which are hidden under FRED.
* Silent Threat Secret Graphics: One of many reasons to buy the Silent Threat mission pack for the true FreeSpace enthusiast is the handfull of movies and images hidden in the secret/supersecret sub-directory on the CD. One of the favorites is the Headz box, where a Vasudan pulls a Volitionite's decapitated head out of a box in the company's kitchen (in their old quarters).

For a game the size of FreeSpace, that wasn't very many. But there was at least one hidden bit of FreeSpace trivia still unknown to the majority of the FreeSpace community. So, in a mixture of abundant slap-happiness, youthful humor and a really bad pun, the idea for the contest was born.

===The Challenge===

Somewhere hidden in one of the FreeSpace graphic game files, there is someone that is mooning you. Yes, "mooning" -- that juvenile prak where you show your bottom to the rest of the world. On Wednesday, May 12, 1999, I challenged the FreeSpace community to find this file, which several of us in the know believed that no one would be able to find. The rules were this:

* Tell me WHAT the graphic is;
* WHERE on the graphic the "moon" can be found; and
* Send me an e-mail with the subject "Find the Moon".

We're not sure that anyone actually could find it, but it IS there somewhere. When you're told where it is, you'll kick yourself. :) Read on...

===The Big Ass Losers===

All right, I couldn't help but think of good old Bobcatt when thinking of rear ends. :P You could call it part of his charm (and he does all those cute Disney cartoon voices, too!)

Most of the answers were submitted rather early on Wednesday evening. Here are three of the more interesting responses, along with the images they refer to:

====Vision of the Moon====
[[Image:bassl1.jpg]]

"...in the Freespace reference bible (pdf file) there is a screenshot taken from the opening movie. A head shot of the panicked GTA Pilot. His eyes are staring up to the left. Following his eyes, you can see three or four small images. I think its part of the cockpit. These images appear to be of someone bending over and mooning the pilot, with the full moon appearing closest to his eye. You have zoom in quite a bit, butt it really, really looks like it." - from Ray

Well, actually, it is part of the cockpit. This was perhaps the most imaginative answer I received. Like an inkblot test, sometimes you find what you're looking for only out of the imagination of your own mind. In this case, it's merely a vision of a moon. Not a winner, but a good guess.

====Twin Moons====
[[Image:bassl2.jpg]]

"Well, this probably doesnt count, but on CrIm09.pcx, theres a Shivan Space Marine showing his naked, ugly and purple ass to not just the rest of the world, but the entire universe." - from DreAdFaq

Hmmm...that's not the answer I expected. I suppose it could be a correct answer, but do Shivans even have asses? Perhaps we should ask a certain South Park mad scientist to clone them a few if they don't. But the contest (as re-explained) did mention that we were looking for game graphic images. And images from the Silent Threat secret directory aren't game files, they're extra goodies to reward fans. Still, at least it is the rear end of something and there is also a real moon in the back to boot. This would have been a fun one to win...a "double moon" if you will. But, no soup for you.

====Butt He's Dead, Jim====
[[Image:deadbutt.jpg]]

"You people must be really bored to come up with this....I must be even more bored to try to find it...." - from Sewer Urchin

No comment, since anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.

This image of Vasudan roadkill was taken from one of the model textures (skins for those who play that Other Ground-Based Shooter that We Don't Care About ™) for the Vasudan Escape Pod.

This submission is very interesting, certainly not something I had thought of even though I was aware of this one. Sometimes it takes a contest to remind you that something you're used to is in fact an easter egg. Certainly Vasudans do have rear ends, but this isn't what I was thinking of, since it required opening up the graphic files. We're not that sadistic (despite allegations to the contrary received yesterday by ICQ). A very good guess, and we'd give him a prize except....

===We Have a Winner===
[[Image:mooning.jpg]]

"I really didn't know where it was, but i figured it had to be on some obscure vasudan ship since a shivan ship wasn't likely to have a mooning shivan (how could you tell?) and all terran ships are too common to put an easter egg like that in... escape pods and support ships were my first guess, looks like it was a good one." - from Sewer Urchin

We're not completely sure it's fair to sweep both runner up and grand prize winner, but Sewer Urchin did have the answer we were looking for. He identified the Vausdan escape pod as the correct ship and the back window of the ship as the specific part of the ship where you're mooning. And, in fact, this is the appropriate place to put this type of joke. Most "mooning" I can recall happened from the back of a packed schoolbus. Why should Vasudans be any different? Maybe there is a ritual in the Vasudan culture to "moon" your opponents, in an act of spite and defiance, when you must flee from battle.

Congratulations to Sewer Urchin. When we can think of an appropriate prize, we'll be sending one in the mail. In the meatime, I'll be trying to think of sending something other than Moon Pies (a frozen ice cream product which I doubt would ship well). Perhaps someone has a great idea for a prize (with an appropriate theme and less than $30 value), if so send your prize suggestion to me.

===What did we learn?===

Add to the FreeSpace 2 wish list: more easter eggs.

Perhaps the monkey currently being used as a placeholder for distant planets should be left in the game somewhere for us to find. Or maybe we could have a few of the running jokes in the FreeSpace community added into the game somewhere. What about a hidden pilot picture of Mr. T? Or maybe some anime-inspired ships. What about having a capital ship weapon on a fighter? Or maybe make a few of the FreeSpace2 rumors actually become true.

Sure, the FreeSpace community could make these cool toys themselves. But it's always a little more fun to have them already there, and all we in the community need to do is look hard enough to find them. We're a clever bunch out here...challenge us to find them and we will, given enough time and an incentive to find them.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

File:Bassl1.jpg

2007-09-27T19:03:39Z

Turey:

File:Bassl2.jpg

2007-09-27T19:03:28Z

Turey:

File:Deadbutt.jpg

2007-09-27T19:03:14Z

Turey:

File:Mooning.jpg

2007-09-27T19:02:53Z

Turey:

Storytelling is the Most Important Part in Mission Design

2007-09-27T19:00:12Z

Turey: New page: ==Storytelling is the Most Important Part in Mission Design== by: Old Staff - January 08, 1999 for Freespace Watch I spent five years, and a large chunk of my own money, to educate myself...

==Storytelling is the Most Important Part in Mission Design==
by: Old Staff - January 08, 1999 for Freespace Watch

I spent five years, and a large chunk of my own money, to educate myself after high school. A lot of this time was spent in earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. However, an equally large amount of time was spent earning formal minors in Creative Writing, English Literature, and Performance Communications. I read classics at a voracious appetite. I worked in one writer's workshop after another, polishing my craft in fiction, poetry, and playwrighting. I also discovered the wonderful world of theatre and began to act in everything I could get cast into. Within my college career, I wrote for and edited the campus' literary magazine, published several short stories and poems, and performed in over a dozen shows on both the mainstage and the blackbox theatre. I say all this, not to tout my accomplishments, but to add credence to my ability to assess the creative element, especially as it relates to the narrative form.

Zarathud, in his editorial 'Calling In Reinforcements: The Need to Beta-Test Freespace Missions,' states, "Don't rush the design process, take a few days to think about the mission and to get help if necessary." This statement was made in light of his comments on the need for beta-testing missions, but the fundamental core of his statement still applies to the nature of creating a mission. Most user-created missions seem to be the result of 'just getting in there and putting something together.' This is a fatal faux pas in the mission design process and leads to mission after mission of Endorian-like battles, battles in subspace, and just plain battles that don't work. The problem stems from the initial concept. Without knowing where you are going, how are you supposed to know when you get there?

There are, I believe, some simple guidelines to creating a well balanced and thought out mission or campaign. In fact, a well designed mission is truly a microcosm to a well designed campaign. Like most stories, you need a plot. You need a protagonist (hero) and an antagonist (villain). You also need some type of conflict between the two to act as the driving force for the action. For example, Romeo and Juliet are in love and both families are in full support of the marriage. Who gives a crap? Now, Romeo and Juliet are not supposed to fall in love since they are children of two feuding families whose hate runs so deep as to blind everyone to the other. Suddenly, they DO fall in love and everyone tries to prevent the marriage, many of whom die in the process. Now we have a tale worth telling. There is a reason why William Shakespeare was voted to be the most influential Britain for the past millennium -- he knew how to tell a good story. The same applies to FreeSpace missions. Here are some questions to ask yourself when starting a mission design:

1. '''Who is the Protagonist?''' 
(Is he or she someone on the edge? a hero? a somewhat gray character that plays between the lines of right and wrong?) 
2. '''Similarly, who is the Antagonist?''' 
(Shivans? A criminal mastermind? The elements of nature itself?) 
3. '''What forces the Protagonist and the Antagonist to collide?''' 
(Fate? Destiny? Poor planning?) 
4. '''What does each of them have to gain from their surroundings?''' 
(Does the Hammer of Light need to maintain the fuel depot in order to stage a major offensive?) 
5. '''What happens to either if they fail?''' 
(Mission abort leads to massive loss of life? Disgrace and removal from a prestigious unit? Life patrolling garbage scowls?) 
6. '''Finally, does the audience have any interest in the interchange between Protagonist and Antagonist?''' 
(Does it really matter that the capital ship went down?) 

These probing questions, when answered, help to fine tune the characters and the initial plot of the story. However, that is by no means the end to the creative stage. Once these questions begin to form somewhat solidified answers, questions of believability and realism fall into play. This is sometimes called 'willful suspension of disbelief.' In other words, the events are told in such a logical and believable fashion that we have no problem accepting the story as it unfolds. The opposite of this is called, deus ex machina, which is Latin for 'machine of the gods.' This literally came into play during early Greek plays where the main character was so far boxed into a corner, that the playwright had the 'gods' come in and lift the character off of the stage. (The story of 'Medea' is most synonymous with this kind of an ending, whereby Medea, after killing her sons and setting all allies against her, is lifted on the backs of swans to escape her demise.) To avoid contrived endings and to create a plausible storyline, here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. '''Do events happen in logical order?''' 
(Does a wing of support fighters warp in before the carrier on which they are based?) 
2. '''Are facts consistent throughout the story?''' 
(If the nature of subspace is the prevention of shields, does anyone in subspace suddenly have them? Is the subspace from Sol suddenly connected to Vega?) 
3. '''Is there a clearly defined way for the characters to make it through the story?''' 
(Is it possible to make it successfully to the end of the mission? This doesn't mean the mission can't be a failure if the story calls for it. However, if the point of the mission is to destroy the capital ship, can it be reasonably accomplished?) 
4. '''Is the action believable?''' 
(Does a science vessel normally destroy everything within a 3000 meter radius without some kind of an explanation? Do fighters normally have invulnerable shields or weapons that can kill with only a few hits? Does it make sense that one Vasudan fighter can take out a destroyer with only a single fly-over?) 
5. '''Does the action make sense?''' 
(Do you need to destroy Alpha 2 in order for your home cruiser to make the jump into subspace? Is it necessary to disable a target only to have a repair ship jump in and fix the unit, then receive orders to destroy the ship anyway? Wouldn't destroying a ship in subspace effectively close the node in which it was traveling, making it impossible to return through that same jump node?) 

These may seem like such minute points that they hardly warrant a second thought. Unfortunately, that is often never the case. It is always the small details that help to make or break a mission. Think about your favorite movies, the ones that receive universal acclaim or are contenders for Emmy's or Oscar's or even the People's Choice Awards. There are plenty of Star Wars clones, but how many are actually thought of to be anywhere close to the caliber of the original? It is real easy to get caught up in the glitz and glamour of several capital ships peeling off to engage each other in massive exchanges of ship-to-ship fire while swarms of fighters dance in and out of the surrounding carnage. But if the story doesn't lend itself to such a battle, the overall effect cannot help but be weakened. What keeps gamers engaged in the plot is their willful suspension of disbelief. They can buy into the fact that a failed run to protect the supply depot will prevent a massive assault on an enemy held system. But, if they fail to protect the cargo and the mission continues on as though the depot were of no consequence, then what is the point of protecting it in the first place?

Finally, all of these suggestions apply more importantly toward the creation of a good campaign. As stated earlier, a well designed mission is truly a microcosm of a well designed campaign. Events in a campaign are the result of one mission leading to the next and the next. A failed mission should lead to an alternative event rather than if it was successfully accomplished. Moreover, each mission should build on the events of the last, while constantly pushing toward foreshadowed events in the future. Storytelling is truly the art of keeping the audience on the edge of their seats wanting more. They want to fully believe in the events unfolding before their eyes. They want to be teased with speculative thoughts about what the future holds, while retaining an almost infallible ability to recall factual occurrences that have just happened. This makes for an enormously dynamic and rich environment in which well planned scenarios thrive, and ill planned ones fail. Take the time to think about what you want to have happen in a mission before you commit to the placement of the first ship, the first asteroid, or the first jump node. In the long run, it will only make for an easier time in development and a much more enjoyable mission for everyone.

After all, isn't that what we demand in the games we play ourselves?

[[Category:VW Articles]]

How to Succeed in FRED Design

2007-09-27T18:51:28Z

Turey: New page: ==How to Succeed in FRED Design== by: Dynamo - February 03, 1999 for Freespace Watch After releasing such missions as Awakenings, The Sands of Normandy, and FreeSpace Megasite Frenzy and ...

==How to Succeed in FRED Design==
by: Dynamo - February 03, 1999 for Freespace Watch

After releasing such missions as Awakenings, The Sands of Normandy, and FreeSpace Megasite Frenzy and getting a job offer from Volition Inc. to work as a Mission Designer for FreeSpace 2, I started to think, "Hey, I know a thing or two about FRED Design". As a reviewer for the FreeSpace Review, I know that there is a shortage of excellent missions out there. Then I got to thinking, "So how ‘bout if I gave young, aspiring mission designers my tips?" So, now you’ve got this document here. All my advice on designing FreeSpace missions is right here, so read on!

* Tip #1: Know what you are doing. Although you can just get in FRED and start placing ships really easily, it is very hard to make that work into a good mission in a short amount of time. If you have a plan on what you want your mission to do, you can save a lot of time trying to fix different things inside your FSM. When doing a campaign, I always like to make a timeline of what happens during the campaign before I’m actually doing it in FRED. Planning your mission is the difference between 5 star recommended missions and 3.0 star average missions.
* Tip #2: Know FRED like the palm of your hand. This one should seem obvious too, but there are so many features in FRED that it takes a while to master them. If you are just starting to design missions, go in and throw some ships in and try to learn it on your own.
* Tip #3: Never publish your first attempt at FRED on the Internet. Not only does it get slammed in reviews, but it will also make other FS players shy away from your missions. When you finally come up with a good mission, post it to test the water and make sure you use the feedback (if any) when planning other missions.
* Tip #4: The FRED Help documents are your friends. Never, ever hesitate to take a look at the Descent Chronicles FRED Help page. There’s a lot of information there and you just can’t pass it up. Also, if it’s your first attempt at a mission, read through Peter Drake’s FRED Tutorial. Some authors, like Sewer Urchin and myself, based missions on how Drake did it in his tutorial. Also, don’t forget to print out a copy of my FRED Reference Card. You’ll find it invaluable when designing your missions.
* Tip #5: Go easy on the Capital Ships. Nothing turns off a player more than a mission that suffers from the Battle of Endor Syndrome. As a rule of thumb never include more than 3 major ships (ie Arcadias, Orions, Typhons, and Demons). Cruisers, like the Aten, Fenris, Leviathan, and Cain, count as half of a major ship. So a mission with two Fenrises fighting it out with two Atens near an Arcadia is OK, but having four Orions assaulting 5 Levaithans and 3 Arcadias is not.
* Tip #6: Place the enemy ships last. This is something I always like to do, especially with planned missions. Place all the friendly and essential (like if you have to board a Shivan Cruiser) ships first. Then, set up whatever events are needed to make your mission run, like if it is a recovery mission, have your Docking/Undocking Sexps set first. Make sure you do a dry run of just friendly and essential ships to see if your Sexps work properly.
* Tip #7: There is no such thing as too many events. Ok, well maybe there is, but use Sexps wherever possible. Set up lots of messages to make sure the player knows what’s going on, set up directives to show how many enemy ships are still out there, and most importantly, set up Sexps to manage your mission objectives!
* Tip #8: Make good use of all three briefing screens. I can’t begin to tell you how important Briefings are to your mission as they are the first and last things to be seen by the player when he or she fires up your mission. Good Command and Mission Briefing screens will give the player an overall feeling for how good of a game your mission is going to be. If you run across a bad briefing, then you are already set in that the mission is going to be bad, and if you get a good briefing, then you know that when you click Commit, you’re going to have a hell of a time. Make sure to check, double check, and then triple check for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Watch out for briefing icons not displaying the proper ship when checked. Make sure that Jump Node icons show up as Jump Nodes and not Nav Buoys. Make sure that you don’t type in a bad path for your CB ANI’s and have errors in your debrief sexps. Always have recommendations for the player if he fails his mission, and make sure they don’t insult the player, make them inspire them to do better.
* Tip #9: Test. Test. Test. Ok, this is the most important part of doing FRED missions. You must test to see if what you have works in FreeSpace. I’ve done dozens of FreeSpace missions and I still can’t tell how a mission is going to run just by looking at it in FRED. After you get done testing it, send it to other players to see if it runs well before you post it to Xanadu’s or Get Noticed. Can’t find testers? Get on the FDL, FUDL, or the FS Forum. If you still can’t find anybody to help test, tell me. I’ll find someone for you.
* Tip #10: Make a good description. So, by now, you should have a mission worth playing. What’s going to make people download it at Xanadu’s? A poorly written description, or an elegant summary of what your mission is about? I’m guessing the latter.
* Tip #11: Hype it up! Hyping a mission is a good way to get people to notice it. But, before you even think about hyping a mission, make sure that you’ve got something to hype. When you think you have a good mission, send one message (not two, eight, or ninety) to the FDL, the FUDL, the FS Forum, and the DC Review Staff. If you get a good review, the DC Staffer who reviewed it is very likely to announce the mission on the main news page. Make sure that the advertisement is well worded with out using lots of loaded language. Don’t say "This mission is the best ever! It kicks everyone’s ass! If you don’t play it, you suck". Just be really casual about it. Say something like "I just wanted to inform you all that I have released a new mission called . I’d like for you guys to just take a look at it and tell me what you think. Thanks."

Although I can’t guarantee total success with using this formula, this is how it worked for me. I can say if you do follow my lead, you’ll do fine and be very popular with the FS community. (Well at least me anyway)

[[Category:VW Articles]]

How to Make a Fruit Soup

2007-09-27T18:48:32Z

Turey: New page: ==How to Make a Fruit Soup== ''The Do's and Don'ts of Nebulae in FRED2'' by: Old Staff - February 10, 2000 for Freespace Watch Ah, nebulae. They're fun. They play havoc with sensors. ...

==How to Make a Fruit Soup==
''The Do's and Don'ts of Nebulae in FRED2'' 
by: Old Staff - February 10, 2000 for Freespace Watch

Ah, nebulae. They're fun. They play havoc with sensors. They look neat. And so the temptation to stage a mission in them is very tempting. But making a mediocre and disappointing nebular mission is far easier than to do so in space.

The main problem with missions set in a nebula is that the nebula is unnecessary. Only use a nebula if you must, or to spice up a space-based campaign. Nebulae can get really old, really fast, so don't over-use them. Some common scenarios that might work well in a nebula:

* A ship the player has been chasing flees into a nebula to try to escape. Note that the player should not be taking part in a single mission along the lines of, "We've been trying to find it, so now it's your turn." The player should have previously been pursuing a craft, and is simply continuing the same chase.
* The player (or rather, the player's home ship) wants to hide, or do something hidden, so it flees into a nebula. It's not a very big stretch of the imagination to see a nebula as blocking transmissions as well as sensors, so they make good settings for clandestine operations and hijackings.
* A Shivan base has been uncovered in a nebula, but the sensors of the scout ship were unable to get anything clear. A fighter squad might escort in an AWACS ship, or perhaps do the investigation itself.

But if a nebula has been chosen as the backdrop of a mission, how to go about creating it? There are many common follies when building a nebula.

* The viewing range should be at least 3000 meters if you want to avoid having angry reviewers and players mailing you explosives. Similarly, sensor ranges that prevent the player from keeping track of his target just frustrate; they rarely make things more "challenging".
* If you are going to give the player a very limited sensor range, make it only temporary - for example, the player's commanders didn't anticipate the horrible sensor conditions, so you've got to hang on and try to survive half-blind until an AWACS ship can arrive.
* Large fights inside nebulae become very confusing, very fast. A fight between two large ships is more than large enough; fleet engagements, however well-balanced, result in pure chaos and confusion. And while many designers may think that they want pure chaos and confusion, the times when it's interesting are rare indeed. To put it simply, big fights in nebulae are very difficult to pull off, and should be avoided until you're very experienced.

When you've finally made your mission, even if you think it's well-balanced and fun, send it to others. See what they think. Especially with a battlefield as exotic and often difficult as a nebula, never assume that you've accurately judged your own mission's difficulty and fun-factor. Good luck!

[[Category:VW Articles]]

What Makes a Good Mission?

2007-09-27T18:42:19Z

Turey: New page: ==What Makes a Good Mission?== by: Kellan - February 15, 2000 for Freespace Watch There are some hard and fast rules for me on what separates a 4.5 or 5 star mission from a 1.5 or 2 star ...

==What Makes a Good Mission?==
by: Kellan - February 15, 2000 for Freespace Watch

There are some hard and fast rules for me on what separates a 4.5 or 5 star mission from a 1.5 or 2 star mission, but there are also several highly partial and interpretative issues involved. Generally speaking, a good mission will combine storyline, balance, design and gameplay into a whole that gels well and is more often than not better than the sum of its parts. This article is designed to help all mission designers to create the best missions they can and to explain how I review a mission. Throughout the article I'll be referring to particularly good examples, and giving tips at the end of each section.

===Storyline===

'Storyline' refers to the overall plot of any mission, including the briefing and debriefing and the messages which take place during the mission. A good storyline provides a focal point for the mission to revolve around. The mission's messages will generally draw reference from the idea behind the mission and relate to it in some way or another. A good selection of messages will allow the player to suspend his or her disbelief, and hopefully drive the plot along too. Take, for example, the excellent messages in the 'Welcome to the Boonies' series by Agatheron, which not only immerse a player but also drive the story.

Obviously, execution is very important when dealing with the storyline. Good spelling and grammar will show off your own skill and attention to detail, while poor spelling will break the illusion of an immersive mission. If you don't trust your own spelling, get someone to proof-read your mission before it goes out on public display. Ship icons in a briefing should also match up with the ships they are meant to portray and have a matching ship class visible when clicked on.

Keeping the storyline tight is also important. Briefings should give the information the player needs in a concise manner, and not ramble, while still being be long enough to actually impart the necessary information. Similarly, debriefings should relate to the player's actions in the mission. Debriefings are also a good place to describe the effect of the player's actions or, if you are planning a follow up mission, to preview your next mission.

Tips:

* Keep the storyline tight, don't ramble.
* Include in-flight messages to heighten a player's suspension of disbelief.
* Make sure all of the briefing icons are correct.
* Most importantly, proof-read your own work or get someone else to.

===Balance===

Balance is of critical importance to any mission. Without good balance, a mission is unlikely to score highly in the gameplay section and will therefore have a significantly reduced score. There are numerous examples of this in the review section of the site.

The key to good balance is, as Zileas has said, to have the actions of the player directly affect the outcome of the battle. This could range from shooting down bombs to disabling an enemy vessel. The other main point is to not make the mission too easy or too hard to complete. The only way to make sure of this is to test the mission yourself (something which I doubt is even done with some missions) and to get other people to test the mission out for you. Bear in mind that you, as the mission creator know what is going to happen and can predict enemy attacks, but players can't. Thus, players will often find a mission harder than you do. I've fallen into this trap several times. Solrazor's mission 'Nekhbet' was tested by a fairly large group of people before its release and the balance was near perfect.

One aspect of balance, which is frequently poorly realised, is the loadout for a player. Too often I have seen every weapon and ship available to the player, often including the multiplayer variants, which can't be used anyway. The idea of the loadout is to give the player some choice in the ships they fly of the weapons they take, but not to give them the option to fly in some super-ship with dual Kaysers, or a bomber with a dozen Helios bombs.

Tips:

* Make sure the player's actions affect the battle.
* Modify ship and weapon loadout.
* Test the mission, and get others to test it!

===Design===

The design of a mission can not only improve the flow of events or the player's understanding of the mission (through directives and messages) but also show off your skill as a mission designer. I don't consider good design to be critical to the success of a mission, but it will help the gameplay and storyline of a mission greatly if done correctly. A mission probably wouldn't score a 5 star rating with poor design, but if it has a good storyline and has good balance and gameplay, it could still receive a 4 or 4.5 star score overall.

Most s-exps can be easily understood thanks to the excellent help for FRED2 that is available, but most designers stumble over a few of them. Most aren't crucial, but there are a few that really should be learned. For example, designers should remember to make use of the escort list, messages and directives above all other design aspects. Other useful s-exps include the beam-free s-exp (critical for a mission involving capital ships) and the cap-waypoint-speed s-exp. S-exps such as send-message-list can be useful, but they aren't really necessary. Nevertheless, it's s-exps like these that get you the higher design marks. A good background is also a nice touch, which can add those extra few marks while making the mission beautiful as well.

Tips:

* Read the FRED2 manual for descriptions of s-exps, or look at the information available in FRED2 itself.
* Learn the really important design aspects listed above.
* If you can, use the more complex s-exps to improve your design score.

===Gameplay===

Gameplay is closely linked to the balance of a mission, though it's possible to have a mission that's well balanced and still has poor gameplay. This, however, is rare, but it's usually down to a poor storyline or design. Gameplay must be good for a mission to score highly - it's no good having a mission that's mechanically great but isn't fun to play.

Once again, the only real way to be sure of what is good gameplay in a mission is to get other people to test it and suggest improvements. However, as gameplay is a highly subjective thing there are bound to be differences in opinion. My best advice is to follow the greatest proportion of your testers' views. That is another reason to have more than one tester, because different pilots have different strategies.

Gameplay is an aspect of mission design that I can't give too much help on without trying the mission myself. Generally speaking, you have to ask these questions: "does my mission immerse the player," "does it provide a fun challenge" and "Is it long enough without being too long?"

Tips:

* Test, test, test.
* When you've done that, test some more.
* Hope for a reviewer whose strategy isn't too different from yours… :-)

===Common Design Pitfalls===

During the course of my mission reviewing for DC I've some across several frequently made mistakes and unused FRED2 features. Here are some basic tips on how to implement them in your mission, which should improve it, because I'm ace at FRED2. Did I also mention how modest I am? :-)

I believe that the most important design point which most people don't seem to know at the moment, but should know, is what to do with the choice in the message s-exps. If you have chosen this in the past as the source for a message you may have noticed that the game often doesn't send your message. The only way to get an any message to send in the game is to open the ship editor dialog box and give all of the friendly fighters and bombers you want to use a persona from the drop-down list. The game will send the message from a surviving ship with the matching persona.

The send-message-list s-exp is also one that few people can master. Their length and their use of milliseconds put off many people. It's not too difficult once you know how, you know…here's how.

When you create a send-message-list it'll have four fields. The first is source, the second is importance (which can just be ignored, always set it to High) and the third is message name, just as you would find in a standard message. The fourth field is the time delay in milliseconds after the previous message. For the first entry this should be 0. For any subsequent entry, the time delay should be the number of seconds you want the message to show up after the previous one plus enough zeros to make a four-figure number. For example, for a 5-second delay, you must put in 5000. If you want a 5.6-second delay, put in 5600. Additional entries are put in with "add data". See? Simple really, isn't it?

The other thing that's not always added to a mission is a background. Many people are put off by them, but they too are quite easy. Basically, you open the background editor (shift-I) and choose a nebula, planet or sun from the drop down list. Setting the scale factor at a number larger than one will create a larger than normal object. Reducing the number below 1 can create a smaller object. Then it's a case of placing the nebula according to pitch, heading and bank. Pitch will place the nebula above or below the horizon, heading will move it along the horizon, and bank will turn the nebula. All three work on a 360-degree system. All I can really recommend is practice. With some time, you can create beautiful backgrounds. The Restricted Access FS2 Reference Bible is also a useful source of information on background colours, command animations and much more besides.

===Conclusion===

I'm not saying that this is the definitive guide to what makes a good mission; I've barely skimmed the surface. However, this is what I look for in a good mission, as well as being the way I design my own missions. Hopefully it'll help at least one person out by writing these tips. To me this would prove I'm not wasting my time. Now I'm waiting for your quality missions to come flooding in!

[[Category:VW Articles]]

The Need to Beta-Test FreeSpace Missions

2007-09-27T18:38:41Z

Turey: New page: ==The Need to Beta-Test FreeSpace Missions== by: Old Staff - November 02, 1998 for Freespace Watch Perhaps a favorite gaming topic is to complain about quality, often by denouncing at lon...

==The Need to Beta-Test FreeSpace Missions==
by: Old Staff - November 02, 1998 for Freespace Watch

Perhaps a favorite gaming topic is to complain about quality, often by denouncing at long lengths the game designers for releasing a "shoddy beta product and using the unsuspecting public as beta testers for a product rushed to meet an arbitrary publishing deadline." You can hear these complaints made in almost any public forum, no matter how good or polished the game. The usual release of patches only seems to confirm these gripes. Indeed, the Descent: FreeSpace Forum contains many of these comments made by gamers about FreeSpace. Some of these complaints are valid, some might be valid, others are invalid.

If gamers complain about quality, therefore, it would only seem right that these same gamers would attempt to release only quality products when they were the designers. FRED, the FreeSpace Mission editor, allows ordinary gamers to use many of the same tools that Volition used to create the Great War campaign. Even though independent gamers are often not professionals and unpaid, these are dedicated people and it is suprising that the quality and uniqueness of user-created missions often falls far below that of game's developers. This statement does not ignore the missions demonstrating talent or meeting (if not exceeding) the quality of missions available from Volition. However, these missions are relatively few despite our continuous efforts to find the hidden "gems" and announce them in the FreeSpace Review to the community.

I am continually amazed at the low quality of many FreeSpace missions available on the Internet and through Xanadu's FreeSpace Mission Archive. Too many of these missions have clearly not been beta-tested by anyone, including the mission designer. Unfortunately, missions too often have obvious flaws that will remove the fun and potential out of an otherwise promising design. There are more than a few missions that have little design at all, and only appear to work due to the wonderful default AI programming of Volition's designers. It amazes me that someone would consider a mission to be "done" after doing little more than merely throwing a bunch of ships into FRED and saving the file. That might be an exaggeration, perhaps, for many cases, but too often the wonderful and unique options of FRED lie untapped and unused.

For this reason, you might have noticed that many missions recently haven't been receiving high reviews. Therefore, I feel it necessary to mention some of the more common design mistakes I have noticed during my mission reviews:

* '''Failure to place ships on different X, Y, and Z axes.''' Many seem to be stuck in a 2D model, even though FRED provides for 3 dimensions.
* '''Failure to place ships at a distance from each other.''' Few things frustrate this pilot more than starting a mission to an "incoming missile" warning. Initial hostile ships should never be placed less than 1500 meters away from Alpha 1's starting point.
* '''Failure to name ships other than the default.''' This ruins the immersion of the mission, missing out on an enjoyable method to personalize your mission. What fun is there in chasing around "PVF Seth 12" when you could be dishing out the hurt to the "PVF Punisher 1"?
* '''Failure to provide ships standard AI Orders.''' Tell the hostiles to do something other than wander around shooting aimlessly.
* '''Failure to use Events at all.''' The Events and sexp coding provides the power and flexibility to FRED that makes FreeSpace revolutionary. Not taking advantage of the game's distinguishing feature is shameful.
* '''Failure of critical Events.''' Often mission-critical events will not work, resulting in a show-stopping bug that ruins the intended effect or prevents the mission from completing.
* '''Failure to provide an adequate and reasonable Team Loadout.''' Nothing is more frustrating than running out of secondaries to arm your ship. There should be a good selection of weapons (unless the story or timeline requires otherwise), but not an infinite or non-existent supply.
* '''Battle of Endor Syndrome.''' Call this my personal crusade against "grand battles," it is a subject serious enough to warrant its own editorial due to continuous attempts by mission designers to stuff as many ships (especially capital ships) or fleets into a mission as possible.
* '''Overuse of Subspace.''' A issue raised by Ouroboros in his editorial, Subspace holds a particular niche in the FreeSpace storyline and should be used only when the storyline requires -- not because it's "neat."
* '''Failure to balance mission difficulty.''' Many missions are so difficult that I doubt anyone (even the top-ranked PXO pilots) could finish on medium difficulty. Other missions are so easy that I could walk away, have a few beers, and return to find the mission was a success.

As mission reviewers for the FreeSpace Review, Ouroboros and I have taken the responsibility of playing as many levels as possible and providing reviews of those missions to the community. We are also committed to providing feedback to the mission designers (both positive and negative), so that they may improve the quality of their missions. However, neither of us volunteered to be beta testers for those who cannot play their own missions. We don't enjoy writing bad reviews, and the mission designers probably don't enjoy receiving them either.

At times, it becomes frustrating to even write those reviews because the time we spend describing all of the flaws may be more time than the author spent designing the mission! A few missions (such as first.fsm, bomber.fsm and humans.fsm) should be infamous for this very reason. Perhaps their value can be as lessons of what not to do in mission design.

Other times, we find ourselves wondering how some show-stopping bugs ever made it past the author. For these missions, we can only conclude that the designer failed to even play the mission themselves before submitting the design. Missions like this (including ShivanA.fsm and Andromeda.fsm) just can't be explained by any other reason, as the bugs are just too obvious. These missions provide valuable lessons on what to look for in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

The bottom line for any mission designer should come down to this:

1. Take the time to polish your missions before submitting them to the public. 
2. Don't rush the design process, take a few days to think about the mission and to get help if necessary. 
3. Beta-test and beta-test some more. Then beta-test it again! 

Some of the upcoming campaigns have several beta-testers, often FreeSpace designers of note, to verify that the ideas work in the mission and that bugs do not sneak through. The best mission designers take the time, often weeks, to perfect their missions. As a result, these designers have released only a few missions and are willing to revise even well-rated missions. This release "when it's done" approach is what we as gamers demand from game developers. It only makes sense that we live up to our own demands.

After you have a semi-finished version of a mission, enlist (draft, beg, borrow, or con) someone else to test it for you. Bugs will often slip through only because the author knows too much about the design to look for alternate approaches that could trigger problems. There are several places with other FreeSpace designers willing to help out, such as the MissionSwap program for members of the SwapMeet. If you only register your willingness to exchange missions for beta-testing, you'll join many other authors willing to help provide feedback. If you're interested in this program, contact Paul Regenhardt at the SwapMeet.

Even if you can't find someone else to help test your mission, there is no excuse to not beta-test yourself. Authors can use the various checklists created by excellent designers in the FreeSpace community, such as the Unofficial FRED Checklist from RAZOR of the CyberRaptors and the Mission Design Checklist from Nathan "Dynamo" Hoying. Also useful is the guide for How to Critique a Mission at the SwapMeet. If you find yourself frustrated with continuous replaying of your mission, set it aside (along with some sort of developer's notes) and work on another design, or just enjoy playing the game. After a breather, you can often find that "neat" ideas just aren't working out. This fresh perspective can help greatly improve your mission designs.

Good missions can only be created through constant testing of how the ideas and design work when playing the mission. Excellent missions are created through polishing those elements and paying attention to all of the details that can help make your mission Volition-quality. It seems difficult to believe that any mission designer aspires to a lower standard. The FreeSpace community is in desperate need of good, well-designed and polished missions that tell a story.

Use the FreeSpace Design Resources to help in your design efforts and always remember to beta-test before submitting your mission! Missions that we have to beta-test at the FreeSpace Review are almost guaranteed poor ratings.

Author's Note:
This editorial does not ignore the many quality missions out there or the efforts of mission designers. I, also, am a mission designer and know the difficulties of working to create a mission with minimal bugs.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

Tunnel Vision: Why Subspace Mission?

2007-09-27T17:55:47Z

Turey: New page: ==Tunnel Vision: Why Subspace Mission?== by: Old Staff - August 11, 1998 for Freespace Watch Ever since the discovery that missions could be set in subspace, foolish mission designers hav...

==Tunnel Vision: Why Subspace Mission?==
by: Old Staff - August 11, 1998 for Freespace Watch

Ever since the discovery that missions could be set in subspace, foolish mission designers have been creating escort missions, furballs, and capture missions in that blue-white environment called Subspace. At first, it just seems cool. After all, wasn't that last mission in FreeSpace really neat? But to someone who's played a lot of scenarios set in subspace, there are few worse things in mission design than subspace.

First of all, there are the most obvious changes in subspace: No shields, no support ships, and everything's being dragged along. At first, this just seems to be extra challenges to overcome - and everyone wants a challenging mission, right? Well, having no support ships is one thing. It does force the player to conserve both countermeasures and missiles. This creates yet more problems for craft like the Ulysses, which have little ammunition as it is. But the lack of shields turns a human player into a superpilot. The computer AI does not adapt well to subspace, while a human does. But more importantly, Shivan craft's defenses are centered on shields. The Shivan fighters' low armor is enough of a disadvantage in normal space; in subspace, with no shields, a single Hornet salvo can shatter a Basilisk. Because speed is not very useful in subspace - you're pretty much going in one direction, whether you like it or not, and you can't really move quickly in a new direction long enough to use afterburners and countermeasures - missiles are that much harder to dodge. And as speed is no longer a major advantage, the Hercules is the ship of choice, if available. And a single sextuple-salvo of Prometheus shots - which a Herc can sling off rather fast - will blow most any fighter to space dust. While the mission creator can set shields to be on in Subspace, it would be going against the rules that Volition laid down. So in any believable Subspace scenario. But computer fighters don't know how to handle the unique properties of Subspace, and so die fast. This alone makes subspace missions barely worth playing, as the enemy fighters can be splattered pretty much at the player's will.

Capital ships and cruisers, on the other hand, are used to having no shields, and aren't terribly mobile anyway, so they're unimpaired for the most part. A single Aten class cruiser, if left unchecked, can clear away three full wings of AI controlled Terran fighters before they can get into Disrupter or Stiletto range. This means that the best way to eliminate a cap ship or cruiser is with another. Which leads into the next, and probably the biggest, problem with subspace-based missions.

As can be seen, the only feasible way to make an interesting subspace mission that doesn't quickly degenerate into a turkey shoot is by including cruisers or caps - and probably at least two. Let me say something that every mission designer should remember: Capital ships don't fit in subspace. A single Typhon takes up so much of the tunnel that there's little room for anything else, and no fighter can be safe from the grasp of hungry missile turrets. That leaves cruisers, which still take up a lot of limited tunnel space, but leave more than enough for dogfights around them. Right? Well, while cruisers don't take up that much physical space, their "sphere of influence" (the area around them in which they can greatly influence combat) is pretty large. Also, because of the lack of shields, a cruiser's massive (relative to a fighter) hit points become an enormous advantage.

But don't forget that Subspace itself has a lot of special effects: the sounds, the three or so layers of texture rotating, and the lighting from each end, not to mention a really big "sun" at each end of the tunnel. Any more than two wings of fighters on each side, and maybe a cruiser, will start a P200 with a Voodoo2 and medium graphics quality - my own machine - stuttering. That's bad enough. I've seen subspace missions with 6 wings of 3 fighters each total, plus a pair of cruisers. In a normal mission, my box wouldn't even sweat to handle all the polygons and calculations. Nor would any Pentium II/3D card system. But in subspace, I get about five frames a second in subspace - or, converting the mission to non-subspace, but keeping everything else the same, 45 fps or so in normalspace. I won't even talk about what that subspace mission did to my other P200, which has no 3D card. This should be a clear warning to mission designers: Subspace missions will be slow. So slow that for comfortably running scenarios set in subspace, a computer should be a PII/300, 64 megs of RAM, and a Voodoo 2. Yeah, subspace is that demanding. Strangely, no subspace scenario has ever actually crashed FreeSpace, as most cap-heavy missions do when the calculation level overflows the system.

Finally, there's the factor that doesn't directly influence gameplay: according to the rules of the FreeSpace universe, when a capital ship (and, though they don't say it, perhaps a cruiser) is destroyed in subspace, the massive explosion wrecks the Subspace Tunnel. That nixes Capital ships (and if you want to be safe, cruisers as well) as elements in a Subspace mission that isn't part of a big campaign. And keep in mind that if you do wreck a node, that makes a pretty big impact on the universe - an impact that will always clash with Volition's story.

When the framerate problems are combined with the formidable gameplay and balancing issues, it should be clear that level creators should steer clear of Subspace as a setting. I will say this, however: The first designer to bring before me a subspace-set mission that I can enjoy will receive the coveted "Kewl Werk" Award from me and Zarathud, created for this very sort of design problem. But I don't think that it can be done. Or maybe I'm just too cynical.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

FRED and the Battle of Endor Syndrome

2007-09-27T17:51:06Z

Turey:

==FRED and the Battle of Endor Syndrome==
''The Infection Plagues Us All'' 
by: Old Staff - August 05, 1998 for Freespace Watch

FreeSpace is the first game that captured my imagination enough to design a level. I had toyed with many level editors before: Age of Empires, Battlezone, Command & Conquer, Duke Nukem, Lords of the Realm 2, Quake, and Starcraft to name just a few. You'll never see any of my levels for those games, mostly because I closed or crashed out of the level editor in frustration. My idea was usually so simple, but didn't translate into the game or couldn't be done or didn't feel right.

The FreeSpace Editor (FRED) changed all that. FRED is easy to use and the menus/checkboxes are intuitive. Numerous options exist for the properties of each object. The events functions are extremely powerful and somewhat familiar to anyone with a basic understanding of logic or programming. The briefings and objectives provide flexibility to put those dreams into effect. And, early on, I discovered Peter Drake's FRED FAQ and the FreeSpace Developer's List (FDL).

For all of the kudos that FRED deserves, FRED alone cannot explain why so many have flocked to FreeSpace mission design. It could be that people want to see for themselves just how much bigger those massive capital ships are compared to your little fighter. Perhaps 3D design is just plain easier when you don't have a small series of tile sets to work with and you don't have to worry about tunnels, walls, ceilings and the like. Maybe it is somehow easier to visualize a space conflict because of the tremendous influence of Star Wars during my formative years. Or possibly a number of other reasons all running around in the back my head.

After giving it some thought, I think the answer is Star Wars. Everyone remembers the Battle of Endor sequence at the end of the movie "Return of the Jedi." If you don't remember it, then you really need to visit your local movie rental center and probably have something better to do than read this editorial (like watch the movie!). It also seems to be the first thing racing through everyone's mind as they open up FRED...since most author's first missions released have been one version or another of that epic battle.

The result is what I have taken to calling the "Battle of Endor Syndrome" as I play through missions. Simply put, the "Battle of Endor Syndrome" is the temptation to recreate a massive space battle between the Terran, Vasudan and Shivan fleets. The more capital ships, the merrier. Fighter wings will respawn wave after wave. Something like a gunslinger battle of the old West, where each fleet will warp in 1,000 m away on a two-dimensional plane and then slowly begin marching towards each other.

The only problem is that FreeSpace wasn't meant for this type of epic space battle. At all. Those who own lower-end machines or must use software rendering mode know the reason: the mission will crash on their system. Even when the mission does run, it will rarely run at high frame rates. FRED is more powerful than the engine or your computer can support. Volition Inc. patched FRED to reduce some of the problems user-designed missions could create.

In addition, these designs usually suffer from a number of repeating design flaws:

* The capital ship AI tends to defend itself against the tiny fighters rather than pounding away at the big targets.
* The damage these capital ships seem to inflict on each other is minimal compared to the hurt that Alpha 1 can inflict in the same amount of time using a tiny fighter.
* The capital ships will sit hovering in space because the AI wasn't given any orders. Other times, ships will end up ramming each other and causing interesting fender-benders and space traffic jams because of flawed AI movement orders (such as move fleet ship 1, 2, 3....101 to waypoint 1).
* Either the fighters will die quickly to leave the capital ships hovering unprotected in space or the fighters will respawn wave after wave after endless wave.
* The mission is either too hard (capital ships kill Alpha 1 instantly) or too easy (Alpha 1 can destroy lots of capital ships).
* Few events, if any, exist to make the mission dynamic and interesting.
* Few missiles, if any, are available on the ship loadouts to arm the player.
* Often, bombers will be available but no missiles will be available to fill the bomb bays.

Volition Inc. never created any mission like the Battle of Endor. Why? For many reasons, surely. One Volition employee (Jason Hoffoss) commented on FDL that the key to successful mission design was "Zen and the Art of FreeSpace Design." I agree with this statement, and at least one person has predicted that I plan to author a book by that same name (to which I have to say "no comment", on the grounds that I might incriminate myself before others who suspect me of harboring secret Buddhist tendencies).

It seems that everyone's first impulse upon opening up FRED is to fill all that beautiful empty space, without realizing that space is supposed to be empty. That's what space is...vaccum and nothingness. Maybe a few particles here and there, but basically just space.

Why ruin the beauty of such empty space in the rush to create a mission? Few missions suffering from Battle of Endor Syndrome are any good. At best, these missions have a plethora of targets. At worst, the player has little influence on the battle.

Stay away from these Battle of Endor missions like the plague. Perhaps, after everyone gets this irresistable impulse out of their system, the FreeSpace mission design community will regain its sanity. Then we can all enjoy the good work.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

FRED and the Battle of Endor Syndrome

2007-09-27T17:50:23Z

Turey:

==FRED and the Battle of Endor Syndrome==
===The Infection Plagues Us All===
by: Old Staff - August 05, 1998 for Freespace Watch

FreeSpace is the first game that captured my imagination enough to design a level. I had toyed with many level editors before: Age of Empires, Battlezone, Command & Conquer, Duke Nukem, Lords of the Realm 2, Quake, and Starcraft to name just a few. You'll never see any of my levels for those games, mostly because I closed or crashed out of the level editor in frustration. My idea was usually so simple, but didn't translate into the game or couldn't be done or didn't feel right.

The FreeSpace Editor (FRED) changed all that. FRED is easy to use and the menus/checkboxes are intuitive. Numerous options exist for the properties of each object. The events functions are extremely powerful and somewhat familiar to anyone with a basic understanding of logic or programming. The briefings and objectives provide flexibility to put those dreams into effect. And, early on, I discovered Peter Drake's FRED FAQ and the FreeSpace Developer's List (FDL).

For all of the kudos that FRED deserves, FRED alone cannot explain why so many have flocked to FreeSpace mission design. It could be that people want to see for themselves just how much bigger those massive capital ships are compared to your little fighter. Perhaps 3D design is just plain easier when you don't have a small series of tile sets to work with and you don't have to worry about tunnels, walls, ceilings and the like. Maybe it is somehow easier to visualize a space conflict because of the tremendous influence of Star Wars during my formative years. Or possibly a number of other reasons all running around in the back my head.

After giving it some thought, I think the answer is Star Wars. Everyone remembers the Battle of Endor sequence at the end of the movie "Return of the Jedi." If you don't remember it, then you really need to visit your local movie rental center and probably have something better to do than read this editorial (like watch the movie!). It also seems to be the first thing racing through everyone's mind as they open up FRED...since most author's first missions released have been one version or another of that epic battle.

The result is what I have taken to calling the "Battle of Endor Syndrome" as I play through missions. Simply put, the "Battle of Endor Syndrome" is the temptation to recreate a massive space battle between the Terran, Vasudan and Shivan fleets. The more capital ships, the merrier. Fighter wings will respawn wave after wave. Something like a gunslinger battle of the old West, where each fleet will warp in 1,000 m away on a two-dimensional plane and then slowly begin marching towards each other.

The only problem is that FreeSpace wasn't meant for this type of epic space battle. At all. Those who own lower-end machines or must use software rendering mode know the reason: the mission will crash on their system. Even when the mission does run, it will rarely run at high frame rates. FRED is more powerful than the engine or your computer can support. Volition Inc. patched FRED to reduce some of the problems user-designed missions could create.

In addition, these designs usually suffer from a number of repeating design flaws:

* The capital ship AI tends to defend itself against the tiny fighters rather than pounding away at the big targets.
* The damage these capital ships seem to inflict on each other is minimal compared to the hurt that Alpha 1 can inflict in the same amount of time using a tiny fighter.
* The capital ships will sit hovering in space because the AI wasn't given any orders. Other times, ships will end up ramming each other and causing interesting fender-benders and space traffic jams because of flawed AI movement orders (such as move fleet ship 1, 2, 3....101 to waypoint 1).
* Either the fighters will die quickly to leave the capital ships hovering unprotected in space or the fighters will respawn wave after wave after endless wave.
* The mission is either too hard (capital ships kill Alpha 1 instantly) or too easy (Alpha 1 can destroy lots of capital ships).
* Few events, if any, exist to make the mission dynamic and interesting.
* Few missiles, if any, are available on the ship loadouts to arm the player.
* Often, bombers will be available but no missiles will be available to fill the bomb bays.

Volition Inc. never created any mission like the Battle of Endor. Why? For many reasons, surely. One Volition employee (Jason Hoffoss) commented on FDL that the key to successful mission design was "Zen and the Art of FreeSpace Design." I agree with this statement, and at least one person has predicted that I plan to author a book by that same name (to which I have to say "no comment", on the grounds that I might incriminate myself before others who suspect me of harboring secret Buddhist tendencies).

It seems that everyone's first impulse upon opening up FRED is to fill all that beautiful empty space, without realizing that space is supposed to be empty. That's what space is...vaccum and nothingness. Maybe a few particles here and there, but basically just space.

Why ruin the beauty of such empty space in the rush to create a mission? Few missions suffering from Battle of Endor Syndrome are any good. At best, these missions have a plethora of targets. At worst, the player has little influence on the battle.

Stay away from these Battle of Endor missions like the plague. Perhaps, after everyone gets this irresistable impulse out of their system, the FreeSpace mission design community will regain its sanity. Then we can all enjoy the good work.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

FRED and the Battle of Endor Syndrome

2007-09-27T17:49:41Z

Turey: New page: ==FRED and the Battle of Endor Syndrome== The Infection Plagues Us All by: Old Staff - August 05, 1998 for Freespace Watch FreeSpace is the first game that captured my imagination enough ...

==FRED and the Battle of Endor Syndrome==
The Infection Plagues Us All
by: Old Staff - August 05, 1998 for Freespace Watch

FreeSpace is the first game that captured my imagination enough to design a level. I had toyed with many level editors before: Age of Empires, Battlezone, Command & Conquer, Duke Nukem, Lords of the Realm 2, Quake, and Starcraft to name just a few. You'll never see any of my levels for those games, mostly because I closed or crashed out of the level editor in frustration. My idea was usually so simple, but didn't translate into the game or couldn't be done or didn't feel right.

The FreeSpace Editor (FRED) changed all that. FRED is easy to use and the menus/checkboxes are intuitive. Numerous options exist for the properties of each object. The events functions are extremely powerful and somewhat familiar to anyone with a basic understanding of logic or programming. The briefings and objectives provide flexibility to put those dreams into effect. And, early on, I discovered Peter Drake's FRED FAQ and the FreeSpace Developer's List (FDL).

For all of the kudos that FRED deserves, FRED alone cannot explain why so many have flocked to FreeSpace mission design. It could be that people want to see for themselves just how much bigger those massive capital ships are compared to your little fighter. Perhaps 3D design is just plain easier when you don't have a small series of tile sets to work with and you don't have to worry about tunnels, walls, ceilings and the like. Maybe it is somehow easier to visualize a space conflict because of the tremendous influence of Star Wars during my formative years. Or possibly a number of other reasons all running around in the back my head.

After giving it some thought, I think the answer is Star Wars. Everyone remembers the Battle of Endor sequence at the end of the movie "Return of the Jedi." If you don't remember it, then you really need to visit your local movie rental center and probably have something better to do than read this editorial (like watch the movie!). It also seems to be the first thing racing through everyone's mind as they open up FRED...since most author's first missions released have been one version or another of that epic battle.

The result is what I have taken to calling the "Battle of Endor Syndrome" as I play through missions. Simply put, the "Battle of Endor Syndrome" is the temptation to recreate a massive space battle between the Terran, Vasudan and Shivan fleets. The more capital ships, the merrier. Fighter wings will respawn wave after wave. Something like a gunslinger battle of the old West, where each fleet will warp in 1,000 m away on a two-dimensional plane and then slowly begin marching towards each other.

The only problem is that FreeSpace wasn't meant for this type of epic space battle. At all. Those who own lower-end machines or must use software rendering mode know the reason: the mission will crash on their system. Even when the mission does run, it will rarely run at high frame rates. FRED is more powerful than the engine or your computer can support. Volition Inc. patched FRED to reduce some of the problems user-designed missions could create.

In addition, these designs usually suffer from a number of repeating design flaws:

* The capital ship AI tends to defend itself against the tiny fighters rather than pounding away at the big targets.
* The damage these capital ships seem to inflict on each other is minimal compared to the hurt that Alpha 1 can inflict in the same amount of time using a tiny fighter.
* The capital ships will sit hovering in space because the AI wasn't given any orders. Other times, ships will end up ramming each other and causing interesting fender-benders and space traffic jams because of flawed AI movement orders (such as move fleet ship 1, 2, 3....101 to waypoint 1).
* Either the fighters will die quickly to leave the capital ships hovering unprotected in space or the fighters will respawn wave after wave after endless wave.
* The mission is either too hard (capital ships kill Alpha 1 instantly) or too easy (Alpha 1 can destroy lots of capital ships).
* Few events, if any, exist to make the mission dynamic and interesting.
* Few missiles, if any, are available on the ship loadouts to arm the player.
* Often, bombers will be available but no missiles will be available to fill the bomb bays.

Volition Inc. never created any mission like the Battle of Endor. Why? For many reasons, surely. One Volition employee (Jason Hoffoss) commented on FDL that the key to successful mission design was "Zen and the Art of FreeSpace Design." I agree with this statement, and at least one person has predicted that I plan to author a book by that same name (to which I have to say "no comment", on the grounds that I might incriminate myself before others who suspect me of harboring secret Buddhist tendencies).

It seems that everyone's first impulse upon opening up FRED is to fill all that beautiful empty space, without realizing that space is supposed to be empty. That's what space is...vaccum and nothingness. Maybe a few particles here and there, but basically just space.

Why ruin the beauty of such empty space in the rush to create a mission? Few missions suffering from Battle of Endor Syndrome are any good. At best, these missions have a plethora of targets. At worst, the player has little influence on the battle.

Stay away from these Battle of Endor missions like the plague. Perhaps, after everyone gets this irresistable impulse out of their system, the FreeSpace mission design community will regain its sanity. Then we can all enjoy the good work.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

The Problem With User-Created Levels

2007-09-27T17:45:58Z

Turey: New page: ==The Problem With User-Created Levels== by: Old Staff - June 14, 1998 for Freespace Watch It seems like everyday more user-created FreeSpace levels come out. I have yet to see a level th...

==The Problem With User-Created Levels==
by: Old Staff - June 14, 1998 for Freespace Watch

It seems like everyday more user-created FreeSpace levels come out. I have yet to see a level that is up to the standards of Volition, Inc.

Let's reflect back onto the days of Doom II. Computing and the Internet were in their infancy at that point, so there was less of an immediate demand to create levels. A few weeks after Doom II came out, level editors started appearing. These editors were cumbersome, difficult to use, and creating levels required massive time to complete. Even the simplest level took days to prepare. The first user-levels were pathetic. But as time evolved, the levels got much better - some developers even created levels that surpassed those in Doom2.wad itself. It seems that, over time, the levels become better and better.

Now let's look at FreeSpace for a moment. Currently, there are FOUR completed missions in wide distribution. Quite honestly, none of these levels are excellent - but they are getting better. Please note that all criticism herein is constructive and is not to discourage level editing, but this is here to show us what we can accomplish if we do well and evolve at level editing, which we no doubt will.

The first two missions I received were in a pack, and they were named FIRST and BOMBER, respectively. The instant I loaded First, I knew it was going to be bad. The mission name was "untitled.fsm" and, in the briefing, I saw and that was it. So I started playing, and then a ship warped out and it said "Primary Objective failed." Screw this, I thought to myself. Well, I loaded Bomber, and was equally disappointed.

A few days later, I received a new level - called "At all costs." It was a good concept, but bad balance. So many ships come at you that you really don't stand a chance on Medium - which is where your level should be barely beatable at. If you can beat the campaign on Medium, you should be able to beat your mission on Medium. If you can beat the campaign on Easy, then you should be able to beat your mission on easy, and so on. This is a prime problem now - because Mutliplayer isn't widely used, we don't know how good we are in relation to the "average" player. We can only make assumptions. I figure once PXO and Volition work out the bugs, level balance will soar.

Within the last hour, I reviewed "My Encounter with the Dragons". This scenario, probably the best I have played, is well-planned. The only major complaint I have is that he gives you Apollo-class wingmen with MX-50s in a battle where you have all weapons. After reoutitting the ships, I played it. I managed to beat it on EASY, but on medium I cannot beat it. This is a bit more balanced than the previous scenarios, although less than spectacular. A smaller tidbit that bugs me is the use of "hyper space" instead of "subspace" and lack of correct grammar in briefing. This is one of my pet peeves - if you are going to spend hours developing it, at least make sure it looks professional. There are two wings of ships thrown at you right off the bat, and you typically lose one wingman. The asteroids are a nice touch, although they are a bit dense. I think the option of calling in a wing of reinforcements would have been cool, but this scenario really marks the point that we should create levels at.

However, there are not enough standards with which to create levels with. As stated, there is no benchmark of skill just yet - but we are getting there. Also, we, as a community, haven't set standards for what should be in a level, what should be bundled with it, and so on. Imagine having to program software without an API - that is what creating Descent levels is at now. As a rough outline, I propose the following Development Standards with which to create future levels:

* First and foremost, we must create a documentation standard. With the levels I have received, they have been the level and nothing more. From now on, we should bundle a text file with such information as the author, date of creation, approximate difficulty, and amount of time it will take to complete, and Zip it up.
* There must be a certain standard on the quality of the briefing. The briefing should provide enough information on the mission, then state your objectives. Correct grammar and spelling should be used, as well as correct icons and terms relating to the game.
* Each level should follow a difficulty standard. Once we can define "average" we can develop this, but not before. It is my hope that this article will help the FreeSpace community develop better levels, which benefits all of us.

I have learned, though experiences with past games, that there must be a huge support from players, or else the game will be shelved in weeks. Many great games have fallen because of lack of players - one that comes to mind is Sid Meier's Gettysburg! The game is great in concept, but lack of a good multiplayer network (Mplayer sucks) destroyed the game. I hope FreeSpace will not suffer that fate. It is a great game, but we as players must assist Volition in keeping the game alive. We must create levels as good as Volition did. We must have a main site that has everything. So far, that does not exist. There is not a dominant FreeSpace web site. There are about seven sites that draw most of the traffic. To better the game, we must have a site that all players can go to and be assured that it is up-to-date with all information. This holds true for games like Quake II and Age of Empires, where two or three sites can influence more people than all the other sites combined. Descent FreeSpace is still in its infancy. The next months will shape the game, and determine whether it is another Sid Meier's Gettysburg! or another Quake II.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

The Major Problem - LAG!

2007-09-27T17:42:34Z

Turey: New page: ==The Major Problem - LAG!== by: Old Staff - June 10, 1998 for Freespace Watch After playing FreeSpace for almost a week, I have made a few conclusions. The first of these is that this ga...

==The Major Problem - LAG!==
by: Old Staff - June 10, 1998 for Freespace Watch

After playing FreeSpace for almost a week, I have made a few conclusions. The first of these is that this game rocks beyond anything before, ever, as a space-sim game. Second, the only major problem is lag. Lag, both in the game and on the Parallax Online server, is ridiculous.

This game will not get high reviews if multiplayer is unplayable. It seems to me that, to get Internet play going, all players would need at least a 333 MHz PII and a 128K ISDN line - at least. Yet the game is supPXOsed to run on a "recommended" P200 with 48 MB RAM and 56k modem.

So what's up with this? Well, lets start with the lag in Parallax Online (hereinafter "PXO"). That lag is pretty bad, but livable. Characters lag as they type, and it takes FOREVER go to between screens. Not a very good design on their part. That, and the fact its within the game itself will limit the amount of people that use it. And when few people show up, fewer come back, and it will die quickly.

There are several solutions to this problem. The most obvious - and what they should have done - is made PXO play within a web browser. It would be faster, and people without the game could see how people talk about it. When players launch a game, it would launch FreeSpace directly to the briefing room. This is how the Internet Gaming Zone works. Of the free multiplayer services over the Net, the Zone is as good as they come. Its relatively crash free, fast, free....what more could you want? If PXO were to be redone to that standard, it would be much more friendly and would become far more PXOpular. Yet another solution - but not the ideal one - would be to make PXO a standalone program, somewhat like Mplayer. But I have used MPlayer and am less-than-thrilled with it. However, it is still better than PXO.

So why don't they do this, you ask? First of all, it would require a SUBSTANTIAL patch by Volition to get FreeSpace accessible through a Java or ActiveX command. This would take months to do, being that it would need to be extensively tested. But the far more imPXOrtant dilemma is that this would be expensive to do. Hey, Webmasters aren't cheap - especially those who are as knowledgeable to create a site like the Zone. This would require testing, and again would take months. In the short term, THERE IS NO SOLUTION TO GET THE LAG OFF PARALLAX ONLINE. Even if there was, it would still take a month to get it programmed and tested, and in a month FreeSpace would have died to bad reviews.

Yet the far more imPXOrtant problem is lag within FreeSpace itself. Where as the lag on PXO is livable, the lag within the game is not. In a game like FreeSpace, you must have pings <300 ms or your shots would miss. 1/3 of a second, when ammo fires at 900 m/s, is substantial enough to throw even the most seasoned veterans off target. So what solutions do we have for this? The answer is not very simple. Obviously, Volition did not test this well, and they will get hurt for it. Perhaps it would be easier to write an algorithm for weaPXOn shots that gets solved on each computer, so the coordinates of the cannon fire (or missile) will not have to be sent over the network. Unfortunately, this will not work for ships, so there is not a coordinate-algorithm work-around because people change their flight path all the time. it might help to remove the "object update" option altogether and have it set to LOW, so someone on a 28.8 won't take the default of HIGH. Again, there is no short workaround. I know Volition is working on one, but it will be a while before we see it.

In the short term for players, you might as well take advantage of great AI and build a lot of missions and play single-player, because right now, FreeSpace is a single-player only game.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

Freespace Full Version - Initial Thoughts

2007-09-27T17:40:33Z

Turey: New page: ==Freespace Full Version - Initial Thoughts== by: Old Staff - June 06, 1998 for Freespace Watch Last night, coming home from work, I stopped at CompUSA to pick up Freespace - at $55, it w...

==Freespace Full Version - Initial Thoughts==
by: Old Staff - June 06, 1998 for Freespace Watch

Last night, coming home from work, I stopped at CompUSA to pick up Freespace - at $55, it was a bit pricey, but I thought it was worth it. I come home, and after installing 440 MB onto the hard drive, I was ready to go. I shut down all programs and began to play. The first thing I saw was a beautifully rendered movie, one unlike I have ever seen before. Although there were some defects, for being rendered in 3D, it was quite amazing. I go on and create a pilot and begin playing. As I play the first mission (I skipped the training) I noticed a bit of frame rate loss on my Millennium II. Because that particular card sucks at 3D and I have to run it unaccelerated, I can see it. After a few minutes it runs quite smoothly, though. I breeze past the first 5 missions without problem. The graphics are amazing. Even on MEDIUM quality, its like nothing I have seen before. I play on and unravel an interesting storyline. Although at first it seems dull, it gets quite interesting when you acquire Shivan technology.

I play on, and fly several ships. The Apollo, the Valkyrie, the Hercules...and many more. They each seem to be balanced though. However, I think the Hercules is the best fighter I have seen. The Ulysses is fast, but not very strong, so I don't particularly care for it. Each mission is difficult but balanced, great design on Volition's part. Every few missions, brilliant movies appear. You even need to switch to the 2nd CD after a few missions. I let Alan (Heavenz Fire) play a few missions, as he came over that night. We both find it hard to play - its really difficult above EASY. We play for what seemed like four hours, and went to sleep soon after.

Today I sign up for Parallax Online (under 'Elemental'), and give multiplayer a kick. After getting through some traps, I finally get on. I see..what, 4 people? Not like AOE was on the Zone. But I decide to join a game. After failing to even start two games, I finally get one going. Its a 4v4 (2 humans on each side) battle to defend a Cruiser and take out the other fighters. I outfit my ship with 15 Interceptors, 40 Hornets, an Avenger cannon, and a Disruptor. I fly the Hercules, as I think its the best fighter. After waiting about five minutes for everyone to be briefed and ready, we play. I press the joystick trigger - nothing happens. I think to myself, "Damn piece of shit...." Five seconds later, I see ammo fly out. Strange. I see an enemy ship that I want to destroy. I come up behind it - with a lock - and let a pair of Interceptors fly...or at least I thought I did. A few seconds later, the ship is way high, and the missiles fly. "Damn lag," I think to myself. It only gets worse, though. The multiplayer execution - even with the 1.01 patch - is horrible at best. I have a goddamn 45k connection, set object update to low, and still can't play it. Obviously, this is a major problem. So, below, I provide the basic initial comments on the game.

===Pros===

Great graphics, truly great gameplay. The movies are wonderful, and even unaccelerated, it runs at 20 FPS. Not bad. The variety is awesome, the ships are beautiful, the game is balanced, and overall it is a well thought out game. Kudos to Volition.

===Cons===

Multiplayer execution leaves much to be desired - a slow service (Parallax Online) and lag is destroying this game. The game is quite slow, it takes 20 seconds to advance between screens at times (on a P55C 233 MMX with 64 MB RAM).

[[Category:VW Articles]]

The Differences Between Freespace and Other Descent Games

2007-09-27T17:39:12Z

Turey: New page: ==The Differences Between Freespace and Other Descent Games== by: Old Staff - June 03, 1998 for Freespace Watch In the past, the gaming industry has been advanced by a few titles. Every n...

==The Differences Between Freespace and Other Descent Games==
by: Old Staff - June 03, 1998 for Freespace Watch

In the past, the gaming industry has been advanced by a few titles. Every now and then, a company will come out with a smash hit that redefines that genre of gaming. In the early 90's, Wolfenstein and later Doom redefined the first person shooter genre. This past year, we have had Quake II and Half-life do the same. Microsoft Flight Simulator advanced the flight simulation genre to new heights. Real-time strategy games were advanced starting with Warcraft II, and later such games as Age of Empires, Starcraft, and Total Annihilation. RPG's have not had such a jump yet, unfortunately.

Well, space combat sims were never very great games. They were unrealistic, boring, slow, and unfair. Very few space combat games were smash hits. The genre is lacking greatly, and the past titles have not done this genre justice. This is all going to change in a few weeks, when FreeSpace rocks the world.

The past Descent games, although they drew a following, were never as popular as Quake or Doom. This is for several reasons. Aong these is the fact that the games was treated as a flight sim game where it shouldn't have been - you fly solo, into dangerous territories, using Earth's physics as a model. In some respects, it wasn't treated like a flight sim where it shouldn't have been. I cannot think of a flight sim game out there that has primary weapons more powerful than secondary weapons. Flight sim games have long been rendered in full 3D, with kickass multiplayer support. This was not true for space simulations.

And even more reaons exist that made space sims stay low: the whole concept of redefining physics by being able to go side-to-side, and backward. Somehow, the designers think that because you are in space, you can do whatever you want. True, the AV-8 Harrier takes off vertically and flies backward, but that is akward at best and the small engines can barely carry the plane with even a half payload. Also what strikes me as odd is that in space sims, designers think one ship can do everything, where as in flight sims, you get to fly planes on an as-needed basis.

The space sim industry does not have an id Software, or Blizzard, or any real big companies constantly advancing it. This was all true before FreeSpace hit the market. Gone are the days of unfair battles, unrealistic physics, and stupid assumptions on how space combat will work. FreeSpace takes what we know of Earth battles and puts it into a space seting. Although we don't have 2 KM ships on Earth, in space they are feasable - you only need to accelerate it once and stop it once, because inertia will propel it in between. No way in hell can gravity (from a distance, of course) slow down a ship of that mass and speed. On Earth, we have ships designed for specific tasks, whether it be dogfighting, bombing, or carrying supplies. In FreeSpace, we have the exact same model which nearly identical roles, only bomber targets are in space. The FreeSpace model is also not totally linear (i.e if you fail to destroy a secondary target, it may come back to haunt you).

And of course we can go into the technical aspects of the game. Voodoo2, Glide, Aureal 3D sound positioning...we have never had a space sim like this before. It is quite possible FreeSpace may be the Quake II of space sims. Only time will truly tell, but Volition has developed one great game here, hopefully they play their cards right and make it work.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

Why Patch a Demo While Delaying the Full Version?

2007-09-27T17:38:06Z

Turey: New page: ==While Patch a Demo While Delaying the Full Version?== by: Old Staff - June 02, 1998 for Freespace Watch This was one of the few moves by Volition, Inc., that puzzled me. Why are you pat...

==While Patch a Demo While Delaying the Full Version?==
by: Old Staff - June 02, 1998 for Freespace Watch

This was one of the few moves by Volition, Inc., that puzzled me. Why are you patching a demo version, while delaying the full version? This was, I believe, a marketing mistake by Volition. True, it may have helped us perceive the full version as a more bug-free version, but that goes without saying. I cannot help but think that MAYBE we would all have our FreeSpace copies by now, instead of playing the demo for the thousandth time. I mean, I am not criticizing Volition on a serious level, but I think the primary goal should have been to release the game on time, instead of patching the demo - not once, but twice. All that development time could have been dedicated to making the full version better (no doubt we will find errors and bugs in it), or writing a better manual. I just don't see how good releasing patches to fix minor glitches is. I would have preferred to have my copy the day after E3, too bad it didn't work out like that :). I hope we see smarter marketing moves by Volition in the future.

Don't get me wrong on this - I love the idea of a company that patches demos. But I think it would have been smarter to get the full version done first, THEN patch the demo. It just....well, I am a bit upset I am having to wait so long to get my copy of FreeSpace. I have loved the demo, and will probably love the full version. I just wish I had it sooner.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

Freespace 2 Sales Numbers

2007-09-27T17:31:38Z

Turey:

==Freespace 2 Sales Numbers==
by: Orange - April 14, 2000 for Freespace Watch

===Explanation===

Back on Sunday, March 12, 2000, I wrote this in a news post titled "Freespace 2 Sales Numbers". It explains about the lack of sales and some things that I believe Interplay could definitely improve upon. I figured this would be helpful someday, so I released this along with Chucker's editorial.

===Here Goes...===

I was looking through my latest issue of PC Gamer and I noticed that they had the sales numbers from all of the games that won editors choice in 1999. Now here is some data that I gathered: Freespace 2 has sold 26,983 copies earning Volition and Interplay $1,349,150 (box price estimated at $50), Descent 3 did about double that with 52,294 making Outrage and Interplay about $2,614,700 (also at a $50 estimated box price). I think these sales numbers could have been much better for FS2 if Interplay would have actually marketed the game which they OBVIOUSLY didn't.

Now here's the thing that bugs me the most, games that were marketed very well, but aren't that good. Two games that I own myself (due to free copies, trust me, I wouldn't buy them myself) are: Who Wants to be a Millionare and C&C2: Tiberian Sun! Both those games were marketed awesome, but were really poor games. I mean, C&C2 was nothing new from Red Alert and Who Wants to be a Millionare could not have had anything over 100 questions in the game. I remember playing through it three times and on the fourth game I had the same loop of questions again.

Now, I would like to put in comparison of what Freespace 2 could have done with satisfactory marketing and hype. I am going to compare it to Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. In PC Gamer the game was reviewed in the same month as FS2 was, beating FS2 by 1% (FS2 got a 93%, Age got 94%). If you take Age of Kings' sales numbers (469,376 copies sold, earning: $23,468,800) and account that 1% of game differential in there, FS2 could have earned about $23,234,112. Yeah.. that's what I thought too. I mean, look at those numbers.. it's a twenty two million dollar price differential due to bad marketing. All I have to say now is: thanks for your time.

[[Category:VW Articles]]

Freespace 2 Sales Numbers

2007-09-27T17:31:02Z

Turey: New page: ==Freespace 2 Sales Numbers== by: Orange - April 14, 2000 for Freespace Watch ===Explanation=== Back on Sunday, March 12, 2000, I wrote this in a news post titled "Freespace 2 Sales Numb...

Creating New Sexpressions in the FS2 Source Code

2007-09-27T17:23:22Z

Turey:

==Creating New Sexpressions in the FS2 Source Code==
As told to Dynamo by Dave Baranec
by: Dynamo - May 03, 2002 for Freespace Watch

DaveB passed me this little article on how to write in your own sexps using the FS2 Source Code. I'm sure you'll all find it quite useful. -Dynamo

The sexpression system in FS2 is the heart and soul of the game. All mission scripting hinges on this code. It is a Lisp-like interpreted pseudo-language. This doc is intended as a jumping point for programmers to create custom new sexpressions using the public source code.

A key point to remember is that both Fred2 and FS2 share the sexpression code. FS2 needs it to evalulate sexpressions when running a mission and Fred2 needs it to visually show mission designers what’s going to happen in the mission. As such, when adding or changing sexpressions you need to change code in both FS2 and Fred2.

The body of this doc contains the fine details of adding a new sexpression and there’s a section at the end giving a quick checklist of the steps.

===Code Changes===
The majority of the code that needs to be changed is in sexp.h and sexp.cpp in the code tree. Both FS2 and Fred2 reference this. Looking in sexp.h we see a bunch of #defines describing all the known sexpressions.

The first thing to note is the OPF_* defines. These define the types of arguments that may be passed to an sexpression. For example, when ordering a ship to fire a beam weapon at a turret on another ship, one of the arguments you can specify is a subsystem, represented by the OPF_SUBSYSTEM #define. The sexpression code uses these values to verify that sexpressions it is evaluating are legal, and Fred uses them in its interface code.

Evaluated sexpressions can return values. The next set of #defines we see are the OPR_* return types. OPR_NUMBER, OPR_BOOL, OPR_POSITIVE, etc. For example, the “and” sexpression (OP_AND) returns a boolean yes/no answer of type OPR_BOOL. More on OPR_* stuff later.

The next set of #defines are the categories. Sadly, the word “catagory” (misspelled!) is used and managed to become a permanent fixture of the code. In any case, the OP_CATAGORY_* defines are used by Fred to break down sexpressions into manageable categories for ease of use by mission designers. It is useful to note the OP_CATAGORY_CHANGE category. This is used for sexpressions that cause things to happen in a mission, as opposed to being parts of larger sexpressions (like OP_AND). Most custom sexpressions fall into this category.

After this we come to the sexpression #defines themselves. The sexpression is the bitwise OR of an (8 bit) identifier supplied by the programmer, an OP_CATAGORY_* and one or more of the optional sexpression flags (located just above the OP_CATAGORY_* #defines). Its important to note that the low 8 bits of the 2 byte sexpression value is used as a unique identifier within a given category. When combined with an OP_CATAGORY_* (bits 8-11) you get a completely unique sexpression value. So, with any given category there are a maximum of 256 (0x0 – 0xff) different sexpressions.

'''Step 1 is to create a new #define for our sexpression. When adding a new sexpression be absolutely sure to assign it into its proper OP_CATAGORY_ and give it its own unique identifier within the category.''' You’ll note that all sexpressions are organized by category – to preserve programmer sanity you should always try to maintain this organization when adding your new sexpression.

'''Step 2.''' Now that we’ve created our custom #define for our new sexpression, we need to add some more code in sexp.cpp.

Near the top of sexp.cpp there’s an array defined as

sexp_oper Operators[]

In here you need to add some info for your newly created sexpression. Add an entry and fill in the text string that will represent the sexpression in the editor (e.g “has-docked”), fill in the value of the sexpression created in the previous section (e.g. OP_HAS_DOCKED), and fill in the minimum and maximum number of arguments. For example, has-docked takes a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 3 arguments (i.e., it takes exactly three arguments). There is a special value INT_MAX which can be used in the maximum arguments field when you want to indicated an arbitrary number of arguments. You do not need to have your sexpression entry appear here in the same order as your #define does, but it doesn’t hurt to try and preserve some semblance of order.

'''The next step''' is to add evaluation code for your sexpression inside of the eval_sexp() function. Inside of this function you’ll see a big switch statement with a case: statement for every sexpression. Add a case: statement for your own sexpression and handle your sexpression as appropriate. For example, if you were creating an sexpression “walk-the-plank”, you might write a function called sexp_walk_the_plank() and you would call it from the case statement. By general convention, sexp evaluation functions are typically located in sexp.cpp.

Its important to understand the recursive nature of the sexpression system. If you are creating an sexpression “has-player-eaten-his-sandwich” chances are someone is going to use the return value of this sexpression. So your sexp_player_has_eaten_his_sandwich() function needs to return a value appropriate value based on its OPR_* define. By general convention, 1 is returned as “yes” and 0 is returned as “no”. However some sexpressions return numeric values, such as OP_SHIELDS_LEFT, and some return no value at all such as OP_SUPERNOVA_START (in this no-return-value case the appropriate value to return is 1). So, you need to make sure you return yes/no from your sexpression evaluation function so that the mission designer’s:

if player-has-eaten-his-sandwich
self-destruct alpha1

evaluates correctly. I don’t want to go into too much more detail here as they should be fairly obvious when looking through the already-existing sexpressions for examples.

'''The next step''' is to fill in code for our sexpression inside of query_operator_return_type(). This is where the OPR_* defines come in. This function is a simple switch statement. Stick a case: statement in for your sexpression in the appropriate place to define its return type.

'''The next step''' is to fill in code for our sexpression inside of query_operator_argument_type(). This is similar to the sexpression return type but is used to define the types of the incoming arguments to the sexpression itself. Again we’re dealing with a switch statement. Put in a case: statement for your sexpression and be sure to return the proper type of each argument the sexpression takes, based on argnum (zero based index).

So for example, the OP_AND sexpression takes two arguments A and B and returns the logical AND of the two. So, the type of argument for both argnum 0 and 1 is OPF_BOOL. On the other hand, the sexpression OP_IS_DISARMED_DELAY takes two different argument types. Argument 0 is positive number, and argument 1 is a ship. If you look at the case statement for OP_IS_DISARMED_DELAY you’ll see how this is handle appropriately.

The final step is to add help text for the sexpression in Fred. Inside the file sexp_tree.cpp (in the Fred2 subproject) you’ll see a big array

sexp_help_struct Sexp_help[];

Add an entry for your own sexpression here. It’s a pretty straightforward step.

Now, your new sexpression is ready to go! Fire up Fred2 and give it a shot. If you create any missions using this custom sexpression, anyone who wants to use your sexpression needs to be running an executable based on your code. Same thing goes for Fred2 for anyone who wants to edit your mission.

===New Sexpression Checklist===
* Add a properly constructed #define for your new sexpression to sexp.h
* Add a properly constructed entry to the Operators[] array in sexp.cpp
* Write your code to handle the sexpression and hook it properly into eval_sexp()
* Fill in the appropriate code in query_operator_return_type()
* Fill in the appropriate code in query_operator_argument_type()
* Fill in a help text entry in sexp_tree.cpp
* Test your code, sucka!

[[Category:VW Articles]]

Creating New Sexpressions in the FS2 Source Code

2007-09-27T17:22:58Z

Turey: New page: ==Creating New Sexpressions in the FS2 Source Code== As told to Dynamo by Dave Baranec by: Dynamo - May 03, 2002 for Freespace Watch DaveB passed me this little article on how to write in...

SCP Additions

2007-09-27T07:27:55Z

Turey: /* HEAD Branch (CVS) - Experimental features */

==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 ==
{{Warning|Please follow these 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 one, 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] or [[:{{NAMESPACE}} talk:{{PAGENAME}}|discuss it]].}}

# '''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 to be more descriptive, create a link(s) 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, '''update the lists and dates'''.
# '''Be tidy in the place and date you post'''. The lists, both HEAD and stable, should always be kept sorted in descending order by date(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 the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601#Dates ISO-8601 date format]. So January 27th in 2007 should be 2007-01-27.
# 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===
* '''2007-09-27'''
**'''Disable Primary Linking'''
***''Description:'' If a ship with the "no primary linking" flag cycles through primaries, it won't link them. This flag can be set both in ships.tbl for every ship of a class, or on a per-ship basis via SEXPs.
***''Category:'' Mission features.
***''See:''
***''Usage Tips:''

* '''2007-08-01'''
**'''GUI Mouse Speed'''
***''Description:'' Scales the mouse speed on the menu up correctly as the resolution goes up.
***''Category:'' Game Interface.
***''See:''
***''Usage Tips:''

* '''2007-07-13'''
**'''Training Weapons and Simulated Hull'''
***''Description:'' If a weapon with the "training" flag hits a ship, it doesn't do any real or cosmetic damage, but instead hits an invisible Simulated Hull. FREDers can interact with the Simulated Hull through the same SEXPs as they use with the Hull.
***''Category:'' Mission features.
***''See:''
***''Usage Tips:''

* '''2007-07-11'''
**'''Ship Templates'''
***''Description:'' Ship Templates allow a Modder to shorten (sometimes significantly) their ships.tbl by defining templates that hold attributes common to multiple ships.
***''Category:'' Tables and modding.
***''See:'' [[Ship Templates]]
***''Usage Tips:''You can have ship templates use other ship templates, if needed.
**'''Additive Weapon Velocity'''
***''Description:'' If set, weapons will inherit their firing ship's velocity. A ship traveling quickly will fire weapons faster than a ship traveling slowly.
***''Category:'' Tables and modding.
***''See:'' [[Ai_profiles.tbl#.24use_additive_weapon_velocity:|ai_profiles.tbl]]
***''Usage Tips:''

===Stable Branch===

====CVS====
* '''YYYY-MM-DD'''. Unknown date:
**'''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:'' Tables and modding, Mission features.
***''See:'' [[autopilot.tbl]]
***''Usage Tips:'' Make sure to set the mission flag to use cinematics
**'''Voice Acting Manager'''
***''Description:'' A very handy FRED utility which creates a systematic list of voice file names and links them to all the messages present in a mission (Command Briefing, Briefing, Debriefing and in game Messages). It also allows to create a log which contains all those messages and their assigned audio file names, (it's actually a true actor script ;) ).
***''Category:'' FRED Interface
***''See:'' [[FS2_Data_Structure#voice]] tells you where to put each kind of voice file.
***''Usage Tips:''

====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'' ai_profiles.tbl table'''
***''Description:'' This table allows modifying some aspects of the FS2 AI behaviour (ie. how non-player ships behave during the game).
***''Category:'' Tables and modding.
***''See:'' [[ai_profiles.tbl]], [[Tables#Hardcoded_table_files]]
***''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:''
**'''Background Skybox model'''
***''Description:'' A 3D model (*.pof) can be used as a background model. I allows adding much more background details or stars to the mission sky. It works in a similar way as retail background models for subspace missions (subspace_small.pof and subspace_big.pof).
***''Category:'' Mission Features, Graphics.
***''See:'' [[Skybox]], FRED Background Editor.
***''Usage Tips:'' You can see their effect comparing retail FS2 campaign background with Mediavps tweaked FS2 campaign.
**'''Multiple docking points'''
***''Description:'' Ships are allowed to have several other docked ships. In retail only one docking point per ship could be used at the same time.
***''Category:'' Mission features.
***''See:'' FRED Ship Editor > Initial Status
***''Usage Tips:''
**'''Texture Replacement'''
***''Description:'' Any of the default textures of a model can be replaced by any other.
***''Category:'' Mission features.
***''See:'' [[Texture_Replacement]], FRED Ships Editor
***''Usage Tips:'' Apart from freak artist uses, (ie. an Orion with a Vasudan skin), its main usage is changing the "invisible" ship nameplate by that particular ship nameplate.
**'''Persistent Variables'''
***''Description:'' Variables can maintain their values through missions or even campaigns. This allows to pass information from one mission to other (destroyed ships, ship status, etc.)
***''Category:'' Mission features.
***''See:'' [[Persistent_Variables]], FRED Events Editor
***''Usage Tips:''

SCP Additions

2007-08-01T13:12:15Z

Turey:

==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 ==
{{Warning|Please follow these 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 one, 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] or [[:{{NAMESPACE}} talk:{{PAGENAME}}|discuss it]].}}

# '''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 to be more descriptive, create a link(s) 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, '''update the lists and dates'''.
# '''Be tidy in the place and date you post'''. The lists, both HEAD and stable, should always be kept sorted in descending order by date(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 the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601#Dates ISO-8601 date format]. So January 27th in 2007 should be 2007-01-27.
# 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===
* '''2007-08-01'''
**'''GUI Mouse Speed'''
***''Description:'' Scales the mouse speed on the menu up correctly as the resolution goes up.
***''Category:'' Game Interface.
***''See:''
***''Usage Tips:''

* '''2007-07-13'''
**'''Training Weapons and Simulated Hull'''
***''Description:'' If a weapon with the "training" flag hits a ship, it doesn't do any real or cosmetic damage, but instead hits an invisible Simulated Hull. FREDers can interact with the Simulated Hull through the same SEXPs as they use with the Hull.
***''Category:'' Mission features.
***''See:''
***''Usage Tips:''

* '''2007-07-11'''
**'''Ship Templates'''
***''Description:'' Ship Templates allow a Modder to shorten (sometimes significantly) their ships.tbl by defining templates that hold attributes common to multiple ships.
***''Category:'' Tables and modding.
***''See:'' [[Ship Templates]]
***''Usage Tips:''You can have ship templates use other ship templates, if needed.
**'''Additive Weapon Velocity'''
***''Description:'' If set, weapons will inherit their firing ship's velocity. A ship traveling quickly will fire weapons faster than a ship traveling slowly.
***''Category:'' Tables and modding.
***''See:'' [[Ai_profiles.tbl#.24use_additive_weapon_velocity:|ai_profiles.tbl]]
***''Usage Tips:''

===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:'' Tables and modding, Mission features.
***''See:'' [[autopilot.tbl]]
***''Usage Tips:'' Make sure to set the mission flag to use cinematics

SCP Additions

2007-08-01T13:11:26Z

Turey: Added GUI Mouse Speed

==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 ==
{{Warning|Please follow these 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 one, 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] or [[:{{NAMESPACE}} talk:{{PAGENAME}}|discuss it]].}}

# '''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 to be more descriptive, create a link(s) 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, '''update the lists and dates'''.
# '''Be tidy in the place and date you post'''. The lists, both HEAD and stable, should always be kept sorted in descending order by date(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 the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601#Dates ISO-8601 date format]. So January 27th in 2007 should be 2007-01-27.
# 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===
* '''2007-08-01'''
**'''GUI Mouse Speed'''
***''Description:'' Scales the mouse speed on the menu up correctly as the resolution goes up.
***''Category:'' Game Interface.
***''See:''
***''Usage Tips:''

* '''2007-07-13'''
**'''Training Weapons and Simulated Hull'''
***''Description:'' If a weapon with the "training" flag hits a ship, it doesn't do any real or cosmetic damage, but instead hits an invisible Simulated Hull. FREDers can interact with the Simulated Hull through the same SEXPs as they use with the Hull.
***''Category:'' Mission features.
***''See:''
***''Usage Tips:''

* '''2007-07-11'''
**'''Ship Templates'''
***''Description:'' Ship Templates allow a Modder to shorten (sometimes significantly) their ships.tbl by defining templates that hold attributes common to multiple ships.
***''Category:'' Tables and modding.
***''See:'' [[Ship Templates]]
***''Usage Tips:''You can have ship templates use other ship templates, if needed.
**'''Additive Weapon Velocity'''
***''Description:'' If set, weapons will inherit their firing ship's velocity. A ship traveling quickly will fire weapons faster than a ship traveling slowly.
***''Category:'' Tables and modding.
***''See:'' [[Ai_profiles.tbl#.24use_additive_weapon_velocity:|ai_profiles.tbl]]
***''Usage Tips:''

===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:'' Tables and modding, Mission features.
***''See:'' [[autopilot.tbl]]
***''Usage Tips:'' Make sure to set the mission flag to use cinematics

SCP Additions

2007-07-25T17:16:23Z

Turey: /* HEAD Branch (CVS) - Experimental features */ Added some recent features

==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===
* '''2007-07-13'''
**'''Training Weapons and Simulated Hull'''
***''Description:'' If a weapon with the "training" flag hits a ship, it doesn't do any real or cosmetic damage, but instead hits an invisible Simulated Hull. FREDers can interact with the Simulated Hull through the same SEXPs as they use with the Hull.
***''Category:'' Mission features.
***''See:''
***''Usage Tips:''

* '''2007-07-11'''
**'''Ship Templates'''
***''Description:'' Ship Templates allow a Modder to shorten (sometimes significantly) their ships.tbl by defining templates that hold attributes common to multiple ships.
***''Category:'' Tables and modding.
***''See:'' [[Ship Templates]]
***''Usage Tips:''You can have ship templates use other ship templates, if needed.

**'''Additive Weapon Velocity'''
***''Description:'' If set, weapons will inherit their firing ship's velocity. A ship traveling quickly will fire weapons faster than a ship traveling slowly.
***''Category:'' Tables and modding.
***''See:'' [[Ai_profiles.tbl#.24use_additive_weapon_velocity:|ai_profiles.tbl]]
***''Usage Tips:''

===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

Ship Templates

2007-07-25T16:58:14Z

Turey: New page: This really needs to go in the Ships.tbl/CVS_version page, but that page is a mess right now. #Default Player Ship $Name: GTF Ulysses #End #Engine Wash Info ... #End #Ship ...

This really needs to go in the [[Ships.tbl/CVS_version]] page, but that page is a mess right now.

#Default Player Ship
$Name: GTF Ulysses
#End

#Engine Wash Info
...
#End

#Ship Templates
$Template: GTB Artemis Template
$Short name: Bomber2T-03
$Species: Terran
+Type: XSTR("Medium Bomber", 2999)
+Maneuverability: XSTR("Poor", 3000)
+Armor: XSTR("Medium", 3001)
+Manufacturer: XSTR("Han-Ronald Corp.", 3002)
+Description: XSTR(" ", 3003)
$end_multi_text
+Tech Description:
XSTR("The GTB Artemis is the most agile bomber in the GTVA fleet, which makes it ideal for quick-hitting missions against warships and other slow targets. Of the same technological generation as the Boanerges class, the Artemis is less heavily armed and carries a lighter weapon payload, but it is significantly more maneuverable. While the Boanerges can inflict more damage, the Artemis can undertake (and return from) missions the slower Boanerges would have no hope of surviving. All Artemis-class bombers in the GVTA fleet are currently serving with the 2nd and 3rd Battle Groups.", 3004)
$end_multi_text
+Length: 36 m
+Gun Mounts: 2
+Missile Banks: 3

$POF file: Bomber2T-03.pof
$Detail distance: (0, 100, 300, 1300)
$Show damage: YES
$Density: 1
$Damp: 0.35
$Rotdamp: 0.55
$Max Velocity: 0.0, 0.0, 65.0
$Rotation time: 5.0, 4.5, 5.0
$Rear Velocity: 0.0
$Forward accel: 4.0
$Forward decel: 2.0
$Slide accel: 0.0
$Slide decel: 0.0
$Expl inner rad: 50.0
$Expl outer rad: 100.0
$Expl damage: 25.0
$Expl blast: 2000.0
$Expl Propagates: NO ;; If set to Yes, then when the ship dies, the explosion propagates through it.
$Shockwave Speed: 0.0 ;; speed shockwave expands at, 0 means no shockwave
$Allowed PBanks: ( "Subach HL-7" "Prometheus S" "Prometheus R" "Lamprey" "Circe" "Maxim")
$Allowed Dogfight PBanks: ( "Subach HL-D" "Prometheus D" "Circe" "MorningStar D" "Lamprey" )
$Default PBanks: ( "Subach HL-7" )
$Allowed SBanks: ( "Rockeye" "Hornet" "Tornado" "Trebuchet" "Stiletto II" "Piranha" "Cyclops" "cyclops#short" "Hornet#Weak" "EMP Adv." "Infyrno" )
$Allowed Dogfight SBanks: ( "Rockeye D" "Hornet D" "Tornado" "Piranha" "Infyrno D" )
$Default SBanks: ( "Hornet" "Cyclops#short" "Cyclops#short" )
$SBank Capacity: ( 40, 60, 60 )
$Shields: 700
$Shield Color: 100 100 255
$Power Output: 4.0
$Max Oclk Speed: 65.0
$Max Weapon Eng: 100.0
$Hitpoints: 275
$Flags: ( "player_ship" "default_player_ship" "bomber")
$AI Class: Captain
$Afterburner: YES
+Aburn Max Vel: 0.0, 0.0, 110.0
+Aburn For accel: 0.7
+Aburn Fuel: 300.0
+Aburn Burn Rate: 50.0
+Aburn Rec Rate: 25.0
$Countermeasures: 35
$Scan time: 2000
$EngineSnd: 127 ;; Engine sound of ship
$Closeup_pos: 0.0, 0.0, -45
$Closeup_zoom: 0.5
$Shield_icon: shieldbt-03
$Ship_icon: iconbomber2t-03
$Ship_anim: ssbomber2t-03
$Ship_overhead: loadBomber2t-03
$Score: 10
$Trail:
+Offset: 6.6 -6.25 -5.3
+Start Width: 0.25
+End Width: 0.05
+Start Alpha: 1.0
+End Alpha: 0.0
+Max Life: 1.0
+Spew Time: 120
+Bitmap: Contrail01
$Trail:
+Offset: -6.6 -6.25 -5.3
+Start Width: 0.25
+End Width: 0.05
+Start Alpha: 1.0
+End Alpha: 0.0
+Max Life: 1.0
+Spew Time: 120
+Bitmap: Contrail01
#End

#Ship Classes

$Name: GTB Artemis
+Use Template: GTB Artemis Template
$Subsystem: communications, 10, 0.0
$Subsystem: navigation, 10, 0.0
$Subsystem: weapons, 20, 0.0
$Subsystem: sensors, 10, 0.0
$Subsystem: engine, 15, 0.0

$Name: GTB Artemis D.H.
+Use Template: GTB Artemis Template
+Type: XSTR("Medium Bomber", 3005)
+Maneuverability: XSTR("Average", 3006)
+Armor: XSTR("Medium", 3007)
+Manufacturer: XSTR("Han-Ronald Corp.", 3008)
+Description: XSTR(" ", 3009)
$end_multi_text
+Tech Description:
XSTR("The GTB Artemis D.H. is an experimental variant of the standard Artemis class. The most notable change is that the Artemis's factory-issued Han-Ronald engines have been replaced by the same Nankam NA-27f powerplant now found in the GTF Ares fightercraft. The D.H. variant is faster and more maneuverable than the standard Artemis bomber, at no cost to armor or armament. During the OpEval period, Artemis D.H. bombers are being deployed in only select squadrons in different theatres of the war. If the evaluation trials go well, wider deployment of the Artemis D.H. class is expected.", 3010)
$end_multi_text

$POF file: Bonus2t-01.pof
$ND: 254 126 126
$ND: 233 68 68
$ND: 192 32 32
$Allowed PBanks: ( "Subach HL-7" "Prometheus S" "Prometheus R" "Lamprey" "Circe" "Maxim")
$Allowed Dogfight PBanks: ( "Subach HL-7" "Prometheus S" "Prometheus R" "Lamprey" "Circe" "Maxim")
$Default PBanks: ( "Subach HL-7" )
$Allowed SBanks: ( "Rockeye" "Hornet" "Tornado" "Trebuchet" "Stiletto II" "Piranha" "Cyclops" "Cyclops#short" "Hornet#Weak" "EMP Adv." "Infyrno" )
$Allowed Dogfight SBanks: ( "Rockeye" "Hornet" "Tornado" "Trebuchet" "Stiletto II" "Piranha" "Cyclops" "Cyclops#short" "Hornet#Weak" "EMP Adv." "Infyrno" )
$Default SBanks: ( "Hornet" "Cyclops#short" "Cyclops#short" )
$SBank Capacity: ( 40, 60, 60 )
$Ship_icon: iconbonusarty
$Ship_anim: ssbonus2t-01
$Ship_overhead: loadBonusartemis
$Subsystem: communications, 10, 0.0
$Subsystem: navigation, 10, 0.0
$Subsystem: weapons, 20, 0.0
$Subsystem: sensors, 10, 0.0
$Subsystem: engine, 15, 0.0

#End

Guide to FS Open on Linux

2007-06-18T05:53:19Z

Turey: /* Extracting files */ Removed old movie info

''This tutorial assumes some fundamental command line knowledge. ''
''As a rule of thumb, do not copy/paste commands without understanding them, especially as root. With great power comes great responsibility.''
== Introduction ==

This page will guide you through compilation and installation of FS2_open, using the CVS code, along with the data files.
Please note that if you don't manage to build the CVS (or don't want to), binaries will be found on this thread (no 3.6.9 linux binary yet as of this writing, but they should arrive soon). You'll need probably need to read on anyway (how to get data files, starting the games, dealing with i18n issues...), but ignore what's related to building your own binary.

If you don't want to use CVS, but can't find a suitable binary, you can download an almost current (3.6.9-RC8) source release here :
http://fs2source.warpcore.org/exes/linux/fs2_open-3.6.9-RC8.tar.bz2

Also, Turey wrote a cross-platform installer (in java), which is able to download all you need for running FS2_Open except the binary (retail files, MediaVP, movies...). It can be found here : [[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html Freespace Open Installer]]. It's far more easier than extracting the data files from the retail CDs (see below).
// ''Linux binaries will be put into the Installer once taylor posts linux binaries 3.6.9 Final''

There is even work in progress on a linux launcher that you may want to try : [[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,44204.0.html Linux launcher]] (this is different from the upcoming new launcher which will be used in 3.7 fs2_open release) // ''The links in the thread are currently dead, but let's hope that will be resolved soon.''

== Installing CVS ==
CVS stands for Concurrent Versions System and is a version control system used to record the changes in documents, such as source files. Developers use CVS so they can easily share their code changes among other developers.
Be aware that when you use CVS, you use the most up-to-date code : It may or may not be better than a release. It may be worse, less stable, or not even compile. This is work in progress.

You will need this tool to download ("checkout" in CVS terminology) fs2_open from the CVS server.

'''Debian/Ubuntu''' users want to:
$ apt-get install cvs

'''Gentoo''' users want to:
$ emerge -a cvs

'''Novell SuSE''' users install CVS via YaST.

'''Archlinux''' users want to:
$ pacman -Sy cvs

'''Fedora Core 6 (Zod)''' (And most likely Redhat) users want to:
# yum install cvs

'''Mandriva''' users want to:
# urpmi cvs

'''NOTE: Redhat, Slackware and all the other distros should go here too,'''
'''but we have no knowledge on how these work, so if you do, please enlighten us.'''

== Installing the necessary development libraries ==
You will also need SDL, OpenAL, libvorbis, libtheora and OpenGL(most likely provided with your video card driver) development packages. And of course the GCC compiler and required make tools.
 
'''Debian/Ubuntu''' users want to:
$ apt-get install libopenal-dev libvorbis-dev build-essential automake1.9 autoconf libsdl-dev libtheora-dev
'''NOTE:''' The ''build-essential'' meta package installs GCC4. This should work, but if you feel safer with GCC 3.4(gcc-3.4), add it to the apt-get line above. 

'''Fedora Core 6 (Zod)''' users (and most likely Redhat users too) want to:
# yum install openal-devel libvorbis-devel gcc gcc-c++ automake autoconf SDL-devel libtheora-devel

'''Gentoo''' users want to:
$ emerge -a openal libvorbis libsdl libtheora
'''NOTE:''' media-libs/openal needs the "oss" or "alsa" USE-flag, depending on what kernel sound system you use and media-libs/libsdl needs the "X","opengl" and "xv" USE-flags.

'''Mandriva''' users want to:
urpmi libsdl-devel libopenal-devel libvorbis-devel libtheora-devel gcc gcc-c++ automake autoconf

''Note : on other distributions, you'll need theora as well, so the information for Archlinux and SuSe below is outdated. if someone knows the exact package name, please edit !'' 

'''Novell SuSE''' users just install the mentioned packages and the devel-packages via YaST. If this works don't read further.
SuSE maybe has some dependency problems with the game TORCS, i.e. its special version of OpenAL, so you have to make a choice. If you still want to run FS2 open, go on here http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Fs2_open_on_Linux#Compile_Errors

'''Archlinux''' users want to:
$ pacman -S freealut libvorbis sdl

'''NOTE: Redhat, Slackware and all the other distros should go here too,'''
'''but we have no knowlage on how these work, so if you do, please enlighten us.'''

== Installing game data files ==

This tutorial deals primarily with providing you with an executable, but in order to play the game you also need the game data. Freespace 2 game data is available from a number of sources, see this thread: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,38195.0.html (or use Turey's installer, see above for a link)

Note that if you use the retail CD, you'll need to extract the files and to copy them on your drive, reproducing the same layout as in a working win32 installation (just make sure every file is lowercase). This thread on the SCP forum has some more info on it : http://scp.indiegames.us/forum_viewtopic.php?3.282

There are two ways of doing this :
* use wine to install the game in the right directory, using the Setup.exe found on the first CD, or
* extract manually the files from the cd.

The second method is detailed below. The wine one is straightforward and you shouldn't need any specific instruction, but you'll have to fix permissions and lowercase the filename as well, so keep reading.

===Extracting data from CD===
====Installing unshield====

First, you need unshield from http://synce.sourceforge.net/synce/unshield.php

If you use debian, apt-get install unshield as root should do the trick. Else, try to find a package for your distribution, or if you don't, compile it yourself following the instructions provided on the website. Note you don't need to actually install it, just compile it and use it from the directory where you compiled it.

====Preparing directories====

* Create a directory for fs2_open, say, ''/usr/local/games/fs2_open'', with a ''data/movies'' and ''data/players'' subdirectories. Everything but user files and configuration will be in this directory. You'll probably need to be root or use sudo for most of the following commands if you use a global directory like the one in this example.

''Warning : Again, please double check the commands you run as root. A single typo could destroy your data. 'Remember what is said on the top of the page ? if not, go re-read it.''

<tt>~ $ mkdir -p /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/movies /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/players</tt>

====Extracting files====

* Use unshield to extract the groups from data1.cab (on the first cd) to a temporary directory; then move the files in your game directory :
<tt>~ $ mkdir /tmp/fs2
~ $ for group in "Basic Install Files" "Intel Anims" "Music Compressed" "High Res Files"; do unshield -d /tmp/fs2/ -g "$group" -L -j x /mnt/cdrom/data1.cab; done; mv -v /tmp/fs2/*/* /home/data/jeux/fs2_open
~ $ unshield -d /tmp/fs2/ -g "Hud Config Files" -L -j x /mnt/cdrom/data1.cab && mv -v /tmp/fs2/hud_config_files/* /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/players</tt>
* From '''both''' the second and third CDs, get the vp files and the movies files.
<tt>~ $ cp -vf *.vp /usr/local/games/fs2_open
~ $ cp -vf *.MVE /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/movies/</tt>

You may notice that some files are on all three CD; this is because the game was meant to be run with the CD in the drive. Don't worry, a copy of such a file from any of the 3 CDs will work.

=== Fixing Case and permissions ===
* You '''have''' to make sure everything is lowercase :
<tt>~ $ for file in `find /usr/local/games/fs2_open/`; do mv $file `echo $file | sed 's/$[A-Z]$/\l\1/g'`; done</tt>

* Then, fix permissions :
<tt>~ $ find /usr/local/games/fs2_open -type d -exec chmod a+rx '{}' \;
~ $ find /usr/local/games/fs2_open -type f -exec chmod a+r '{}' \;</tt>

== Using the source ==

=== CVS Checkout ===
Before you begin, make sure you have write permissions on your current working directory. Your /home/user/ directory is a pretty sure bet. I recommend that you create a permanent /home/user/src directory from which you run the CVS command, this way CVS will only update the files changed the next time you download the source and it's always nice to have things organized.

Now get the source. Run from a terminal:
$ cvs -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous@warpcore.org:/home/fs2source/cvsroot login
and then
$ cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@warpcore.org:/home/fs2source/cvsroot co fs2_open
The first cvs command tells the CVS tool to first use a password file for authentication (pserver), that you are user "anonymous" with the password "anonymous" who wants to access warpcore.org's CVS repository "/home/fs2source/cvsroot" and login. The second command tells the CVS server on which we are now connected to that we want to checkout (co) the fs2_open module.
 
==== Checkout Script ====
You can use this script to simplify your checkouts, don't forget to chmod +x it.
#!/bin/bash
CVS="cvs -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous@warpcore.org:/home/fs2source/cvsroot"
MODULE="fs2_open"
BRANCH="${*}"

${CVS} co -d ${BRANCH} -r ${BRANCH} ${MODULE}
Run the script from a terminal and add the branch you wish to checkout,
./the_script fs2_open_3_6_9
or if you want the latest, and probably the most unstable,
./the_script HEAD

=== Pre-Compile Configuration ===

Before you compile you need to configure it for your system. In the directory you ran the CVS command from, a new directory has appear, namely fs2_open.
If your fs2_open is a completely new checkout, you will first need to run the autogen.sh script.
Run from inside your newly created fs2_open directory:
$ ./autogen.sh
autogen.sh is a script that will generate the required makefiles. You will see alot of "checking for this" and "checking for that", this is actually the "configure" script (which can be run with <tt>./configure</tt> if you need to change the options) examining and configuring fs2_open for your system. 
It is possible to give autogen.sh configure options as well, autogen.sh will pass them along to configure.

A full list of configure options can be found by running the configure script with the '--help' option.
$ ./configure --help

==== Optimizing fs2_open ====
Optimizing fs2_open might have little or no effect, or improve performance greatly, I honestly have no clue. 
A note of caution, if you are compiling a debug build, don't use the -fomit-frame-pointer CFLAG, it will make debugging impossible. 
You can specify your compiler flags with the configure script, se below.
$ ./configure CFLAGS="<your desired flags>"
If you got a Athlon-XP and want to play it safe, a good set of CFLAGS would be
$ ./configure CFLAGS="-march=athlon-xp -O3 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer"
You should read up on CFLAGS and what they do before trying anything. I recommend you read through these links. 
http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-3.4.1/gcc/Optimize-Options.html 
http://linuxreviews.org/howtos/compiling/safe-cflags/ 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFLAGS

=== Compiling ===

Run from within your fs2_open directory:
$ make
Sit back and enjoy gcc work its magic.

==== Compile Script ====
It's a lot easier to use a scripts when dealing with constantly changing code. Copy and save this to a suitably named file like "compile-fs2_open", and make it executable with the command, chmod +x <name of file>
#!/bin/bash
CFLAGS="-march=athlon-xp -O2 -pipe"
CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -fomit-frame-pointer -fno-ident"
CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -fvisibility-inlines-hidden"
LDFLAGS="-Wl,-O1 -Wl,--sort-common"

if [ -e ./${*} ]; then
cd ${*}
if [ -e ./Makefile.in ]; then
make clean
./configure CFLAGS="${CFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="${CXXFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="${LDFLAGS}"
make
else
./autogen.sh CFLAGS="${CFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="${CXXFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="${LDFLAGS}"
make
fi
fi

You can add your options to the ./configure line. You need to give the script the fs2_open source directory, like this:
$ ./compile-fs2_open fs2_open
This makes it easier to deal with multiple source directories.

== Using the Binaries ==

When the compile is done and if all went well, a binary executable will reside in the code directory ''fs2_open_r'' or ''fs2_open_d'' if you configured for a debug build. Copy the binary to directory where Freespace2 is installed, and you're all set to go.

=== Post-Compile Configuration ===
==== Changing Your Resolution ====
Odds are, you'll want to run fs2_open in a higher resolution than the default 640x480. Unfortunately, we Linux users don't have the swank launcher app that the Windows folks do. Instead, we'll be making a couple line changes to a config file. You will need to run fs2_open once before you can make the necessary changes, otherwise you won't have a configuration directory to work with.

Open up ~/.fs2_open/fs2_open.ini with the text editor of your choice (vi, EMACS, kwrite, gedit). You'll see something like the following:
[Default]
VideocardFs2open=OGL -(640x480)x16 bit
LastPlayer=MonkeyboyS
GammaD3D=1.0

To set fs2_open to use the highest setting possible on retail Freespace 2, change the VideocardFs2open to:
VideocardFs2open=OGL -(1024x768)x32 bit
You can set this to pretty much anything you want.

=== Creating a Start Up Script ===

In order to use all of the advanced engine features of fs2_open, you'll need to start the executable with a number of command line arguments. Instead of typing them in every time you want to start the game, why not create a script that does it for you?

Create a new file named start_freespace (or whatever you like) in your home directory. Open the file in your editor of choice, and paste the following:
#!/bin/bash
cd /path/to/your/freespace/
./fs2_open_r -spec -glow -mipmap -jpgtga -orbradar -mod Media_VP

''Note: You will need to edit this script before it will work properly. The second line must point to the directory where you installed fs2_open. You can also find a more elaborated script example below in the i18n section''

The last line starts fs2_open with a number of arguments that turn on extra features. In the example, the game will use specular highlights, glow-mapping, mipmapping, jpg and tga graphic files, the orb radar, and any MediaVPs installed to the /Media_VP directory. You should edit this line to use those features that your system supports.

More information about the available Command Line Arguments can be found at the [[Command-Line Reference]]

Once you've edited the file to your heart's content, make it executable:
$ chmod +x start_freespace

You can now type in start_freespace to start the game, or by clicking on start_freespace in your window manager. For convenience, you can copy it to your Desktop.

[http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Command-Line_Reference See this] for more command line options.

== Troubleshooting ==
=== Compile Errors ===
==== Novell SuSE and the dependencies ====

If your SuSE gives you some errors like this, during the compile process, your OpenAL version is too old or corrupted.
sound/ds.cpp: In function 'int ds_init(int, int, unsigned int, short unsigned int)':
sound/ds.cpp:1790: error: invalid conversion from 'const char*' to 'const ALubyte*'
sound/ds.cpp:1790: error: initializing argument 1 of 'ALboolean alIsExtensionPresent(const ALubyte*)'
You have to remove all OpenAL-packages via YaST, you may also want to remove TORCS, too, it won't run anymore after this.
Unfortunately there is no repository with a newer version for this distro, yet, so you have to use a source-package for Fedora. You get it here http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/extras/5/SRPMS/openal-0.0.9-0.6.20060204cvs.fc5.src.rpm
The version may change, so you better check this.
Now make sure, that TexInfo is installed. Then enter:
$ rpmbuild --rebuild --target=i686 <name-of-your-package>.fc5.src.rpm
If it builds without errors, you will find an OpenAL*.rpm and an OpenAL*-devel.rpm in <tt>/usr/src/packages/RPMS/i686/</tt>. Install both and go back to your fs_open directory again. Cause the environment has changed now, you better type:
$ make clean
$ ./configure [options]
$ make
Then you're done.

==== SDL: undefined reference to... ====

This is a SDL installing issue, since it's trying to link against the static lib and not the dynamic one.
First check where <tt>/usr/lib/libSDL.so</tt> is linked to, then search this very file.
$ ls -l /usr/lib/libSDL.so
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 28 2006-09-06 00:10 /usr/lib/libSDL.so -> /usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.1
$ ls /usr/lib/ | grep libSDL-1.2.so.0.7
libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.2
If they are not the same (like in this case), you just make a new link. Type as root:
# ln -s /usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.2 /usr/lib/libSDL.so
Of course you must change some figures, so it matches on your system.

==== Missing -lGLU compile error ====

On some Linux distributions (''Slackware'' for instance), compiling fails because a GL related library doesn't have a link in the <tt>/usr/lib</tt> directory. If the compile fails because it can't find <tt>-lGLU</tt>, here are two ways to fix it:

===== Solution as Root =====

If you have root access to the system, you can create a link to the library in question with just a little bit of command line magic. Go to a console and enter:

$ ln -s /usr/X11R6/lib/libGLU.so /usr/lib/libGLU.so

After that, you can run make again and it should finish compiling.

===== Solution as a Non-Root user =====

You don't have root access? Never fear, we can still fix the problem. It'll just be a tad more difficult.

Navigate to the <tt>fs2_open/code</tt> directory and locate a file named <tt>Makefile</tt> (not Makefile.rm or Makefile.in or Makefile.anything). Open it in your favorite text editor and make the following changes.

Find this line (line 457 in mine):
FS2_LDFLAGS = -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lGLU -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile

And replace it with this:
FS2_LDFLAGS = -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lGLU

Also find this one (line 565 in mine):
AM_LDFLAGS = -g -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lGLU -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile

And replace it with this:
AM_LDFLAGS = -g -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lGLU

Then run <tt>make</tt> from the <tt>fs2_open</tt> directory, and watch the magic happen.

==== glBindBufferARB feature missing ====
''If this is the actual solution to this problem remains to be seen.'' 
''So far, only people using Debian stable are affected by this.'' 
''So we need adventurus Debian users to confirm.'' 
''I can confirm that the APT-Pinning works, can not confirm compile thou. -- ni1s'' 
checking for glBindBufferARB in -lGL... no
configure: error: *** OpenGL version does not have the required features!! (ie.glBindBufferARB()) ***
This error appears if the installed Mesa development library is to old.

On Debian stable branch the xlibmesa-gl-dev package holds version 4.3.0. 
The xlibmesa-gl-dev package on ''testning'' is version 6.9.0.

'''Possible solution:''' 
First set /etc/apt/sources.list to include the testing branch. Add:
#Testing
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian testing main non-free contrib
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US testing/non-US main contrib non-free
Your sources.list might have these lines already, if so, you should be okej.

Your /etc/apt/preferences file should look like this
Package: *
Pin: release a=stable
Pin-Priority: 700

Package: *
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-Priority: 650

Package: *
Pin: release a=unstable
Pin-Priority: 600

Add to that file:
Package: xlibmesa-gl-dev
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-Priority: 800
Note that the Pin-Priority of xlibmesa-gl-dev here is higher than the Pin-Priority on 'stable'. As a result of this APT get will prioritize the xlibmesa-gl-dev from testing and leave the rest of the system on stable.
This is called apt-pinning.

Now that APT knows what xlibmesa-gl-dev to prioritze, install it again:
$ apt-get install xlibmesa-gl-dev

If you are using nVidia's nvidia-kernel and glx packages, a simple:
$ apt-get install nvidia-glx-dev
should suffice. No need to mess around with APT-pinning.

=== Runtime Errors & Common Problems ===
==== ERROR: "Web cursor bitmap not found." ====
ERROR: "Web cursor bitmap not found. This usually means that the executable is being run outside the directory
you installed Freespace2 to. Please move the executable to that directory and try again" at graphics/2d.cpp:1402
A common error. This happens when fs2_open can't find the .vp files or that your user doesn't have the permissions to access them. If you are using a start up script([http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Fs2_open_on_Linux#Creating_a_Start_Up_Script like the one found here]) it's most likly the a permission problem.
Have your user take owenership of the .vp files, run as root:
$ chown <user> /path/to/vpfiles/ -R

=== I18n and Key mapping problems ===
''Me, being a Swede, need to use this aswell, especially for the grave key(`), but I also want to use a second X display. There is a way to tell xmodmap to use the new set of keys on the second X display, and thus eliminating the need for a temp. keymap table as it dies with the second display when exiting fs2_open, never touching the keymap table on display 0. We should dig that info up and write a super-start script. --ni1s'' 
Ok, imagine that like me you don't have an us keyboard but a french one (or anything). Well, you probably have problems mapping some keys or even using the default mapping.

Actually, the problem is fs2_open does not take modifiers into account, as it uses them internally as modifiers for keys, and it won't accept non-us charset either.

On a french keyboard layout, the numbers ''1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0'' are on the same keys than on a US layout, but you have to press shift to use them. The primary function for theses keys are ''& Ã© " ' ( - Ã¨ _ Ã§ Ã )''. These characters won't be accepted by freespace, and if you press shift to get a number, it won't work. This can be a problem, as theses keys are needed to use the communication system, and cannot be bound to anything. Also, as you won't get access some keys on your keyboard, it will be difficult to map every command on a key, or you'll have to use modifiers for nearly each key.

However, there is a solution. You can tell X to remap the keyboard before launching the game, and restore your normal keymap afterwards.

For exemple, I map 123456790 to &é"'(-è_çà keys so I can use the communication system, and I put , and ; on the Alt-Gr and Menu keys for convenience, as I binded thoses keys to next primary weapon and next secondary weapon.

To do this, I use a slightly enhanced startup script, which I put in ~/bin (this directory is in my path), together with a customized xmodmap.

* First, dump your current xmodmap :

<tt>~ $ xmodmap -pke > ~/xmodmap.current</tt>

* Then edit it with your favorite text editor. You'll see a bunch of lines looking like this :

<tt>
keycode 8 =
keycode 9 = Escape
keycode 10 = 1 ampersand onesuperior exclamdown onesuperior exclamdown
</tt>

The syntax is ''keycode <number> = <symbol list>''.

Use '''xev''' to scan the keycodes. The symbols are defined in ''/usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h''. Just make sure you write them without the ''XK_'' prefix. You'll find more information about xmodmap in the xmodmap manual page.

Just modify the keys you need, and be patient. This can be a long process. Test it with xmodmap :

<tt>~ $ xmodmap - < <filename></tt>

But don't forget to have your previous keymap at hand to recover your settings !
If you mess everything up, just restart X. Your default keymap will be applied from the X configuration.

Here is my own fs2 xmodmap, derived from fr-latin1 as described above. Feel free to use it if you're too lazy to modify your own. However, it may not fit with your needs. You may always use it as an exemple, thougt.
* http://clement.hermann.free.fr/fs2/xmodmap

Then, when the file is modified at your liking, just save it as '''~/.fs2_open/xmodmap'''

We'll start fs2_open with a slightly more elaborate startup script which will backup/apply/restore the keymap in addition of running the games with some options in the right directory.

<tt>
#!/bin/sh
# This script lauches fs2. If there is a file named $FS2_modmap (see below),
# backup the current modmap as $TMP_modmap and load it as the new modmap.
# The current modmap will be restored afterwards.

TMP_modmap="$HOME/xmodmap.tmp"
FS2_modmap="$HOME/.fs2_open/xmodmap"

FS2_OPEN_DIR=/usr/local/games/fs2_open

FS2_ARGS="-glow -spec -spec_exp 11 -spec_point 0.6 -spec_static 0.8 -spec_tube 0.4 -fps -jpgtga -ambient_factor 75 -targetinfo -nograb"

FS2_BIN="$FS2_OPEN_DIR/fs2_open_r"

die() {
echo "** Fatal error : $1" >&2
exit 1
}

cd $FS2_OPEN_DIR || die "Could not change directory to $FS2_OPEN_DIR"

# dump current xmodmap
[ -f "$FS2_modmap" ] && xmodmap -pke > $TMP_modmap

# load xmodmap
[ -f "$FS2_modmap" ] && xmodmap - < $FS2_modmap

# prepare to restore xmodmap on crash or exit
trap "xmodmap - < $TMP_modmap && rm $TMP_modmap" 0 2 3 4 9 11 15

# launch fs2
$FS2_BIN $FS2_ARGS $* || die "Error while running \"$FS2_BIN\" with arguments \"$FS2_ARGS\" ($?)"
</tt>

Adapt this script to your needs, and save it somewhere in your PATH - I for exemple use ''~/bin/freespace2''. Make it executable with chmod +x ''<file>''

That's it, now you can use fs2 with full control over your keyboard.

=== fs2_open dedicated X display ===
A good way of running games on Linux is having them run on a separate X display. The display you are most likely using now when reading this is 0:0. This display is normally used for whatever Window Manager/Desktop Environment(KDE,Gnome,*box,E) you've chosen. Sometimes fs2_open freezes and locks your X. This is of course very annoying as you have to CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE to kill the X server, and in that, killing whatever program you had running besides fs2_open. The solution to this is to tell X to start fs2_open on another display. To to this we first need to tell X that you,the user on localhost, holds the permission to run on another display.
In a terminal, enter (NOT as root):
$ xauth list
A list that looks something like this should appear.
myuser@localhost ~ $ xauth list
localhost/unix:'''0''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
Let's look at that line, first up is your localhost, then unix, and last the display number,:0 (in bold). The rest is not really of interest.
Copy the whole line, but change the display value to 1 and paste it after the command ''xauth add'', like this:
$ xauth add localhost/unix:'''1''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
Run xauth list again. You should see a new entry.
myuser@localhost ~ $ xauth list
localhost/unix:'''0''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
localhost/unix:'''1''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
You now have permission to use display 1:0.
To start fs2_open in that display, use xinit.
$ xinit /path/to/fs2_open_r -foo -bar -- :1
The ''-- :1'' tells X that we want to start fs2_open on display 1. 
You can switch between display 0 and 1 with CTRL+ALT+F7 and CTRL+ALT+F8 respectively.
''If someone knows of a good method to start fs2 on a second X display from an xterm without changing Xwrapper.config, please report it here.''

''A solution might be running xinit as root with sudo, and drop the root privileges in the startup script... Didn't tried, though.'' -- nodens

''xgame / xgame-gtk2 may be of use to achieve this as normal user, see http://xgame.tlhiv.org/ '' -- Lone_Wolf
==== The "user not authorized" Error ====

If you try this from an virtual terminal from within X11 and obtain the error:
X: user not authorized to run the X server, aborting.
It has been reported that on Ubuntu systems, the file /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config contains this line:
allowed_users=console
This setting specifies that the X server(s) can only be started from console(TTY).
A possible solution is to change the allowed_users in the Xwrapper.config file to:
allowed_users=anybody
'''Please note that this undermines X security.'''
See man Xwrapper.config for more details.
[[Category:Source Code Project]]

FreeSpace Open Installer

2007-05-22T19:25:05Z

Turey: link fix

FreeSpace Open Installer

2007-04-09T23:09:59Z

Turey: added out-of-date notice

NOTE: THIS PAGE IS OUT OF DATE. It will be updated when someone gets around to it. In the meantime, read [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html the HLP thread] or [http://www.fsoinstaller.com the Installer's home page].

The FreeSpace Open Installer is an attempt to significantly reduce the difficulty of installing FreeSpace Open over a Retail FreeSpace 2 installation. The Installer was coded by Turey, originally using the [http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page NSIS] scripting language, but was re-written in Java as of December 12, 2006. The first version was released on October 16, 2006, and the latest versions of the exe and the source code can be found at [http://www.fsoinstaller.com fsoinstaller.com].

More information about the Installer can be found on [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html Hard Light Productions].

=Features=
The Installer is designed to be one-size-fits-all, so that dial-up users can have a small Installer that only installs the necessary files, while broadband users can have an Installer that downloads all the extras for them.
The Installer automatically checks to see if it is outdated, and will bring up the download page of the newest version if it is outdated.
The first version of the Installer included only the Executables and the MediaVPs. Since then, many other parts have been added and refined.

==FreeSpace Open Executables==
The Executables were originally packaged as part of the installer, which added about eight megabytes to the size of the Installer. However, as of the 3.6.9 - RC 7.9x version, the Executables have been taken out of the Installer file and are downloaded at runtime.

==OpenAL==
One of the most common problems people have installing FreeSpace Open is that they do not install OpenAL. From the first version, the Installer has had an option to download and run the OpenAL installer automatically. This feature has temporarily been disabled, but will be re-enabled in the future. In the meantime, you can get OpenAL [http://fs2source.warpcore.org/exes/latest/OpenALwEAX.exe here].

==MediaVPs==
The MediaVPs are a set of graphical enhancements to FreeSpace Open, created by the [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/board,120.0.html FreeSpace Upgrade Project]. These upgrades have been included since the first version, and as of version 3.6.9 - RC 7.9x, they use the Mod Installation System (see below).

==Mod Installation System==
The Mod Installation System is a feature that first made its appearance in version 3.6.9 - RC 7.9x. The system allows the creator(s) of a mod or campaign to include their work in the Installer, so that it can be downloaded and installed at the same time as FreeSpace Open. By interfacing with text files, the Installer can get the most recent files for each mod directly from that mod's web site. This allows mod creators to update their files at any time, without the need for a new release of the Installer.

Help with the Mod Installation System can be found at [http://www.fsoinstaller.com/modhelp.html fsoinstaller.com]

Mods and Campaigns currently included in the Installer can be found at [http://www.fsoinstaller.com fsoinstaller.com].

=Version History=
Visit the [http://www.fsoinstaller.com/changelog.html changelog on www.fsoinstaller.com].

Guide to FS Open on Linux

2007-04-09T22:54:42Z

Turey: /* Installing the necessary development libraries */ Moved Gentoo Instructions above the "Outdated" sign.

''This tutorial assumes some fundamental command line knowledge. ''
''As a rule of thumb, do not copy/paste commands without understanding them, especially as root. With great power comes great responsibility.''
== Introduction ==

This page will guide you through compilation and installation of FS2_open, using the CVS code, along with the data files.
Please note that if you don't manage to build the CVS (or don't want to), binaries will be found on this thread (no 3.6.9 linux binary yet as of this writing, but they should arrive soon). You'll need probably need to read on anyway (how to get data files, starting the games, dealing with i18n issues...), but ignore what's related to building your own binary.

If you don't want to use CVS, but can't find a suitable binary, you can download an almost current (3.6.9-RC8) source release here :
http://fs2source.warpcore.org/exes/linux/fs2_open-3.6.9-RC8.tar.bz2

Also, Turey wrote a cross-platform installer (in java), which is able to download all you need for running FS2_Open except the binary (retail files, MediaVP, movies...). It can be found here : [[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html Freespace Open Installer]]. It's far more easier than extracting the data files from the retail CDs (see below).
// ''Linux binaries will be put into the Installer once taylor posts linux binaries 3.6.9 Final''

There is even work in progress on a linux launcher that you may want to try : [[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,44204.0.html Linux launcher]] (this is different from the upcoming new launcher which will be used in 3.7 fs2_open release) // ''The links in the thread are currently dead, but let's hope that will be resolved soon.''

== Installing CVS ==
CVS stands for Concurrent Versions System and is a version control system used to record the changes in documents, such as source files. Developers use CVS so they can easily share their code changes among other developers.
Be aware that when you use CVS, you use the most up-to-date code : It may or may not be better than a release. It may be worse, less stable, or not even compile. This is work in progress.

You will need this tool to download ("checkout" in CVS terminology) fs2_open from the CVS server.

'''Debian/Ubuntu''' users want to:
$ apt-get install cvs
'''Gentoo''' users want to:
$ emerge -a cvs
'''Novell SuSE''' users install CVS via YaST.

'''Archlinux''' users want to:
$ pacman -Sy cvs

'''Fedora Core 6 (Zod)''' (And most likely Redhat) users want to:
# yum install cvs

'''NOTE: Redhat, Mandrake/Mandriva, Slackware and all the other distros should go here too,'''
'''but we have no knowledge on how these work, so if you do, please enlighten us.'''

== Installing the necessary development libraries ==
You will also need SDL, OpenAL, libvorbis, libtheora and OpenGL(most likely provided with your video card driver) development packages. And of course the GCC compiler and required make tools.
 
'''Debian/Ubuntu''' users want to:
$ apt-get install libopenal-dev libvorbis-dev build-essential automake1.9 autoconf libsdl-dev libtheora-dev
'''NOTE:''' The ''build-essential'' meta package installs GCC4. This should work, but if you feel safer with GCC 3.4(gcc-3.4), add it to the apt-get line above. 

'''Fedora Core 6 (Zod)''' users (and most likely Redhat users too) want to:
# yum install openal-devel libvorbis-devel gcc gcc-c++ automake autoconf SDL-devel libtheora-devel

'''Gentoo''' users want to:
$ emerge -a openal libvorbis libsdl libtheora

''Note : on other distributions, you'll need theora as well, so the information for Archlinux and SuSe below is outdated. if someone knows the exact package name, please edit !'' 

'''Novell SuSE''' users just install the mentioned packages and the devel-packages via YaST. If this works don't read further.
SuSE maybe has some dependency problems with the game TORCS, i.e. its special version of OpenAL, so you have to make a choice. If you still want to run FS2 open, go on here http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Fs2_open_on_Linux#Compile_Errors

'''Archlinux''' users want to:
$ pacman -S freealut libvorbis sdl

'''NOTE: Redhat, Mandrake,Slackware and all the other distros should go here too,'''
'''but we have no knowlage on how these work, so if you do, please enlighten us.'''

== Installing game data files ==

This tutorial deals primarily with providing you with an executable, but in order to play the game you also need the game data. Freespace 2 game data is available from a number of sources, see this thread: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,38195.0.html (or use Turey's installer, see above for a link)

Note that if you use the retail CD, you'll need to extract the files and to copy them on your drive, reproducing the same layout as in a working win32 installation (just make sure every file is lowercase). This thread on the SCP forum has some more info on it : http://scp.indiegames.us/forum_viewtopic.php?3.282

There are two ways of doing this :
* use wine to install the game in the right directory, using the Setup.exe found on the first CD, or
* extract manually the files from the cd.

The second method is detailed below. The wine one is straightforward and you shouldn't need any specific instruction, but you'll have to fix permissions and lowercase the filename as well, so keep reading.

===Extracting data from CD===
====Installing unshield====

First, you need unshield from http://synce.sourceforge.net/synce/unshield.php

If you use debian, apt-get install unshield as root should do the trick. Else, try to find a package for your distribution, or if you don't, compile it yourself following the instructions provided on the website. Note you don't need to actually install it, just compile it and use it from the directory where you compiled it.

====Preparing directories====

* Create a directory for fs2_open, say, ''/usr/local/games/fs2_open'', with a ''data/movies'' and ''data/players'' subdirectories. Everything but user files and configuration will be in this directory. You'll probably need to be root or use sudo for most of the following commands if you use a global directory like the one in this example.

''Warning : Again, please double check the commands you run as root. A single typo could destroy your data. 'Remember what is said on the top of the page ? if not, go re-read it.''

<tt>~ $ mkdir -p /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/movies /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/players</tt>

====Extracting files====

* Use unshield to extract the groups from data1.cab (on the first cd) to a temporary directory; then move the files in your game directory :
<tt>~ $ mkdir /tmp/fs2
~ $ for group in "Basic Install Files" "Intel Anims" "Music Compressed" "High Res Files"; do unshield -d /tmp/fs2/ -g "$group" -L -j x /mnt/cdrom/data1.cab; done; mv -v /tmp/fs2/*/* /home/data/jeux/fs2_open
~ $ unshield -d /tmp/fs2/ -g "Hud Config Files" -L -j x /mnt/cdrom/data1.cab && mv -v /tmp/fs2/hud_config_files/* /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/players</tt>
* From '''both''' the second and third CDs, get the vp files and the movies files (I don't think the the .mve file are really needed; you'll need the .avi ones if you want the movies).
<tt>~ $ cp -vf *.vp /usr/local/games/fs2_open
~ $ cp -vf *.MVE /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/movies/</tt>

You may notice that some files are on all three CD; this is because the game was meant to be run with the CD in the drive. Don't worry, a copy of such a file from any of the 3 CDs will work.

=== Fixing Case and permissions ===
* You '''have''' to make sure everything is lowercase :
<tt>~ $ for file in `find /usr/local/games/fs2_open/`; do mv $file `echo $file | sed 's/$[A-Z]$/\l\1/g'`; done</tt>

* Then, fix permissions :
<tt>~ $ find /usr/local/games/fs2_open -type d -exec chmod a+rx '{}' \;
~ $ find /usr/local/games/fs2_open -type f -exec chmod a+r '{}' \;</tt>

== Using the source ==

=== CVS Checkout ===
Before you begin, make sure you have write permissions on your current working directory. Your /home/user/ directory is a pretty sure bet. I recommend that you create a permanent /home/user/src directory from which you run the CVS command, this way CVS will only update the files changed the next time you download the source and it's always nice to have things organized.

Now get the source. Run from a terminal:
$ cvs -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous@warpcore.org:/home/fs2source/cvsroot login
and then
$ cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@warpcore.org:/home/fs2source/cvsroot co fs2_open
The first cvs command tells the CVS tool to first use a password file for authentication (pserver), that you are user "anonymous" with the password "anonymous" who wants to access warpcore.org's CVS repository "/home/fs2source/cvsroot" and login. The second command tells the CVS server on which we are now connected to that we want to checkout (co) the fs2_open module.
 
==== Simple Checkout Script ====
You can use this script to simplify your checkouts, don't forget to chmod +x it.
#!/bin/bash
CVS="cvs -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous@warpcore.org:/home/fs2source/cvsroot"
MODULE="fs2_open"
BRANCH="fs2_open_3_6_9"

${CVS} co -d ${BRANCH} -r ${BRANCH} ${MODULE}

=== Pre-Compile Configuration ===

Before you compile you need to configure it for your system. In the directory you ran the CVS command from, a new directory has appear, namely fs2_open.
If your fs2_open is a completely new checkout, you will first need to run the autogen.sh script.
Run from inside your newly created fs2_open directory:
$ ./autogen.sh
autogen.sh is a script that will generate the required makefiles. You will see alot of "checking for this" and "checking for that", this is actually the "configure" script (which can be run with <tt>./configure</tt> if you need to change the options) examining and configuring fs2_open for your system. 
It is possible to give autogen.sh configure options as well, autogen.sh will pass them along to configure.

A full list of configure options can be found by running the configure script with the '--help' option.
$ ./configure --help

==== Optimizing fs2_open ====
Optimizing fs2_open might have little or no effect, or improve performance greatly, I honestly have no clue. 
A note of caution, if you are compiling a debug build, don't use the -fomit-frame-pointer CFLAG, it will make debugging impossible. 
You can specify your compiler flags with the configure script, se below.
$ ./configure CFLAGS="<your desired flags>"
If you got a Athlon-XP and want to play it safe, a good set of CFLAGS would be
$ ./configure CFLAGS="-march=athlon-xp -O3 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer"
You should read up on CFLAGS and what they do before trying anything. I recommend you read through these links. 
http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-3.4.1/gcc/Optimize-Options.html 
http://linuxreviews.org/howtos/compiling/safe-cflags/ 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFLAGS

=== Compiling ===

Run from within your fs2_open directory:
$ make
Sit back and enjoy gcc work its magic.

==== Simple Compile Script ====
It's a lot easier to use a scripts when dealing with constantly changing code. Copy and save this to a suitably named file like "compile-fs2_open", and make it executable with the command, chmod +x <name of file>
#!/bin/bash
CFLAGS="-march=athlon-xp -O2 -pipe"
CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -fomit-frame-pointer -falign-functions=64"
CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -fvisibility-inlines-hidden"
LDFLAGS="-Wl,-O1 -Wl,--sort-common -Wl,--as-needed -s"

if [ -e ./${*} ]; then
cd ${*}
if [ -e ./Makefile.in ]; then
make clean
./configure CFLAGS="${CFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="${CXXFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="${LDFLAGS}"
make
else
./autogen.sh CFLAGS="${CFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="${CXXFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="${LDFLAGS}"
make
fi
fi

You can add your options to the ./configure line. You need to give the script the fs2_open source directory, like this:
$ ./compile-fs2_open fs2_open
This makes it easier to deal with multiple source directories.

== Using the Binaries ==

When the compile is done and if all went well, a binary executable will reside in the code directory ''fs2_open_r'' or ''fs2_open_d'' if you configured for a debug build. Copy the binary to directory where Freespace2 is installed, and you're all set to go.

=== Post-Compile Configuration ===
==== Changing Your Resolution ====
Odds are, you'll want to run fs2_open in a higher resolution than the default 640x480. Unfortunately, we Linux users don't have the swank launcher app that the Windows folks do. Instead, we'll be making a couple line changes to a config file. You will need to run fs2_open once before you can make the necessary changes, otherwise you won't have a configuration directory to work with.

Open up ~/.fs2_open/fs2_open.ini with the text editor of your choice (vi, EMACS, kwrite, gedit). You'll see something like the following:
[Default]
VideocardFs2open=OGL -(640x480)x16 bit
LastPlayer=MonkeyboyS
GammaD3D=1.0

To set fs2_open to use the highest setting possible on retail Freespace 2, change the VideocardFs2open to:
VideocardFs2open=OGL -(1024x768)x32 bit
You can set this to pretty much anything you want.

=== Creating a Start Up Script ===

In order to use all of the advanced engine features of fs2_open, you'll need to start the executable with a number of command line arguments. Instead of typing them in every time you want to start the game, why not create a script that does it for you?

Create a new file named start_freespace (or whatever you like) in your home directory. Open the file in your editor of choice, and paste the following:
#!/bin/bash
cd /path/to/your/freespace/
./fs2_open_r -spec -glow -mipmap -jpgtga -orbradar -mod Media_VP

''Note: You will need to edit this script before it will work properly. The second line must point to the directory where you installed fs2_open. You can also find a more elaborated script example below in the i18n section''

The last line starts fs2_open with a number of arguments that turn on extra features. In the example, the game will use specular highlights, glow-mapping, mipmapping, jpg and tga graphic files, the orb radar, and any MediaVPs installed to the /Media_VP directory. You should edit this line to use those features that your system supports.

More information about the available Command Line Arguments can be found at the [[Command-Line Reference]]

Once you've edited the file to your heart's content, make it executable:
$ chmod +x start_freespace

You can now type in start_freespace to start the game, or by clicking on start_freespace in your window manager. For convenience, you can copy it to your Desktop.

[http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Command-Line_Reference See this] for more command line options.

==== Advanced Startup Script ====
This is nothing fancy, but it's all the command line options in a file.
#!/bin/bash
# Graphics
CMDLINE="-spec -env -glow -jpgtga -mipmap -2d_poof -missile_lighting"
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -ambient_factor 75 -spec_exp 11 -spec_point 0.6"
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -spec_static 0.8 -spec_tube 0.4"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -pcx32 -cell -nomotiondebris -noscalevid -rlm -clipdist"
# Game Speed
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -cache_bitmaps"
#CMDLINE=$CMDLINE -img2dds -no_vsync"
# HUD
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -targetinfo -orbradar -ballistic_gauge -rearm_timer"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -dualscanlines"
# Gameplay
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -ship_choice_3d -3dwarp -warp_flash -fov 0.39"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -UseNewAI -tbp -wcsaga"
# Audio
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -snd_preload"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -nosound -nomusic"
# Multiplayer
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -standalone -startgame -closed -restricted"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -multilog -clientdamage -mpnoreturn"
# Troubleshooting
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -oldfire -nohtl -no_set_gamma -nomovies -noparseerrors"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -safeloading -query_speech -d3d_bad_tsys -novbo -noibx -loadallweps"
# Experimental
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -alpha_env"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -decals -ingame_join"
# Development Tools
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -fps"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -pos -window -timerbar -coords -pofspew -tablecrcs -missioncrcs"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -dis_collisions -dis_weapons -output_sexps"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -output_scripting -nograb -show_mem_usage -stats"
# Mod
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -mod mv368zeta"
./fs2_open_r $CMDLINE

== Troubleshooting ==
=== Compile Errors ===
==== Novell SuSE and the dependencies ====

If your SuSE gives you some errors like this, during the compile process, your OpenAL version is too old or corrupted.
sound/ds.cpp: In function 'int ds_init(int, int, unsigned int, short unsigned int)':
sound/ds.cpp:1790: error: invalid conversion from 'const char*' to 'const ALubyte*'
sound/ds.cpp:1790: error: initializing argument 1 of 'ALboolean alIsExtensionPresent(const ALubyte*)'
You have to remove all OpenAL-packages via YaST, you may also want to remove TORCS, too, it won't run anymore after this.
Unfortunately there is no repository with a newer version for this distro, yet, so you have to use a source-package for Fedora. You get it here http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/extras/5/SRPMS/openal-0.0.9-0.6.20060204cvs.fc5.src.rpm
The version may change, so you better check this.
Now make sure, that TexInfo is installed. Then enter:
$ rpmbuild --rebuild --target=i686 <name-of-your-package>.fc5.src.rpm
If it builds without errors, you will find an OpenAL*.rpm and an OpenAL*-devel.rpm in <tt>/usr/src/packages/RPMS/i686/</tt>. Install both and go back to your fs_open directory again. Cause the environment has changed now, you better type:
$ make clean
$ ./configure [options]
$ make
Then you're done.

==== SDL: undefined reference to... ====

This is a SDL installing issue, since it's trying to link against the static lib and not the dynamic one.
First check where <tt>/usr/lib/libSDL.so</tt> is linked to, then search this very file.
$ ls -l /usr/lib/libSDL.so
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 28 2006-09-06 00:10 /usr/lib/libSDL.so -> /usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.1
$ ls /usr/lib/ | grep libSDL-1.2.so.0.7
libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.2
If they are not the same (like in this case), you just make a new link. Type as root:
# ln -s /usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.2 /usr/lib/libSDL.so
Of course you must change some figures, so it matches on your system.

==== Missing -lGLU compile error ====

On some Linux distributions (''Slackware'' for instance), compiling fails because a GL related library doesn't have a link in the <tt>/usr/lib</tt> directory. If the compile fails because it can't find <tt>-lGLU</tt>, here are two ways to fix it:

===== Solution as Root =====

If you have root access to the system, you can create a link to the library in question with just a little bit of command line magic. Go to a console and enter:

$ ln -s /usr/X11R6/lib/libGLU.so /usr/lib/libGLU.so

After that, you can run make again and it should finish compiling.

===== Solution as a Non-Root user =====

You don't have root access? Never fear, we can still fix the problem. It'll just be a tad more difficult.

Navigate to the <tt>fs2_open/code</tt> directory and locate a file named <tt>Makefile</tt> (not Makefile.rm or Makefile.in or Makefile.anything). Open it in your favorite text editor and make the following changes.

Find this line (line 457 in mine):
FS2_LDFLAGS = -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lGLU -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile

And replace it with this:
FS2_LDFLAGS = -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lGLU

Also find this one (line 565 in mine):
AM_LDFLAGS = -g -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lGLU -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile

And replace it with this:
AM_LDFLAGS = -g -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lGLU

Then run <tt>make</tt> from the <tt>fs2_open</tt> directory, and watch the magic happen.

==== glBindBufferARB feature missing ====
''If this is the actual solution to this problem remains to be seen.'' 
''So far, only people using Debian stable are affected by this.'' 
''So we need adventurus Debian users to confirm.'' 
''I can confirm that the APT-Pinning works, can not confirm compile thou. -- ni1s'' 
checking for glBindBufferARB in -lGL... no
configure: error: *** OpenGL version does not have the required features!! (ie.glBindBufferARB()) ***
This error appears if the installed Mesa development library is to old.

On Debian stable branch the xlibmesa-gl-dev package holds version 4.3.0. 
The xlibmesa-gl-dev package on ''testning'' is version 6.9.0.

'''Possible solution:''' 
First set /etc/apt/sources.list to include the testing branch. Add:
#Testing
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian testing main non-free contrib
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US testing/non-US main contrib non-free
Your sources.list might have these lines already, if so, you should be okej.

Your /etc/apt/preferences file should look like this
Package: *
Pin: release a=stable
Pin-Priority: 700

Package: *
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-Priority: 650

Package: *
Pin: release a=unstable
Pin-Priority: 600

Add to that file:
Package: xlibmesa-gl-dev
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-Priority: 800
Note that the Pin-Priority of xlibmesa-gl-dev here is higher than the Pin-Priority on 'stable'. As a result of this APT get will prioritize the xlibmesa-gl-dev from testing and leave the rest of the system on stable.
This is called apt-pinning.

Now that APT knows what xlibmesa-gl-dev to prioritze, install it again:
$ apt-get install xlibmesa-gl-dev

If you are using nVidia's nvidia-kernel and glx packages, a simple:
$ apt-get install nvidia-glx-dev
should suffice. No need to mess around with APT-pinning.

=== Runtime Errors & Common Problems ===
==== ERROR: "Web cursor bitmap not found." ====
ERROR: "Web cursor bitmap not found. This usually means that the executable is being run outside the directory
you installed Freespace2 to. Please move the executable to that directory and try again" at graphics/2d.cpp:1402
A common error. This happens when fs2_open can't find the .vp files or that your user doesn't have the permissions to access them. If you are using a start up script([http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Fs2_open_on_Linux#Creating_a_Start_Up_Script like the one found here]) it's most likly the a permission problem.
Have your user take owenership of the .vp files, run as root:
$ chown <user> /path/to/vpfiles/ -R

=== I18n and Key mapping problems ===
''Me, being a Swede, need to use this aswell, especially for the grave key(`), but I also want to use a second X display. There is a way to tell xmodmap to use the new set of keys on the second X display, and thus eliminating the need for a temp. keymap table as it dies with the second display when exiting fs2_open, never touching the keymap table on display 0. We should dig that info up and write a super-start script. --ni1s'' 
Ok, imagine that like me you don't have an us keyboard but a french one (or anything). Well, you probably have problems mapping some keys or even using the default mapping.

Actually, the problem is fs2_open does not take modifiers into account, as it uses them internally as modifiers for keys, and it won't accept non-us charset either.

On a french keyboard layout, the numbers ''1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0'' are on the same keys than on a US layout, but you have to press shift to use them. The primary function for theses keys are ''& Ã© " ' ( - Ã¨ _ Ã§ Ã )''. These characters won't be accepted by freespace, and if you press shift to get a number, it won't work. This can be a problem, as theses keys are needed to use the communication system, and cannot be bound to anything. Also, as you won't get access some keys on your keyboard, it will be difficult to map every command on a key, or you'll have to use modifiers for nearly each key.

However, there is a solution. You can tell X to remap the keyboard before launching the game, and restore your normal keymap afterwards.

For exemple, I map 123456790 to &é"'(-è_çà keys so I can use the communication system, and I put , and ; on the Alt-Gr and Menu keys for convenience, as I binded thoses keys to next primary weapon and next secondary weapon.

To do this, I use a slightly enhanced startup script, which I put in ~/bin (this directory is in my path), together with a customized xmodmap.

* First, dump your current xmodmap :

<tt>~ $ xmodmap -pke > ~/xmodmap.current</tt>

* Then edit it with your favorite text editor. You'll see a bunch of lines looking like this :

<tt>
keycode 8 =
keycode 9 = Escape
keycode 10 = 1 ampersand onesuperior exclamdown onesuperior exclamdown
</tt>

The syntax is ''keycode <number> = <symbol list>''.

Use '''xev''' to scan the keycodes. The symbols are defined in ''/usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h''. Just make sure you write them without the ''XK_'' prefix. You'll find more information about xmodmap in the xmodmap manual page.

Just modify the keys you need, and be patient. This can be a long process. Test it with xmodmap :

<tt>~ $ xmodmap - < <filename></tt>

But don't forget to have your previous keymap at hand to recover your settings !
If you mess everything up, just restart X. Your default keymap will be applied from the X configuration.

Here is my own fs2 xmodmap, derived from fr-latin1 as described above. Feel free to use it if you're too lazy to modify your own. However, it may not fit with your needs. You may always use it as an exemple, thougt.
* http://clement.hermann.free.fr/fs2/xmodmap

Then, when the file is modified at your liking, just save it as '''~/.fs2_open/xmodmap'''

We'll start fs2_open with a slightly more elaborate startup script which will backup/apply/restore the keymap in addition of running the games with some options in the right directory.

<tt>
#!/bin/sh
# This script lauches fs2. If there is a file named $FS2_modmap (see below),
# backup the current modmap as $TMP_modmap and load it as the new modmap.
# The current modmap will be restored afterwards.

TMP_modmap="$HOME/xmodmap.tmp"
FS2_modmap="$HOME/.fs2_open/xmodmap"

FS2_OPEN_DIR=/usr/local/games/fs2_open

FS2_ARGS="-glow -spec -spec_exp 11 -spec_point 0.6 -spec_static 0.8 -spec_tube 0.4 -fps -jpgtga -ambient_factor 75 -targetinfo -nograb"

FS2_BIN="$FS2_OPEN_DIR/fs2_open_r"

die() {
echo "** Fatal error : $1" >&2
exit 1
}

cd $FS2_OPEN_DIR || die "Could not change directory to $FS2_OPEN_DIR"

# dump current xmodmap
[ -f "$FS2_modmap" ] && xmodmap -pke > $TMP_modmap

# load xmodmap
[ -f "$FS2_modmap" ] && xmodmap - < $FS2_modmap

# prepare to restore xmodmap on crash or exit
trap "xmodmap - < $TMP_modmap && rm $TMP_modmap" 0 2 3 4 9 11 15

# launch fs2
$FS2_BIN $FS2_ARGS $* || die "Error while running \"$FS2_BIN\" with arguments \"$FS2_ARGS\" ($?)"
</tt>

Adapt this script to your needs, and save it somewhere in your PATH - I for exemple use ''~/bin/freespace2''. Make it executable with chmod +x ''<file>''

That's it, now you can use fs2 with full control over your keyboard.

=== fs2_open dedicated X display ===
A good way of running games on Linux is having them run on a separate X display. The display you are most likely using now when reading this is 0:0. This display is normally used for whatever Window Manager/Desktop Environment(KDE,Gnome,*box,E) you've chosen. Sometimes fs2_open freezes and locks your X. This is of course very annoying as you have to CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE to kill the X server, and in that, killing whatever program you had running besides fs2_open. The solution to this is to tell X to start fs2_open on another display. To to this we first need to tell X that you,the user on localhost, holds the permission to run on another display.
In a terminal, enter (NOT as root):
$ xauth list
A list that looks something like this should appear.
myuser@localhost ~ $ xauth list
localhost/unix:'''0''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
Let's look at that line, first up is your localhost, then unix, and last the display number,:0 (in bold). The rest is not really of interest.
Copy the whole line, but change the display value to 1 and paste it after the command ''xauth add'', like this:
$ xauth add localhost/unix:'''1''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
Run xauth list again. You should see a new entry.
myuser@localhost ~ $ xauth list
localhost/unix:'''0''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
localhost/unix:'''1''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
You now have permission to use display 1:0.
To start fs2_open in that display, use xinit.
$ xinit /path/to/fs2_open_r -foo -bar -- :1
The ''-- :1'' tells X that we want to start fs2_open on display 1. 
You can switch between display 0 and 1 with CTRL+ALT+F7 and CTRL+ALT+F8 respectively.
''If someone knows of a good method to start fs2 on a second X display from an xterm without changing Xwrapper.config, please report it here.''

''A solution might be running xinit as root with sudo, and drop the root privileges in the startup script... Didn't tried, though.'' -- nodens

''xgame / xgame-gtk2 may be of use to achieve this as normal user, see http://xgame.tlhiv.org/ '' -- Lone_Wolf
==== The "user not authorized" Error ====

If you try this from an virtual terminal from within X11 and obtain the error:
X: user not authorized to run the X server, aborting.
It has been reported that on Ubuntu systems, the file /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config contains this line:
allowed_users=console
This setting specifies that the X server(s) can only be started from console(TTY).
A possible solution is to change the allowed_users in the Xwrapper.config file to:
allowed_users=anybody
'''Please note that this undermines X security.'''
See man Xwrapper.config for more details.
[[Category:Source Code Project]]

Installing fs2 open

2007-04-07T21:19:07Z

Turey: Editing to Installer Section

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.

== Quick Start: Using the Online Installer ==

You can use the excellent installer by Turey, that should give you a baseline of everything you need to play. The rest of this guide is full of information if you want to start tweaking things, or tackle things manually. However, for most players, you can stop with this step.

[http://www.fsoinstaller.com/files/installer/FreeSpaceOpenInstaller.zip Windows Installer (Zipped .exe, 19 MB)] (Doesn't need Java, get this one if you are unsure and are using Windows)

[http://www.fsoinstaller.com/files/installer/java/FreeSpaceOpenInstaller.jar Win/Linux/Mac Installer (.jar, 26 KB)] (Requires Java 1.5)

You can also get the Installer [http://www.fsoinstaller.com/files/installer/java/ source code here.]

This Installer is known to work on Windows, Linux(tested on Gentoo and Fedora, should work on others), and Mac (OSX Panther, with a hacked install of Java 1.5)

The most recent Installer includes:

* Retail Freespace 2
* FreeSpace Open 3.6.9 Final (regular and debug)
* FRED2 Open 3.6.9 Final (regular and debug)
* Launcher 5.5a
* launcher6.ini
* Mac Executables
* Soulstorm's OSX Launcher
* fs2open_pxo.cfg
* The OpenAL Installer (optional)
* 3.6.8 Zeta MediaVPs (optional, includes the 710 patches)
* 3.6.8 Zeta adveffects (only for those with high-power systems, requires regular MediaVPs, includes 710 patch)
* .OGG Cutscenes
* Derelict SCP Version (With optional voice)
* Just Another Day 1 & 2 (separate options for each)
* FreeSpace Port
* Awakenings
* Homesick
* Transcend
* Sync

REQUIREMENTS AND NOTES
You can update your installation by simply running the Installer again. It will download files that are out of date.

The Installer requires an internet connection to install. This is because:
* It checks to see if it is out of date by pulling the number of the most recent version off of the web.
* It automatically takes you to the download page of the most recent version if your version is out of date.
* It checks that all the files are up-to-date.

Source:
[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html Original thread by Turey]

== Step One: Understanding what you need ==
There are three main components that you need to get the most out of fs2_open.

If Turey's installer is down, or if you want to assemble it all yourself, you need the following components, the rest of this guide tells you about those components and various inner workings of hte SCP:

*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 5.5 which is bundled with the FreeSpace Open 3.6.9 release but download link to is provided below.

[http://fs2source.warpcore.org/exes/Launcher55b.rar Launcher 5.5b download]

== 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. 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. Current official release is '''FreeSpace Open 3.6.9'''.

[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,44291.0.html FreeSpace Open 3.6.9 release thread]

[http://fs2source.warpcore.org/exes/3.6.9.rar Official 3.6.9 release download]

=== Recent Builds ===
Recent Builds are ones that individual coders release. 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://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/board,97.0.html Recent builds forum]

== 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.

'''Basic installation''' usually includes:

[http://fs2source.warpcore.org/mvp368zeta/mv_zpack.zip ZPack] 
[http://fs2source.warpcore.org/mediavp/mp-710_effects.rar Effects 710 patch] 
[http://fs2source.warpcore.org/mediavp/mp-710_models.rar Models 710 patch]

'''Other recommended''' downloads include:

[http://fs2source.warpcore.org/mvp368zeta/mv_adveffects.zip Advanced Effects] 
[http://fs2source.warpcore.org/mediavp/mp-710_adveffects.rar Advanced Effects 710 patch]

Mediavps should be installed in a new 'mediavps' directory under the main FreeSpace directory (\freespace2\mediavps) This preserves both possibility to play with either with retail FreeSpace 2 vp files if this is desired (for example in multiplayer) or using the retail FreeSpace 2 executive files and requires minimal extra time to set up. (See step six for further details).

[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,39905.0.html 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. With FreeSpace Open 3.6.9 '''OpenGL''' is strongly recommended over the Direct3D

"Allow non standard modes" will let you choose resolutions 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 Reference]] 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 "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]]

Guide to FS Open on Linux

2007-04-06T23:33:56Z

Turey: /* Installing the necessary development libraries */ Added FC6

''This tutorial assumes some fundamental command line knowledge. ''
''As a rule of thumb, do not copy/paste commands without understanding them, especially as root. With great power comes great responsibility.''
== Introduction ==

This page will guide you through compilation and installation of FS2_open, using the CVS code, along with the data files.
Please note that if you don't manage to build the CVS (or don't want to), binaries will be found on this thread (no 3.6.9 linux binary yet as of this writing, but they should arrive soon). You'll need probably need to read on anyway (how to get data files, starting the games, dealing with i18n issues...), but ignore what's related to building your own binary.

If you don't want to use CVS, but can't find a suitable binary, you can download an almost current (3.6.9-RC8) source release here :
http://fs2source.warpcore.org/exes/linux/fs2_open-3.6.9-RC8.tar.bz2

Also, Turey wrote a cross-platform installer (in java), which is able to download all you need for running FS2_Open except the binary (retail files, MediaVP, movies...). It can be found here : [[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html Freespace Open Installer]]. It's far more easier than extracting the data files from the retail CDs (see below).
// ''Linux binaries will be put into the Installer once taylor posts linux binaries 3.6.9 Final''

There is even work in progress on a linux launcher that you may want to try : [[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,44204.0.html Linux launcher]] (this is different from the upcoming new launcher which will be used in 3.7 fs2_open release) // ''The links in the thread are currently dead, but let's hope that will be resolved soon.''

== Installing CVS ==
CVS stands for Concurrent Versions System and is a version control system used to record the changes in documents, such as source files. Developers use CVS so they can easily share their code changes among other developers.
Be aware that when you use CVS, you use the most up-to-date code : It may or may not be better than a release. It may be worse, less stable, or not even compile. This is work in progress.

You will need this tool to download ("checkout" in CVS terminology) fs2_open from the CVS server.

'''Debian/Ubuntu''' users want to:
$ apt-get install cvs
'''Gentoo''' users want to:
$ emerge cvs
'''Novell SuSE''' users install CVS via YaST.

'''Archlinux''' users want to:
$ pacman -Sy cvs

'''Fedora Core 6 (Zod)''' (And most likely Redhat) users want to:
# yum install cvs

'''NOTE: Redhat, Mandrake/Mandriva, Slackware and all the other distros should go here too,'''
'''but we have no knowledge on how these work, so if you do, please enlighten us.'''

== Installing the necessary development libraries ==
You will also need SDL, OpenAL, libvorbis, libtheora and OpenGL(most likely provided with your video card driver) development packages. And of course the GCC compiler and required make tools.
 
'''Debian/Ubuntu''' users want to:
$ apt-get install libopenal-dev libvorbis-dev build-essential automake1.9 autoconf libsdl-dev libtheora-dev
'''NOTE:''' The ''build-essential'' meta package installs GCC4. This should work, but if you feel safer with GCC 3.4(gcc-3.4), add it to the apt-get line above. 

'''Fedora Core 6 (Zod)''' users (and most likely Redhat users too) want to:
# yum install openal-devel libvorbis-devel gcc gcc-c++ automake autoconf SDL-devel libtheora-devel

''Note : on other distributions, you'll need theora as well, so the information for Gentoo and SuSe below is outdated. if someone knows the exact package name, please edit !'' 

'''Gentoo''' users want to:
$ emerge openal libvorbis libsdl
'''Novell SuSE''' users just install the mentioned packages and the devel-packages via YaST. If this works don't read further.
SuSE maybe has some dependency problems with the game TORCS, i.e. its special version of OpenAL, so you have to make a choice. If you still want to run FS2 open, go on here http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Fs2_open_on_Linux#Compile_Errors

'''Archlinux''' users want to:
$ pacman -S freealut libvorbis sdl

'''NOTE: Redhat, Mandrake,Slackware and all the other distros should go here too,'''
'''but we have no knowlage on how these work, so if you do, please enlighten us.'''

== Installing game data files ==

This tutorial deals primarily with providing you with an executable, but in order to play the game you also need the game data. Freespace 2 game data is available from a number of sources, see this thread: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,38195.0.html (or use Turey's installer, see above for a link)

Note that if you use the retail CD, you'll need to extract the files and to copy them on your drive, reproducing the same layout as in a working win32 installation (just make sure every file is lowercase). This thread on the SCP forum has some more info on it : http://scp.indiegames.us/forum_viewtopic.php?3.282

There are two ways of doing this :
* use wine to install the game in the right directory, using the Setup.exe found on the first CD, or
* extract manually the files from the cd.

The second method is detailed below. The wine one is straightforward and you shouldn't need any specific instruction, but you'll have to fix permissions and lowercase the filename as well, so keep reading.

===Extracting data from CD===
====Installing unshield====

First, you need unshield from http://synce.sourceforge.net/synce/unshield.php

If you use debian, apt-get install unshield as root should do the trick. Else, try to find a package for your distribution, or if you don't, compile it yourself following the instructions provided on the website. Note you don't need to actually install it, just compile it and use it from the directory where you compiled it.

====Preparing directories====

* Create a directory for fs2_open, say, ''/usr/local/games/fs2_open'', with a ''data/movies'' and ''data/players'' subdirectories. Everything but user files and configuration will be in this directory. You'll probably need to be root or use sudo for most of the following commands if you use a global directory like the one in this example.

''Warning : Again, please double check the commands you run as root. A single typo could destroy your data. 'Remember what is said on the top of the page ? if not, go re-read it.''

<tt>~ $ mkdir -p /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/movies /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/players</tt>

====Extracting files====

* Use unshield to extract the groups from data1.cab (on the first cd) to a temporary directory; then move the files in your game directory :
<tt>~ $ mkdir /tmp/fs2
~ $ for group in "Basic Install Files" "Intel Anims" "Music Compressed" "High Res Files"; do unshield -d /tmp/fs2/ -g "$group" -L -j x /mnt/cdrom/data1.cab; done; mv -v /tmp/fs2/*/* /home/data/jeux/fs2_open
~ $ unshield -d /tmp/fs2/ -g "Hud Config Files" -L -j x /mnt/cdrom/data1.cab && mv -v /tmp/fs2/hud_config_files/* /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/players</tt>
* From '''both''' the second and third CDs, get the vp files and the movies files (I don't think the the .mve file are really needed; you'll need the .avi ones if you want the movies).
<tt>~ $ cp -vf *.vp /usr/local/games/fs2_open
~ $ cp -vf *.MVE /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/movies/</tt>

You may notice that some files are on all three CD; this is because the game was meant to be run with the CD in the drive. Don't worry, a copy of such a file from any of the 3 CDs will work.

=== Fixing Case and permissions ===
* You '''have''' to make sure everything is lowercase :
<tt>~ $ for file in `find /usr/local/games/fs2_open/`; do mv $file `echo $file | sed 's/$[A-Z]$/\l\1/g'`; done</tt>

* Then, fix permissions :
<tt>~ $ find /usr/local/games/fs2_open -type d -exec chmod a+rx '{}' \;
~ $ find /usr/local/games/fs2_open -type f -exec chmod a+r '{}' \;</tt>

== Using the source ==

=== CVS Checkout ===
Before you begin, make sure you have write permissions on your current working directory. Your /home/user/ directory is a pretty sure bet. I recommend that you create a permanent /home/user/src directory from which you run the CVS command, this way CVS will only update the files changed the next time you download the source and it's always nice to have things organized.

Now get the source. Run from a terminal:
$ cvs -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous@warpcore.org:/home/fs2source/cvsroot login
and then
$ cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@warpcore.org:/home/fs2source/cvsroot co fs2_open
The first cvs command tells the CVS tool to first use a password file for authentication (pserver), that you are user "anonymous" with the password "anonymous" who wants to access warpcore.org's CVS repository "/home/fs2source/cvsroot" and login. The second command tells the CVS server on which we are now connected to that we want to checkout (co) the fs2_open module.
 
==== Simple Checkout Script ====
You can use this script to simplify your checkouts, don't forget to chmod +x it.
#!/bin/bash
CVS="cvs -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous@warpcore.org:/home/fs2source/cvsroot"
MODULE="fs2_open"
BRANCH="fs2_open_3_6_9"

${CVS} co -d ${BRANCH} -r ${BRANCH} ${MODULE}

=== Pre-Compile Configuration ===

Before you compile you need to configure it for your system. In the directory you ran the CVS command from, a new directory has appear, namely fs2_open.
If your fs2_open is a completely new checkout, you will first need to run the autogen.sh script.
Run from inside your newly created fs2_open directory:
$ ./autogen.sh
autogen.sh is a script that will generate the required makefiles. You will see alot of "checking for this" and "checking for that", this is actually the "configure" script (which can be run with <tt>./configure</tt> if you need to change the options) examining and configuring fs2_open for your system. 
It is possible to give autogen.sh configure options as well, autogen.sh will pass them along to configure.

A full list of configure options can be found by running the configure script with the '--help' option.
$ ./configure --help

==== Optimizing fs2_open ====
Optimizing fs2_open might have little or no effect, or improve performance greatly, I honestly have no clue. 
A note of caution, if you are compiling a debug build, don't use the -fomit-frame-pointer CFLAG, it will make debugging impossible. 
You can specify your compiler flags with the configure script, se below.
$ ./configure CFLAGS="<your desired flags>"
If you got a Athlon-XP and want to play it safe, a good set of CFLAGS would be
$ ./configure CFLAGS="-march=athlon-xp -O3 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer"
You should read up on CFLAGS and what they do before trying anything. I recommend you read through these links. 
http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-3.4.1/gcc/Optimize-Options.html 
http://linuxreviews.org/howtos/compiling/safe-cflags/ 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFLAGS

=== Compiling ===

Run from within your fs2_open directory:
$ make
Sit back and enjoy gcc work its magic.

==== Simple Compile Script ====
It's a lot easier to use a scripts when dealing with constantly changing code. Copy and save this to a suitably named file like "compile-fs2_open", and make it executable with the command, chmod +x <name of file>
#!/bin/bash
CFLAGS="-march=athlon-xp -O2 -pipe"
CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -fomit-frame-pointer -falign-functions=64"
CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -fvisibility-inlines-hidden"
LDFLAGS="-Wl,-O1 -Wl,--sort-common -Wl,--as-needed -s"

if [ -e ./${*} ]; then
cd ${*}
if [ -e ./Makefile.in ]; then
make clean
./configure CFLAGS="${CFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="${CXXFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="${LDFLAGS}"
make
else
./autogen.sh CFLAGS="${CFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="${CXXFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="${LDFLAGS}"
make
fi
fi

You can add your options to the ./configure line. You need to give the script the fs2_open source directory, like this:
$ ./compile-fs2_open fs2_open
This makes it easier to deal with multiple source directories.

== Using the Binaries ==

When the compile is done and if all went well, a binary executable will reside in the code directory ''fs2_open_r'' or ''fs2_open_d'' if you configured for a debug build. Copy the binary to directory where Freespace2 is installed, and you're all set to go.

=== Post-Compile Configuration ===
==== Changing Your Resolution ====
Odds are, you'll want to run fs2_open in a higher resolution than the default 640x480. Unfortunately, we Linux users don't have the swank launcher app that the Windows folks do. Instead, we'll be making a couple line changes to a config file. You will need to run fs2_open once before you can make the necessary changes, otherwise you won't have a configuration directory to work with.

Open up ~/.fs2_open/fs2_open.ini with the text editor of your choice (vi, EMACS, kwrite, gedit). You'll see something like the following:
[Default]
VideocardFs2open=OGL -(640x480)x16 bit
LastPlayer=MonkeyboyS
GammaD3D=1.0

To set fs2_open to use the highest setting possible on retail Freespace 2, change the VideocardFs2open to:
VideocardFs2open=OGL -(1024x768)x32 bit
You can set this to pretty much anything you want.

=== Creating a Start Up Script ===

In order to use all of the advanced engine features of fs2_open, you'll need to start the executable with a number of command line arguments. Instead of typing them in every time you want to start the game, why not create a script that does it for you?

Create a new file named start_freespace (or whatever you like) in your home directory. Open the file in your editor of choice, and paste the following:
#!/bin/bash
cd /path/to/your/freespace/
./fs2_open_r -spec -glow -mipmap -jpgtga -orbradar -mod Media_VP

''Note: You will need to edit this script before it will work properly. The second line must point to the directory where you installed fs2_open. You can also find a more elaborated script example below in the i18n section''

The last line starts fs2_open with a number of arguments that turn on extra features. In the example, the game will use specular highlights, glow-mapping, mipmapping, jpg and tga graphic files, the orb radar, and any MediaVPs installed to the /Media_VP directory. You should edit this line to use those features that your system supports.

More information about the available Command Line Arguments can be found at the [[Command-Line Reference]]

Once you've edited the file to your heart's content, make it executable:
$ chmod +x start_freespace

You can now type in start_freespace to start the game, or by clicking on start_freespace in your window manager. For convenience, you can copy it to your Desktop.

[http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Command-Line_Reference See this] for more command line options.

==== Advanced Startup Script ====
This is nothing fancy, but it's all the command line options in a file.
#!/bin/bash
# Graphics
CMDLINE="-spec -env -glow -jpgtga -mipmap -2d_poof -missile_lighting"
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -ambient_factor 75 -spec_exp 11 -spec_point 0.6"
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -spec_static 0.8 -spec_tube 0.4"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -pcx32 -cell -nomotiondebris -noscalevid -rlm -clipdist"
# Game Speed
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -cache_bitmaps"
#CMDLINE=$CMDLINE -img2dds -no_vsync"
# HUD
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -targetinfo -orbradar -ballistic_gauge -rearm_timer"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -dualscanlines"
# Gameplay
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -ship_choice_3d -3dwarp -warp_flash -fov 0.39"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -UseNewAI -tbp -wcsaga"
# Audio
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -snd_preload"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -nosound -nomusic"
# Multiplayer
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -standalone -startgame -closed -restricted"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -multilog -clientdamage -mpnoreturn"
# Troubleshooting
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -oldfire -nohtl -no_set_gamma -nomovies -noparseerrors"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -safeloading -query_speech -d3d_bad_tsys -novbo -noibx -loadallweps"
# Experimental
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -alpha_env"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -decals -ingame_join"
# Development Tools
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -fps"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -pos -window -timerbar -coords -pofspew -tablecrcs -missioncrcs"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -dis_collisions -dis_weapons -output_sexps"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -output_scripting -nograb -show_mem_usage -stats"
# Mod
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -mod mv368zeta"
./fs2_open_r $CMDLINE

== Troubleshooting ==
=== Compile Errors ===
==== Novell SuSE and the dependencies ====

If your SuSE gives you some errors like this, during the compile process, your OpenAL version is too old or corrupted.
sound/ds.cpp: In function 'int ds_init(int, int, unsigned int, short unsigned int)':
sound/ds.cpp:1790: error: invalid conversion from 'const char*' to 'const ALubyte*'
sound/ds.cpp:1790: error: initializing argument 1 of 'ALboolean alIsExtensionPresent(const ALubyte*)'
You have to remove all OpenAL-packages via YaST, you may also want to remove TORCS, too, it won't run anymore after this.
Unfortunately there is no repository with a newer version for this distro, yet, so you have to use a source-package for Fedora. You get it here http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/extras/5/SRPMS/openal-0.0.9-0.6.20060204cvs.fc5.src.rpm
The version may change, so you better check this.
Now make sure, that TexInfo is installed. Then enter:
$ rpmbuild --rebuild --target=i686 <name-of-your-package>.fc5.src.rpm
If it builds without errors, you will find an OpenAL*.rpm and an OpenAL*-devel.rpm in <tt>/usr/src/packages/RPMS/i686/</tt>. Install both and go back to your fs_open directory again. Cause the environment has changed now, you better type:
$ make clean
$ ./configure [options]
$ make
Then you're done.

==== SDL: undefined reference to... ====

This is a SDL installing issue, since it's trying to link against the static lib and not the dynamic one.
First check where <tt>/usr/lib/libSDL.so</tt> is linked to, then search this very file.
$ ls -l /usr/lib/libSDL.so
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 28 2006-09-06 00:10 /usr/lib/libSDL.so -> /usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.1
$ ls /usr/lib/ | grep libSDL-1.2.so.0.7
libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.2
If they are not the same (like in this case), you just make a new link. Type as root:
# ln -s /usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.2 /usr/lib/libSDL.so
Of course you must change some figures, so it matches on your system.

==== Missing -lGLU compile error ====

On some Linux distributions (''Slackware'' for instance), compiling fails because a GL related library doesn't have a link in the <tt>/usr/lib</tt> directory. If the compile fails because it can't find <tt>-lGLU</tt>, here are two ways to fix it:

===== Solution as Root =====

If you have root access to the system, you can create a link to the library in question with just a little bit of command line magic. Go to a console and enter:

$ ln -s /usr/X11R6/lib/libGLU.so /usr/lib/libGLU.so

After that, you can run make again and it should finish compiling.

===== Solution as a Non-Root user =====

You don't have root access? Never fear, we can still fix the problem. It'll just be a tad more difficult.

Navigate to the <tt>fs2_open/code</tt> directory and locate a file named <tt>Makefile</tt> (not Makefile.rm or Makefile.in or Makefile.anything). Open it in your favorite text editor and make the following changes.

Find this line (line 457 in mine):
FS2_LDFLAGS = -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lGLU -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile

And replace it with this:
FS2_LDFLAGS = -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lGLU

Also find this one (line 565 in mine):
AM_LDFLAGS = -g -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lGLU -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile

And replace it with this:
AM_LDFLAGS = -g -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lGLU

Then run <tt>make</tt> from the <tt>fs2_open</tt> directory, and watch the magic happen.

==== glBindBufferARB feature missing ====
''If this is the actual solution to this problem remains to be seen.'' 
''So far, only people using Debian stable are affected by this.'' 
''So we need adventurus Debian users to confirm.'' 
''I can confirm that the APT-Pinning works, can not confirm compile thou. -- ni1s'' 
checking for glBindBufferARB in -lGL... no
configure: error: *** OpenGL version does not have the required features!! (ie.glBindBufferARB()) ***
This error appears if the installed Mesa development library is to old.

On Debian stable branch the xlibmesa-gl-dev package holds version 4.3.0. 
The xlibmesa-gl-dev package on ''testning'' is version 6.9.0.

'''Possible solution:''' 
First set /etc/apt/sources.list to include the testing branch. Add:
#Testing
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian testing main non-free contrib
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US testing/non-US main contrib non-free
Your sources.list might have these lines already, if so, you should be okej.

Your /etc/apt/preferences file should look like this
Package: *
Pin: release a=stable
Pin-Priority: 700

Package: *
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-Priority: 650

Package: *
Pin: release a=unstable
Pin-Priority: 600

Add to that file:
Package: xlibmesa-gl-dev
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-Priority: 800
Note that the Pin-Priority of xlibmesa-gl-dev here is higher than the Pin-Priority on 'stable'. As a result of this APT get will prioritize the xlibmesa-gl-dev from testing and leave the rest of the system on stable.
This is called apt-pinning.

Now that APT knows what xlibmesa-gl-dev to prioritze, install it again:
$ apt-get install xlibmesa-gl-dev

If you are using nVidia's nvidia-kernel and glx packages, a simple:
$ apt-get install nvidia-glx-dev
should suffice. No need to mess around with APT-pinning.

=== Runtime Errors & Common Problems ===
==== ERROR: "Web cursor bitmap not found." ====
ERROR: "Web cursor bitmap not found. This usually means that the executable is being run outside the directory
you installed Freespace2 to. Please move the executable to that directory and try again" at graphics/2d.cpp:1402
A common error. This happens when fs2_open can't find the .vp files or that your user doesn't have the permissions to access them. If you are using a start up script([http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Fs2_open_on_Linux#Creating_a_Start_Up_Script like the one found here]) it's most likly the a permission problem.
Have your user take owenership of the .vp files, run as root:
$ chown <user> /path/to/vpfiles/ -R

=== I18n and Key mapping problems ===
''Me, being a Swede, need to use this aswell, especially for the grave key(`), but I also want to use a second X display. There is a way to tell xmodmap to use the new set of keys on the second X display, and thus eliminating the need for a temp. keymap table as it dies with the second display when exiting fs2_open, never touching the keymap table on display 0. We should dig that info up and write a super-start script. --ni1s'' 
Ok, imagine that like me you don't have an us keyboard but a french one (or anything). Well, you probably have problems mapping some keys or even using the default mapping.

Actually, the problem is fs2_open does not take modifiers into account, as it uses them internally as modifiers for keys, and it won't accept non-us charset either.

On a french keyboard layout, the numbers ''1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0'' are on the same keys than on a US layout, but you have to press shift to use them. The primary function for theses keys are ''& Ã© " ' ( - Ã¨ _ Ã§ Ã )''. These characters won't be accepted by freespace, and if you press shift to get a number, it won't work. This can be a problem, as theses keys are needed to use the communication system, and cannot be bound to anything. Also, as you won't get access some keys on your keyboard, it will be difficult to map every command on a key, or you'll have to use modifiers for nearly each key.

However, there is a solution. You can tell X to remap the keyboard before launching the game, and restore your normal keymap afterwards.

For exemple, I map 123456790 to &é"'(-è_çà keys so I can use the communication system, and I put , and ; on the Alt-Gr and Menu keys for convenience, as I binded thoses keys to next primary weapon and next secondary weapon.

To do this, I use a slightly enhanced startup script, which I put in ~/bin (this directory is in my path), together with a customized xmodmap.

* First, dump your current xmodmap :

<tt>~ $ xmodmap -pke > ~/xmodmap.current</tt>

* Then edit it with your favorite text editor. You'll see a bunch of lines looking like this :

<tt>
keycode 8 =
keycode 9 = Escape
keycode 10 = 1 ampersand onesuperior exclamdown onesuperior exclamdown
</tt>

The syntax is ''keycode <number> = <symbol list>''.

Use '''xev''' to scan the keycodes. The symbols are defined in ''/usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h''. Just make sure you write them without the ''XK_'' prefix. You'll find more information about xmodmap in the xmodmap manual page.

Just modify the keys you need, and be patient. This can be a long process. Test it with xmodmap :

<tt>~ $ xmodmap - < <filename></tt>

But don't forget to have your previous keymap at hand to recover your settings !
If you mess everything up, just restart X. Your default keymap will be applied from the X configuration.

Here is my own fs2 xmodmap, derived from fr-latin1 as described above. Feel free to use it if you're too lazy to modify your own. However, it may not fit with your needs. You may always use it as an exemple, thougt.
* http://clement.hermann.free.fr/fs2/xmodmap

Then, when the file is modified at your liking, just save it as '''~/.fs2_open/xmodmap'''

We'll start fs2_open with a slightly more elaborate startup script which will backup/apply/restore the keymap in addition of running the games with some options in the right directory.

<tt>
#!/bin/sh
# This script lauches fs2. If there is a file named $FS2_modmap (see below),
# backup the current modmap as $TMP_modmap and load it as the new modmap.
# The current modmap will be restored afterwards.

TMP_modmap="$HOME/xmodmap.tmp"
FS2_modmap="$HOME/.fs2_open/xmodmap"

FS2_OPEN_DIR=/usr/local/games/fs2_open

FS2_ARGS="-glow -spec -spec_exp 11 -spec_point 0.6 -spec_static 0.8 -spec_tube 0.4 -fps -jpgtga -ambient_factor 75 -targetinfo -nograb"

FS2_BIN="$FS2_OPEN_DIR/fs2_open_r"

die() {
echo "** Fatal error : $1" >&2
exit 1
}

cd $FS2_OPEN_DIR || die "Could not change directory to $FS2_OPEN_DIR"

# dump current xmodmap
[ -f "$FS2_modmap" ] && xmodmap -pke > $TMP_modmap

# load xmodmap
[ -f "$FS2_modmap" ] && xmodmap - < $FS2_modmap

# prepare to restore xmodmap on crash or exit
trap "xmodmap - < $TMP_modmap && rm $TMP_modmap" 0 2 3 4 9 11 15

# launch fs2
$FS2_BIN $FS2_ARGS $* || die "Error while running \"$FS2_BIN\" with arguments \"$FS2_ARGS\" ($?)"
</tt>

Adapt this script to your needs, and save it somewhere in your PATH - I for exemple use ''~/bin/freespace2''. Make it executable with chmod +x ''<file>''

That's it, now you can use fs2 with full control over your keyboard.

=== fs2_open dedicated X display ===
A good way of running games on Linux is having them run on a separate X display. The display you are most likely using now when reading this is 0:0. This display is normally used for whatever Window Manager/Desktop Environment(KDE,Gnome,*box,E) you've chosen. Sometimes fs2_open freezes and locks your X. This is of course very annoying as you have to CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE to kill the X server, and in that, killing whatever program you had running besides fs2_open. The solution to this is to tell X to start fs2_open on another display. To to this we first need to tell X that you,the user on localhost, holds the permission to run on another display.
In a terminal, enter (NOT as root):
$ xauth list
A list that looks something like this should appear.
myuser@localhost ~ $ xauth list
localhost/unix:'''0''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
Let's look at that line, first up is your localhost, then unix, and last the display number,:0 (in bold). The rest is not really of interest.
Copy the whole line, but change the display value to 1 and paste it after the command ''xauth add'', like this:
$ xauth add localhost/unix:'''1''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
Run xauth list again. You should see a new entry.
myuser@localhost ~ $ xauth list
localhost/unix:'''0''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
localhost/unix:'''1''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
You now have permission to use display 1:0.
To start fs2_open in that display, use xinit.
$ xinit /path/to/fs2_open_r -foo -bar -- :1
The ''-- :1'' tells X that we want to start fs2_open on display 1. 
You can switch between display 0 and 1 with CTRL+ALT+F7 and CTRL+ALT+F8 respectively.
''If someone knows of a good method to start fs2 on a second X display from an xterm without changing Xwrapper.config, please report it here.''

''A solution might be running xinit as root with sudo, and drop the root privileges in the startup script... Didn't tried, though.'' -- nodens

''xgame / xgame-gtk2 may be of use to achieve this as normal user, see http://xgame.tlhiv.org/ '' -- Lone_Wolf
==== The "user not authorized" Error ====

If you try this from an virtual terminal from within X11 and obtain the error:
X: user not authorized to run the X server, aborting.
It has been reported that on Ubuntu systems, the file /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config contains this line:
allowed_users=console
This setting specifies that the X server(s) can only be started from console(TTY).
A possible solution is to change the allowed_users in the Xwrapper.config file to:
allowed_users=anybody
'''Please note that this undermines X security.'''
See man Xwrapper.config for more details.
[[Category:Source Code Project]]

Guide to FS Open on Linux

2007-04-06T23:12:16Z

Turey: /* Installing CVS */ Added FC6

''This tutorial assumes some fundamental command line knowledge. ''
''As a rule of thumb, do not copy/paste commands without understanding them, especially as root. With great power comes great responsibility.''
== Introduction ==

This page will guide you through compilation and installation of FS2_open, using the CVS code, along with the data files.
Please note that if you don't manage to build the CVS (or don't want to), binaries will be found on this thread (no 3.6.9 linux binary yet as of this writing, but they should arrive soon). You'll need probably need to read on anyway (how to get data files, starting the games, dealing with i18n issues...), but ignore what's related to building your own binary.

If you don't want to use CVS, but can't find a suitable binary, you can download an almost current (3.6.9-RC8) source release here :
http://fs2source.warpcore.org/exes/linux/fs2_open-3.6.9-RC8.tar.bz2

Also, Turey wrote a cross-platform installer (in java), which is able to download all you need for running FS2_Open except the binary (retail files, MediaVP, movies...). It can be found here : [[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html Freespace Open Installer]]. It's far more easier than extracting the data files from the retail CDs (see below).
// ''Linux binaries will be put into the Installer once taylor posts linux binaries 3.6.9 Final''

There is even work in progress on a linux launcher that you may want to try : [[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,44204.0.html Linux launcher]] (this is different from the upcoming new launcher which will be used in 3.7 fs2_open release) // ''The links in the thread are currently dead, but let's hope that will be resolved soon.''

== Installing CVS ==
CVS stands for Concurrent Versions System and is a version control system used to record the changes in documents, such as source files. Developers use CVS so they can easily share their code changes among other developers.
Be aware that when you use CVS, you use the most up-to-date code : It may or may not be better than a release. It may be worse, less stable, or not even compile. This is work in progress.

You will need this tool to download ("checkout" in CVS terminology) fs2_open from the CVS server.

'''Debian/Ubuntu''' users want to:
$ apt-get install cvs
'''Gentoo''' users want to:
$ emerge cvs
'''Novell SuSE''' users install CVS via YaST.

'''Archlinux''' users want to:
$ pacman -Sy cvs

'''Fedora Core 6 (Zod)''' (And most likely Redhat) users want to:
# yum install cvs

'''NOTE: Redhat, Mandrake/Mandriva, Slackware and all the other distros should go here too,'''
'''but we have no knowledge on how these work, so if you do, please enlighten us.'''

== Installing the necessary development libraries ==
You will also need SDL, OpenAL, libvorbis, libtheora and OpenGL(most likely provided with your video card driver) development packages. And of course the GCC compiler and required make tools.
 
'''Debian/Ubuntu''' users want to:
$ apt-get install libopenal-dev libvorbis-dev build-essential automake1.9 autoconf libsdl-dev libtheora-dev
'''NOTE:''' The ''build-essential'' meta package installs GCC4. This should work, but if you feel safer with GCC 3.4(gcc-3.4), add it to the apt-get line above. 

''Note : on other distributions, you'll need theora as well, so the information for Gentoo and SuSe below is outdated. if someone knows the exact package name, please edit !'' 

'''Gentoo''' users want to:
$ emerge openal libvorbis libsdl
'''Novell SuSE''' users just install the mentioned packages and the devel-packages via YaST. If this works don't read further.
SuSE maybe has some dependency problems with the game TORCS, i.e. its special version of OpenAL, so you have to make a choice. If you still want to run FS2 open, go on here http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Fs2_open_on_Linux#Compile_Errors

'''Archlinux''' users want to:
$ pacman -S freealut libvorbis sdl

'''NOTE: Redhat, Mandrake,Slackware and all the other distros should go here too,'''
'''but we have no knowlage on how these work, so if you do, please enlighten us.'''

== Installing game data files ==

This tutorial deals primarily with providing you with an executable, but in order to play the game you also need the game data. Freespace 2 game data is available from a number of sources, see this thread: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,38195.0.html (or use Turey's installer, see above for a link)

Note that if you use the retail CD, you'll need to extract the files and to copy them on your drive, reproducing the same layout as in a working win32 installation (just make sure every file is lowercase). This thread on the SCP forum has some more info on it : http://scp.indiegames.us/forum_viewtopic.php?3.282

There are two ways of doing this :
* use wine to install the game in the right directory, using the Setup.exe found on the first CD, or
* extract manually the files from the cd.

The second method is detailed below. The wine one is straightforward and you shouldn't need any specific instruction, but you'll have to fix permissions and lowercase the filename as well, so keep reading.

===Extracting data from CD===
====Installing unshield====

First, you need unshield from http://synce.sourceforge.net/synce/unshield.php

If you use debian, apt-get install unshield as root should do the trick. Else, try to find a package for your distribution, or if you don't, compile it yourself following the instructions provided on the website. Note you don't need to actually install it, just compile it and use it from the directory where you compiled it.

====Preparing directories====

* Create a directory for fs2_open, say, ''/usr/local/games/fs2_open'', with a ''data/movies'' and ''data/players'' subdirectories. Everything but user files and configuration will be in this directory. You'll probably need to be root or use sudo for most of the following commands if you use a global directory like the one in this example.

''Warning : Again, please double check the commands you run as root. A single typo could destroy your data. 'Remember what is said on the top of the page ? if not, go re-read it.''

<tt>~ $ mkdir -p /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/movies /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/players</tt>

====Extracting files====

* Use unshield to extract the groups from data1.cab (on the first cd) to a temporary directory; then move the files in your game directory :
<tt>~ $ mkdir /tmp/fs2
~ $ for group in "Basic Install Files" "Intel Anims" "Music Compressed" "High Res Files"; do unshield -d /tmp/fs2/ -g "$group" -L -j x /mnt/cdrom/data1.cab; done; mv -v /tmp/fs2/*/* /home/data/jeux/fs2_open
~ $ unshield -d /tmp/fs2/ -g "Hud Config Files" -L -j x /mnt/cdrom/data1.cab && mv -v /tmp/fs2/hud_config_files/* /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/players</tt>
* From '''both''' the second and third CDs, get the vp files and the movies files (I don't think the the .mve file are really needed; you'll need the .avi ones if you want the movies).
<tt>~ $ cp -vf *.vp /usr/local/games/fs2_open
~ $ cp -vf *.MVE /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/movies/</tt>

You may notice that some files are on all three CD; this is because the game was meant to be run with the CD in the drive. Don't worry, a copy of such a file from any of the 3 CDs will work.

=== Fixing Case and permissions ===
* You '''have''' to make sure everything is lowercase :
<tt>~ $ for file in `find /usr/local/games/fs2_open/`; do mv $file `echo $file | sed 's/$[A-Z]$/\l\1/g'`; done</tt>

* Then, fix permissions :
<tt>~ $ find /usr/local/games/fs2_open -type d -exec chmod a+rx '{}' \;
~ $ find /usr/local/games/fs2_open -type f -exec chmod a+r '{}' \;</tt>

== Using the source ==

=== CVS Checkout ===
Before you begin, make sure you have write permissions on your current working directory. Your /home/user/ directory is a pretty sure bet. I recommend that you create a permanent /home/user/src directory from which you run the CVS command, this way CVS will only update the files changed the next time you download the source and it's always nice to have things organized.

Now get the source. Run from a terminal:
$ cvs -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous@warpcore.org:/home/fs2source/cvsroot login
and then
$ cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@warpcore.org:/home/fs2source/cvsroot co fs2_open
The first cvs command tells the CVS tool to first use a password file for authentication (pserver), that you are user "anonymous" with the password "anonymous" who wants to access warpcore.org's CVS repository "/home/fs2source/cvsroot" and login. The second command tells the CVS server on which we are now connected to that we want to checkout (co) the fs2_open module.
 
==== Simple Checkout Script ====
You can use this script to simplify your checkouts, don't forget to chmod +x it.
#!/bin/bash
CVS="cvs -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous@warpcore.org:/home/fs2source/cvsroot"
MODULE="fs2_open"
BRANCH="fs2_open_3_6_9"

${CVS} co -d ${BRANCH} -r ${BRANCH} ${MODULE}

=== Pre-Compile Configuration ===

Before you compile you need to configure it for your system. In the directory you ran the CVS command from, a new directory has appear, namely fs2_open.
If your fs2_open is a completely new checkout, you will first need to run the autogen.sh script.
Run from inside your newly created fs2_open directory:
$ ./autogen.sh
autogen.sh is a script that will generate the required makefiles. You will see alot of "checking for this" and "checking for that", this is actually the "configure" script (which can be run with <tt>./configure</tt> if you need to change the options) examining and configuring fs2_open for your system. 
It is possible to give autogen.sh configure options as well, autogen.sh will pass them along to configure.

A full list of configure options can be found by running the configure script with the '--help' option.
$ ./configure --help

==== Optimizing fs2_open ====
Optimizing fs2_open might have little or no effect, or improve performance greatly, I honestly have no clue. 
A note of caution, if you are compiling a debug build, don't use the -fomit-frame-pointer CFLAG, it will make debugging impossible. 
You can specify your compiler flags with the configure script, se below.
$ ./configure CFLAGS="<your desired flags>"
If you got a Athlon-XP and want to play it safe, a good set of CFLAGS would be
$ ./configure CFLAGS="-march=athlon-xp -O3 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer"
You should read up on CFLAGS and what they do before trying anything. I recommend you read through these links. 
http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-3.4.1/gcc/Optimize-Options.html 
http://linuxreviews.org/howtos/compiling/safe-cflags/ 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFLAGS

=== Compiling ===

Run from within your fs2_open directory:
$ make
Sit back and enjoy gcc work its magic.

==== Simple Compile Script ====
It's a lot easier to use a scripts when dealing with constantly changing code. Copy and save this to a suitably named file like "compile-fs2_open", and make it executable with the command, chmod +x <name of file>
#!/bin/bash
CFLAGS="-march=athlon-xp -O2 -pipe"
CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -fomit-frame-pointer -falign-functions=64"
CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -fvisibility-inlines-hidden"
LDFLAGS="-Wl,-O1 -Wl,--sort-common -Wl,--as-needed -s"

if [ -e ./${*} ]; then
cd ${*}
if [ -e ./Makefile.in ]; then
make clean
./configure CFLAGS="${CFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="${CXXFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="${LDFLAGS}"
make
else
./autogen.sh CFLAGS="${CFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="${CXXFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="${LDFLAGS}"
make
fi
fi

You can add your options to the ./configure line. You need to give the script the fs2_open source directory, like this:
$ ./compile-fs2_open fs2_open
This makes it easier to deal with multiple source directories.

== Using the Binaries ==

When the compile is done and if all went well, a binary executable will reside in the code directory ''fs2_open_r'' or ''fs2_open_d'' if you configured for a debug build. Copy the binary to directory where Freespace2 is installed, and you're all set to go.

=== Post-Compile Configuration ===
==== Changing Your Resolution ====
Odds are, you'll want to run fs2_open in a higher resolution than the default 640x480. Unfortunately, we Linux users don't have the swank launcher app that the Windows folks do. Instead, we'll be making a couple line changes to a config file. You will need to run fs2_open once before you can make the necessary changes, otherwise you won't have a configuration directory to work with.

Open up ~/.fs2_open/fs2_open.ini with the text editor of your choice (vi, EMACS, kwrite, gedit). You'll see something like the following:
[Default]
VideocardFs2open=OGL -(640x480)x16 bit
LastPlayer=MonkeyboyS
GammaD3D=1.0

To set fs2_open to use the highest setting possible on retail Freespace 2, change the VideocardFs2open to:
VideocardFs2open=OGL -(1024x768)x32 bit
You can set this to pretty much anything you want.

=== Creating a Start Up Script ===

In order to use all of the advanced engine features of fs2_open, you'll need to start the executable with a number of command line arguments. Instead of typing them in every time you want to start the game, why not create a script that does it for you?

Create a new file named start_freespace (or whatever you like) in your home directory. Open the file in your editor of choice, and paste the following:
#!/bin/bash
cd /path/to/your/freespace/
./fs2_open_r -spec -glow -mipmap -jpgtga -orbradar -mod Media_VP

''Note: You will need to edit this script before it will work properly. The second line must point to the directory where you installed fs2_open. You can also find a more elaborated script example below in the i18n section''

The last line starts fs2_open with a number of arguments that turn on extra features. In the example, the game will use specular highlights, glow-mapping, mipmapping, jpg and tga graphic files, the orb radar, and any MediaVPs installed to the /Media_VP directory. You should edit this line to use those features that your system supports.

More information about the available Command Line Arguments can be found at the [[Command-Line Reference]]

Once you've edited the file to your heart's content, make it executable:
$ chmod +x start_freespace

You can now type in start_freespace to start the game, or by clicking on start_freespace in your window manager. For convenience, you can copy it to your Desktop.

[http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Command-Line_Reference See this] for more command line options.

==== Advanced Startup Script ====
This is nothing fancy, but it's all the command line options in a file.
#!/bin/bash
# Graphics
CMDLINE="-spec -env -glow -jpgtga -mipmap -2d_poof -missile_lighting"
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -ambient_factor 75 -spec_exp 11 -spec_point 0.6"
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -spec_static 0.8 -spec_tube 0.4"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -pcx32 -cell -nomotiondebris -noscalevid -rlm -clipdist"
# Game Speed
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -cache_bitmaps"
#CMDLINE=$CMDLINE -img2dds -no_vsync"
# HUD
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -targetinfo -orbradar -ballistic_gauge -rearm_timer"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -dualscanlines"
# Gameplay
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -ship_choice_3d -3dwarp -warp_flash -fov 0.39"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -UseNewAI -tbp -wcsaga"
# Audio
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -snd_preload"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -nosound -nomusic"
# Multiplayer
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -standalone -startgame -closed -restricted"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -multilog -clientdamage -mpnoreturn"
# Troubleshooting
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -oldfire -nohtl -no_set_gamma -nomovies -noparseerrors"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -safeloading -query_speech -d3d_bad_tsys -novbo -noibx -loadallweps"
# Experimental
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -alpha_env"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -decals -ingame_join"
# Development Tools
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -fps"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -pos -window -timerbar -coords -pofspew -tablecrcs -missioncrcs"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -dis_collisions -dis_weapons -output_sexps"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -output_scripting -nograb -show_mem_usage -stats"
# Mod
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -mod mv368zeta"
./fs2_open_r $CMDLINE

== Troubleshooting ==
=== Compile Errors ===
==== Novell SuSE and the dependencies ====

If your SuSE gives you some errors like this, during the compile process, your OpenAL version is too old or corrupted.
sound/ds.cpp: In function 'int ds_init(int, int, unsigned int, short unsigned int)':
sound/ds.cpp:1790: error: invalid conversion from 'const char*' to 'const ALubyte*'
sound/ds.cpp:1790: error: initializing argument 1 of 'ALboolean alIsExtensionPresent(const ALubyte*)'
You have to remove all OpenAL-packages via YaST, you may also want to remove TORCS, too, it won't run anymore after this.
Unfortunately there is no repository with a newer version for this distro, yet, so you have to use a source-package for Fedora. You get it here http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/extras/5/SRPMS/openal-0.0.9-0.6.20060204cvs.fc5.src.rpm
The version may change, so you better check this.
Now make sure, that TexInfo is installed. Then enter:
$ rpmbuild --rebuild --target=i686 <name-of-your-package>.fc5.src.rpm
If it builds without errors, you will find an OpenAL*.rpm and an OpenAL*-devel.rpm in <tt>/usr/src/packages/RPMS/i686/</tt>. Install both and go back to your fs_open directory again. Cause the environment has changed now, you better type:
$ make clean
$ ./configure [options]
$ make
Then you're done.

==== SDL: undefined reference to... ====

This is a SDL installing issue, since it's trying to link against the static lib and not the dynamic one.
First check where <tt>/usr/lib/libSDL.so</tt> is linked to, then search this very file.
$ ls -l /usr/lib/libSDL.so
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 28 2006-09-06 00:10 /usr/lib/libSDL.so -> /usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.1
$ ls /usr/lib/ | grep libSDL-1.2.so.0.7
libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.2
If they are not the same (like in this case), you just make a new link. Type as root:
# ln -s /usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.2 /usr/lib/libSDL.so
Of course you must change some figures, so it matches on your system.

==== Missing -lGLU compile error ====

On some Linux distributions (''Slackware'' for instance), compiling fails because a GL related library doesn't have a link in the <tt>/usr/lib</tt> directory. If the compile fails because it can't find <tt>-lGLU</tt>, here are two ways to fix it:

===== Solution as Root =====

If you have root access to the system, you can create a link to the library in question with just a little bit of command line magic. Go to a console and enter:

$ ln -s /usr/X11R6/lib/libGLU.so /usr/lib/libGLU.so

After that, you can run make again and it should finish compiling.

===== Solution as a Non-Root user =====

You don't have root access? Never fear, we can still fix the problem. It'll just be a tad more difficult.

Navigate to the <tt>fs2_open/code</tt> directory and locate a file named <tt>Makefile</tt> (not Makefile.rm or Makefile.in or Makefile.anything). Open it in your favorite text editor and make the following changes.

Find this line (line 457 in mine):
FS2_LDFLAGS = -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lGLU -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile

And replace it with this:
FS2_LDFLAGS = -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lGLU

Also find this one (line 565 in mine):
AM_LDFLAGS = -g -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lGLU -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile

And replace it with this:
AM_LDFLAGS = -g -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lGLU

Then run <tt>make</tt> from the <tt>fs2_open</tt> directory, and watch the magic happen.

==== glBindBufferARB feature missing ====
''If this is the actual solution to this problem remains to be seen.'' 
''So far, only people using Debian stable are affected by this.'' 
''So we need adventurus Debian users to confirm.'' 
''I can confirm that the APT-Pinning works, can not confirm compile thou. -- ni1s'' 
checking for glBindBufferARB in -lGL... no
configure: error: *** OpenGL version does not have the required features!! (ie.glBindBufferARB()) ***
This error appears if the installed Mesa development library is to old.

On Debian stable branch the xlibmesa-gl-dev package holds version 4.3.0. 
The xlibmesa-gl-dev package on ''testning'' is version 6.9.0.

'''Possible solution:''' 
First set /etc/apt/sources.list to include the testing branch. Add:
#Testing
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian testing main non-free contrib
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US testing/non-US main contrib non-free
Your sources.list might have these lines already, if so, you should be okej.

Your /etc/apt/preferences file should look like this
Package: *
Pin: release a=stable
Pin-Priority: 700

Package: *
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-Priority: 650

Package: *
Pin: release a=unstable
Pin-Priority: 600

Add to that file:
Package: xlibmesa-gl-dev
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-Priority: 800
Note that the Pin-Priority of xlibmesa-gl-dev here is higher than the Pin-Priority on 'stable'. As a result of this APT get will prioritize the xlibmesa-gl-dev from testing and leave the rest of the system on stable.
This is called apt-pinning.

Now that APT knows what xlibmesa-gl-dev to prioritze, install it again:
$ apt-get install xlibmesa-gl-dev

If you are using nVidia's nvidia-kernel and glx packages, a simple:
$ apt-get install nvidia-glx-dev
should suffice. No need to mess around with APT-pinning.

=== Runtime Errors & Common Problems ===
==== ERROR: "Web cursor bitmap not found." ====
ERROR: "Web cursor bitmap not found. This usually means that the executable is being run outside the directory
you installed Freespace2 to. Please move the executable to that directory and try again" at graphics/2d.cpp:1402
A common error. This happens when fs2_open can't find the .vp files or that your user doesn't have the permissions to access them. If you are using a start up script([http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Fs2_open_on_Linux#Creating_a_Start_Up_Script like the one found here]) it's most likly the a permission problem.
Have your user take owenership of the .vp files, run as root:
$ chown <user> /path/to/vpfiles/ -R

=== I18n and Key mapping problems ===
''Me, being a Swede, need to use this aswell, especially for the grave key(`), but I also want to use a second X display. There is a way to tell xmodmap to use the new set of keys on the second X display, and thus eliminating the need for a temp. keymap table as it dies with the second display when exiting fs2_open, never touching the keymap table on display 0. We should dig that info up and write a super-start script. --ni1s'' 
Ok, imagine that like me you don't have an us keyboard but a french one (or anything). Well, you probably have problems mapping some keys or even using the default mapping.

Actually, the problem is fs2_open does not take modifiers into account, as it uses them internally as modifiers for keys, and it won't accept non-us charset either.

On a french keyboard layout, the numbers ''1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0'' are on the same keys than on a US layout, but you have to press shift to use them. The primary function for theses keys are ''& Ã© " ' ( - Ã¨ _ Ã§ Ã )''. These characters won't be accepted by freespace, and if you press shift to get a number, it won't work. This can be a problem, as theses keys are needed to use the communication system, and cannot be bound to anything. Also, as you won't get access some keys on your keyboard, it will be difficult to map every command on a key, or you'll have to use modifiers for nearly each key.

However, there is a solution. You can tell X to remap the keyboard before launching the game, and restore your normal keymap afterwards.

For exemple, I map 123456790 to &é"'(-è_çà keys so I can use the communication system, and I put , and ; on the Alt-Gr and Menu keys for convenience, as I binded thoses keys to next primary weapon and next secondary weapon.

To do this, I use a slightly enhanced startup script, which I put in ~/bin (this directory is in my path), together with a customized xmodmap.

* First, dump your current xmodmap :

<tt>~ $ xmodmap -pke > ~/xmodmap.current</tt>

* Then edit it with your favorite text editor. You'll see a bunch of lines looking like this :

<tt>
keycode 8 =
keycode 9 = Escape
keycode 10 = 1 ampersand onesuperior exclamdown onesuperior exclamdown
</tt>

The syntax is ''keycode <number> = <symbol list>''.

Use '''xev''' to scan the keycodes. The symbols are defined in ''/usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h''. Just make sure you write them without the ''XK_'' prefix. You'll find more information about xmodmap in the xmodmap manual page.

Just modify the keys you need, and be patient. This can be a long process. Test it with xmodmap :

<tt>~ $ xmodmap - < <filename></tt>

But don't forget to have your previous keymap at hand to recover your settings !
If you mess everything up, just restart X. Your default keymap will be applied from the X configuration.

Here is my own fs2 xmodmap, derived from fr-latin1 as described above. Feel free to use it if you're too lazy to modify your own. However, it may not fit with your needs. You may always use it as an exemple, thougt.
* http://clement.hermann.free.fr/fs2/xmodmap

Then, when the file is modified at your liking, just save it as '''~/.fs2_open/xmodmap'''

We'll start fs2_open with a slightly more elaborate startup script which will backup/apply/restore the keymap in addition of running the games with some options in the right directory.

<tt>
#!/bin/sh
# This script lauches fs2. If there is a file named $FS2_modmap (see below),
# backup the current modmap as $TMP_modmap and load it as the new modmap.
# The current modmap will be restored afterwards.

TMP_modmap="$HOME/xmodmap.tmp"
FS2_modmap="$HOME/.fs2_open/xmodmap"

FS2_OPEN_DIR=/usr/local/games/fs2_open

FS2_ARGS="-glow -spec -spec_exp 11 -spec_point 0.6 -spec_static 0.8 -spec_tube 0.4 -fps -jpgtga -ambient_factor 75 -targetinfo -nograb"

FS2_BIN="$FS2_OPEN_DIR/fs2_open_r"

die() {
echo "** Fatal error : $1" >&2
exit 1
}

cd $FS2_OPEN_DIR || die "Could not change directory to $FS2_OPEN_DIR"

# dump current xmodmap
[ -f "$FS2_modmap" ] && xmodmap -pke > $TMP_modmap

# load xmodmap
[ -f "$FS2_modmap" ] && xmodmap - < $FS2_modmap

# prepare to restore xmodmap on crash or exit
trap "xmodmap - < $TMP_modmap && rm $TMP_modmap" 0 2 3 4 9 11 15

# launch fs2
$FS2_BIN $FS2_ARGS $* || die "Error while running \"$FS2_BIN\" with arguments \"$FS2_ARGS\" ($?)"
</tt>

Adapt this script to your needs, and save it somewhere in your PATH - I for exemple use ''~/bin/freespace2''. Make it executable with chmod +x ''<file>''

That's it, now you can use fs2 with full control over your keyboard.

=== fs2_open dedicated X display ===
A good way of running games on Linux is having them run on a separate X display. The display you are most likely using now when reading this is 0:0. This display is normally used for whatever Window Manager/Desktop Environment(KDE,Gnome,*box,E) you've chosen. Sometimes fs2_open freezes and locks your X. This is of course very annoying as you have to CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE to kill the X server, and in that, killing whatever program you had running besides fs2_open. The solution to this is to tell X to start fs2_open on another display. To to this we first need to tell X that you,the user on localhost, holds the permission to run on another display.
In a terminal, enter (NOT as root):
$ xauth list
A list that looks something like this should appear.
myuser@localhost ~ $ xauth list
localhost/unix:'''0''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
Let's look at that line, first up is your localhost, then unix, and last the display number,:0 (in bold). The rest is not really of interest.
Copy the whole line, but change the display value to 1 and paste it after the command ''xauth add'', like this:
$ xauth add localhost/unix:'''1''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
Run xauth list again. You should see a new entry.
myuser@localhost ~ $ xauth list
localhost/unix:'''0''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
localhost/unix:'''1''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
You now have permission to use display 1:0.
To start fs2_open in that display, use xinit.
$ xinit /path/to/fs2_open_r -foo -bar -- :1
The ''-- :1'' tells X that we want to start fs2_open on display 1. 
You can switch between display 0 and 1 with CTRL+ALT+F7 and CTRL+ALT+F8 respectively.
''If someone knows of a good method to start fs2 on a second X display from an xterm without changing Xwrapper.config, please report it here.''

''A solution might be running xinit as root with sudo, and drop the root privileges in the startup script... Didn't tried, though.'' -- nodens

''xgame / xgame-gtk2 may be of use to achieve this as normal user, see http://xgame.tlhiv.org/ '' -- Lone_Wolf
==== The "user not authorized" Error ====

If you try this from an virtual terminal from within X11 and obtain the error:
X: user not authorized to run the X server, aborting.
It has been reported that on Ubuntu systems, the file /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config contains this line:
allowed_users=console
This setting specifies that the X server(s) can only be started from console(TTY).
A possible solution is to change the allowed_users in the Xwrapper.config file to:
allowed_users=anybody
'''Please note that this undermines X security.'''
See man Xwrapper.config for more details.
[[Category:Source Code Project]]

Guide to FS Open on Linux

2007-02-03T00:28:45Z

Turey: fixed links and spelling.

''This tutorial assumes some fundamental command line knowledge. ''
''As a rule of thumb, do not copy/paste commands without understanding them, especially as root. With great power comes great responsibility.''

'''Introduction :'''

This page will guide you through compilation and installation of FS2_open, using the CVS code, along with the data files.
Please note that if you don't manage to build the CVS (or don't want to), binaries my be found on this thread (no 3.6.9 linux binary as of this writing). You'll need probably need to read on anyway (how to get data files, starting the games, dealing with i18n issues...), but ignore what's related to building your own binary.

If you don't want to use CVS, but can't find a suitable binary, you can download an almost current (3.6.9-RC8) source release here :
http://fs2source.warpcore.org/exes/linux/fs2_open-3.6.9-RC8.tar.bz2

Also, Turey wrote a cross-platform installer (in java), able to download all you need for running FS2_Open except the binary (retail files, MediaVP, movies...). It can be found here : [[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html Freespace Open Installer]]. It's far more easier than extracting the data files from the retail CDs (see below).
// ''Linux binaries will be put into the Installer once taylor posts linux binaries 3.6.9 Final''

There is even work in progress on a linux launcher that you may want to try : [[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,44204.0.html Linux launcher]] (this is different from the upcoming new launcher which will be used in 3.7 fs2_open release) // ''The links in the thread are currently dead, but let's hope that will be resolved soon.''

----

== Installing CVS ==
CVS stands for Concurrent Versions System and is a version control system used to record the changes in documents, such as source files. Developers use CVS so they can easily share their code changes among other developers.
Be aware that when you use CVS, you use the most up-to-date code : It may or may not be better than a release. It may be worse, less stable, or not even compile. This is work in progress.

You will need this tool to download ("checkout" in CVS terminology) fs2_open from the CVS server.

'''Debian/Ubuntu''' users want to:
$ apt-get install cvs
'''Gentoo''' users want to:
$ emerge cvs
'''Novell SuSE''' users install CVS via YaST.

'''Archlinux''' users want to:
$ pacman -Sy cvs

'''NOTE: Redhat, Mandrake/Mandriva, Slackware and all the other distros should go here too,'''
'''but we have no knowledge on how these work, so if you do, please enlighten us.'''

== Installing the necessary development libraries ==
You will also need SDL, OpenAL, libvorbis, libtheora and OpenGL(most likely provided with your video card driver) development packages. And of course the GCC compiler and required make tools.
 
'''Debian/Ubuntu''' users want to:
$ apt-get install libopenal-dev libvorbis-dev build-essential automake1.9 autoconf libsdl-dev libtheora-dev
'''NOTE:''' The ''build-essential'' meta package installs GCC4. This should work, but if you feel safer with GCC 3.4(gcc-3.4), add it to the apt-get line above. 

''Note : on other distributions, you'll need theora as well, so the information for Gentoo and SuSe below is outdated. if someone knows the exact package name, please edit !'' 

'''Gentoo''' users want to:
$ emerge openal libvorbis libsdl
'''Novell SuSE''' users just install the mentioned packages and the devel-packages via YaST. If this works don't read further.
SuSE maybe has some dependency problems with the game TORCS, i.e. its special version of OpenAL, so you have to make a choice. If you still want to run FS2 open, go on here http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Fs2_open_on_Linux#Compile_Errors

'''Archlinux''' users want to:
$ pacman -S freealut libvorbis sdl

'''NOTE: Redhat, Mandrake,Slackware and all the other distros should go here too,'''
'''but we have no knowlage on how these work, so if you do, please enlighten us.'''

== Installing game data files ==

This tutorial deals primarily with providing you with an executable, but in order to play the game you also need the game data. Freespace 2 game data is available from a number of sources, see this thread: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,38195.0.html (or use Turey's installer, see above for a link)

Note that if you use the retail CD, you'll need to extract the files and to copy them on your drive, reproducing the same layout as in a working win32 installation (just make sure every file is lowercase). This thread on the SCP forum has some more info on it : http://scp.indiegames.us/forum_viewtopic.php?3.282

There are two ways of doing this :
* use wine to install the game in the right directory, using the Setup.exe found on the first CD, or
* extract manually the files from the cd.

The second method is detailed below. The wine one is straightforward and you shouldn't need any specific instruction, but you'll have to fix permissions and lowercase the filename as well, so keep reading.

===Extracting data from CD===
====Installing unshield====

First, you need unshield from http://synce.sourceforge.net/synce/unshield.php

If you use debian, apt-get install unshield as root should do the trick. Else, try to find a package for your distribution, or if you don't, compile it yourself following the instructions provided on the website. Note you don't need to actually install it, just compile it and use it from the directory where you compiled it.

====Preparing directories====

* Create a directory for fs2_open, say, ''/usr/local/games/fs2_open'', with a ''data/movies'' and ''data/players'' subdirectories. Everything but user files and configuration will be in this directory. You'll probably need to be root or use sudo for most of the following commands if you use a global directory like the one in this example.

''Warning : Again, please double check the commands you run as root. A single typo could destroy your data. 'Remember what is said on the top of the page ? if not, go re-read it.''

<tt>~ $ mkdir -p /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/movies /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/players</tt>

====Extracting files====

* Use unshield to extract the groups from data1.cab (on the first cd) to a temporary directory; then move the files in your game directory :
<tt>~ $ mkdir /tmp/fs2
~ $ for group in "Basic Install Files" "Intel Anims" "Music Compressed" "High Res Files"; do unshield -d /tmp/fs2/ -g "$group" -L -j x /mnt/cdrom/data1.cab; done; mv -v /tmp/fs2/*/* /home/data/jeux/fs2_open
~ $ unshield -d /tmp/fs2/ -g "Hud Config Files" -L -j x /mnt/cdrom/data1.cab && mv -v /tmp/fs2/hud_config_files/* /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/players</tt>
* From '''both''' the second and third CDs, get the vp files and the movies files (I don't think the the .mve file are really needed; you'll need the .avi ones if you want the movies).
<tt>~ $ cp -vf *.vp /usr/local/games/fs2_open
~ $ cp -vf *.MVE /usr/local/games/fs2_open/data/movies/</tt>

You may notice that some files are on all three CD; this is because the game was meant to be run with the CD in the drive. Don't worry, a copy of such a file from any of the 3 CDs will work.

=== Fixing Case and permissions ===
* You '''have''' to make sure everything is lowercase :
<tt>~ $ for file in `find /usr/local/games/fs2_open/`; do mv $file `echo $file | sed 's/$[A-Z]$/\l\1/g'`; done</tt>

* Then, fix permissions :
<tt>~ $ find /usr/local/games/fs2_open -type d -exec chmod a+rx '{}' \;
~ $ find /usr/local/games/fs2_open -type f -exec chmod a+r '{}' \;</tt>

== Using the source ==

=== CVS Checkout ===
Before you begin, make sure you have write permissions on your current working directory. Your /home/user/ directory is a pretty sure bet. I recommend that you create a permanent /home/user/src directory from which you run the CVS command, this way CVS will only update the files changed the next time you download the source and it's always nice to have things organized.

Now get the source. Run from a terminal:
$ cvs -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous@warpcore.org:/home/fs2source/cvsroot login
and then
$ cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@warpcore.org:/home/fs2source/cvsroot co fs2_open
The first cvs command tells the CVS tool to first use a password file for authentication (pserver), that you are user "anonymous" with the password "anonymous" who wants to access warpcore.org's CVS repository "/home/fs2source/cvsroot" and login. The second command tells the CVS server on which we are now connected to that we want to checkout (co) the fs2_open module.
 
==== Simple Checkout Script ====
You can use this script to simplify your checkouts, don't forget to chmod +x it.
#!/bin/bash
CVS="cvs -d:pserver:anonymous:anonymous@warpcore.org:/home/fs2source/cvsroot"
MODULE="fs2_open"
BRANCH="fs2_open_3_6_9"

${CVS} co -r ${BRANCH} ${MODULE}

=== Pre-Compile Configuration ===

Before you compile you need to configure it for your system. In the directory you ran the CVS command from, a new directory has appear, namely fs2_open.
If your fs2_open is a completely new checkout, you will first need to run the autogen.sh script.
Run from inside your newly created fs2_open directory:
$ ./autogen.sh
autogen.sh is a script that will generate the required makefiles. You will see alot of "checking for this" and "checking for that", this is actually the "configure" script (which can be run with <tt>./configure</tt> if you need to change the options) examining and configuring fs2_open for your system. 
It is possible to give autogen.sh configure options as well, autogen.sh will pass them along to configure.

A full list of configure options can be found by running the configure script with the '--help' option.
$ ./configure --help

==== Optimizing fs2_open ====
Optimizing fs2_open might have little or no effect, or improve performance greatly, I honestly have no clue. 
A note of caution, if you are compiling a debug build, don't use the -fomit-frame-pointer CFLAG, it will make debugging impossible. 
You can specify your compiler flags with the configure script, se below.
$ ./configure CFLAGS="<your desired flags>"
If you got a Athlon-XP and want to play it safe, a good set of CFLAGS would be
$ ./configure CFLAGS="-march=athlon-xp -O3 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer"
You should read up on CFLAGS and what they do before trying anything. I recommend you read through these links. 
http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-3.4.1/gcc/Optimize-Options.html 
http://linuxreviews.org/howtos/compiling/safe-cflags/ 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFLAGS

=== Compiling ===

Run from within your fs2_open directory:
$ make
Sit back and enjoy gcc work its magic.

==== Simple Compile Script ====
It's a lot easier to use a scripts when dealing with constantly changing code. Copy and save this to a suitably named file like "compile-fs2_open", and make it executable with the command, chmod +x <name of file>
#!/bin/bash
# MY_CFLAGS="-march=athlon-xp -O2 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer -falign-functions=64"
# MY_CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -fvisibility-inlines-hidden"
# MY_LDFLAGS="-Wl,-O1 -Wl,--sort-common -Wl,--as-needed -s"
if [ -e ./${*} ]; then
cd ${*}
if [ -e ./Makefile.in ]; then
make clean
./configure CFLAGS="${MY_CFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="${MY_CFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="${MY_LDFLAGS}"
make
else
./autogen.sh CFLAGS="${MY_CFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="${MY_CFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="${MY_LDFLAGS}"
make
fi
fi
You can add your options to the ./configure line. You need to give the script the fs2_open source directory, like this:
$ ./compile-fs2_open fs2_open
This makes it easier to deal with multiple source directories.

== Using the Binaries ==

When the compile is done and if all went well, a binary executable will reside in the code directory ''fs2_open_r'' or ''fs2_open_d'' if you configured for a debug build. Copy the binary to directory where Freespace2 is installed, and you're all set to go.

=== Post-Compile Configuration ===
==== Changing Your Resolution ====
Odds are, you'll want to run fs2_open in a higher resolution than the default 640x480. Unfortunately, we Linux users don't have the swank launcher app that the Windows folks do. Instead, we'll be making a couple line changes to a config file. You will need to run fs2_open once before you can make the necessary changes, otherwise you won't have a configuration directory to work with.

Open up ~/.fs2_open/fs2_open.ini with the text editor of your choice (vi, EMACS, kwrite, gedit). You'll see something like the following:
[Default]
VideocardFs2open=OGL -(640x480)x16 bit
LastPlayer=MonkeyboyS
GammaD3D=1.0

To set fs2_open to use the highest setting possible on retail Freespace 2, change the VideocardFs2open to:
VideocardFs2open=OGL -(1024x768)x32 bit
You can set this to pretty much anything you want.

=== Creating a Start Up Script ===

In order to use all of the advanced engine features of fs2_open, you'll need to start the executable with a number of command line arguments. Instead of typing them in every time you want to start the game, why not create a script that does it for you?

Create a new file named start_freespace (or whatever you like) in your home directory. Open the file in your editor of choice, and paste the following:
#!/bin/bash
cd /path/to/your/freespace/
./fs2_open_r -spec -glow -mipmap -jpgtga -orbradar -mod Media_VP

''Note: You will need to edit this script before it will work properly. The second line must point to the directory where you installed fs2_open. You can also find a more elaborated script example below in the i18n section''

The last line starts fs2_open with a number of arguments that turn on extra features. In the example, the game will use specular highlights, glow-mapping, mipmapping, jpg and tga graphic files, the orb radar, and any MediaVPs installed to the /Media_VP directory. You should edit this line to use those features that your system supports.

More information about the available Command Line Arguments can be found at the [[Command-Line Reference]]

Once you've edited the file to your heart's content, make it executable:
$ chmod +x start_freespace

You can now type in start_freespace to start the game, or by clicking on start_freespace in your window manager. For convenience, you can copy it to your Desktop.

[http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Command-Line_Reference See this] for more command line options.

==== Advanced Startup Script ====
This is nothing fancy, but it's all the command line options in a file.
#!/bin/bash
# Graphics
CMDLINE="-spec -env -glow -jpgtga -mipmap -2d_poof -missile_lighting"
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -ambient_factor 75 -spec_exp 11 -spec_point 0.6"
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -spec_static 0.8 -spec_tube 0.4"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -pcx32 -cell -nomotiondebris -noscalevid -rlm -clipdist"
# Game Speed
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -cache_bitmaps"
#CMDLINE=$CMDLINE -img2dds -no_vsync"
# HUD
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -targetinfo -orbradar -ballistic_gauge -rearm_timer"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -dualscanlines"
# Gameplay
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -ship_choice_3d -3dwarp -warp_flash -fov 0.39"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -UseNewAI -tbp -wcsaga"
# Audio
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -snd_preload"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -nosound -nomusic"
# Multiplayer
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -standalone -startgame -closed -restricted"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -multilog -clientdamage -mpnoreturn"
# Troubleshooting
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -oldfire -nohtl -no_set_gamma -nomovies -noparseerrors"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -safeloading -query_speech -d3d_bad_tsys -novbo -noibx -loadallweps"
# Experimental
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -alpha_env"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -decals -ingame_join"
# Development Tools
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -fps"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -pos -window -timerbar -coords -pofspew -tablecrcs -missioncrcs"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -dis_collisions -dis_weapons -output_sexps"
#CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -output_scripting -nograb -show_mem_usage -stats"
# Mod
CMDLINE="$CMDLINE -mod mv368zeta"
./fs2_open_r $CMDLINE

== Troubleshooting ==
=== Compile Errors ===
==== Novell SuSE and the dependencies ====

If your SuSE gives you some errors like this, during the compile process, your OpenAL version is too old or corrupted.
sound/ds.cpp: In function 'int ds_init(int, int, unsigned int, short unsigned int)':
sound/ds.cpp:1790: error: invalid conversion from 'const char*' to 'const ALubyte*'
sound/ds.cpp:1790: error: initializing argument 1 of 'ALboolean alIsExtensionPresent(const ALubyte*)'
You have to remove all OpenAL-packages via YaST, you may also want to remove TORCS, too, it won't run anymore after this.
Unfortunately there is no repository with a newer version for this distro, yet, so you have to use a source-package for Fedora. You get it here http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/extras/5/SRPMS/openal-0.0.9-0.6.20060204cvs.fc5.src.rpm
The version may change, so you better check this.
Now make sure, that TexInfo is installed. Then enter:
$ rpmbuild --rebuild --target=i686 <name-of-your-package>.fc5.src.rpm
If it builds without errors, you will find an OpenAL*.rpm and an OpenAL*-devel.rpm in <tt>/usr/src/packages/RPMS/i686/</tt>. Install both and go back to your fs_open directory again. Cause the environment has changed now, you better type:
$ make clean
$ ./configure [options]
$ make
Then you're done.

==== SDL: undefined reference to... ====

This is a SDL installing issue, since it's trying to link against the static lib and not the dynamic one.
First check where <tt>/usr/lib/libSDL.so</tt> is linked to, then search this very file.
$ ls -l /usr/lib/libSDL.so
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 28 2006-09-06 00:10 /usr/lib/libSDL.so -> /usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.1
$ ls /usr/lib/ | grep libSDL-1.2.so.0.7
libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.2
If they are not the same (like in this case), you just make a new link. Type as root:
# ln -s /usr/lib/libSDL-1.2.so.0.7.2 /usr/lib/libSDL.so
Of course you must change some figures, so it matches on your system.

==== Missing -lGLU compile error ====

On some Linux distributions (''Slackware'' for instance), compiling fails because a GL related library doesn't have a link in the <tt>/usr/lib</tt> directory. If the compile fails because it can't find <tt>-lGLU</tt>, here are two ways to fix it:

===== Solution as Root =====

If you have root access to the system, you can create a link to the library in question with just a little bit of command line magic. Go to a console and enter:

$ ln -s /usr/X11R6/lib/libGLU.so /usr/lib/libGLU.so

After that, you can run make again and it should finish compiling.

===== Solution as a Non-Root user =====

You don't have root access? Never fear, we can still fix the problem. It'll just be a tad more difficult.

Navigate to the <tt>fs2_open/code</tt> directory and locate a file named <tt>Makefile</tt> (not Makefile.rm or Makefile.in or Makefile.anything). Open it in your favorite text editor and make the following changes.

Find this line (line 457 in mine):
FS2_LDFLAGS = -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lGLU -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile

And replace it with this:
FS2_LDFLAGS = -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lGLU

Also find this one (line 565 in mine):
AM_LDFLAGS = -g -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lGLU -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile

And replace it with this:
AM_LDFLAGS = -g -L/usr/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/lib -lSDL -lpthread -lGL -lopenal -logg -lvorbis -lvorbisfile -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lGLU

Then run <tt>make</tt> from the <tt>fs2_open</tt> directory, and watch the magic happen.

==== glBindBufferARB feature missing ====
''If this is the actual solution to this problem remains to be seen.'' 
''So far, only people using Debian stable are affected by this.'' 
''So we need adventurus Debian users to confirm.'' 
''I can confirm that the APT-Pinning works, can not confirm compile thou. -- ni1s'' 
checking for glBindBufferARB in -lGL... no
configure: error: *** OpenGL version does not have the required features!! (ie.glBindBufferARB()) ***
This error appears if the installed Mesa development library is to old.

On Debian stable branch the xlibmesa-gl-dev package holds version 4.3.0. 
The xlibmesa-gl-dev package on ''testning'' is version 6.9.0.

'''Possible solution:''' 
First set /etc/apt/sources.list to include the testing branch. Add:
#Testing
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian testing main non-free contrib
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US testing/non-US main contrib non-free
Your sources.list might have these lines already, if so, you should be okej.

Your /etc/apt/preferences file should look like this
Package: *
Pin: release a=stable
Pin-Priority: 700

Package: *
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-Priority: 650

Package: *
Pin: release a=unstable
Pin-Priority: 600

Add to that file:
Package: xlibmesa-gl-dev
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-Priority: 800
Note that the Pin-Priority of xlibmesa-gl-dev here is higher than the Pin-Priority on 'stable'. As a result of this APT get will prioritize the xlibmesa-gl-dev from testing and leave the rest of the system on stable.
This is called apt-pinning.

Now that APT knows what xlibmesa-gl-dev to prioritze, install it again:
$ apt-get install xlibmesa-gl-dev

If you are using nVidia's nvidia-kernel and glx packages, a simple:
$ apt-get install nvidia-glx-dev
should suffice. No need to mess around with APT-pinning.

=== Runtime Errors and common problems ===
==== ERROR: "Web cursor bitmap not found." ====
ERROR: "Web cursor bitmap not found. This usually means that the executable is being run outside the directory
you installed Freespace2 to. Please move the executable to that directory and try again" at graphics/2d.cpp:1402
A common error. This happens when fs2_open can't find the .vp files or that your user doesn't have the permissions to access them. If you are using a start up script([http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Fs2_open_on_Linux#Creating_a_Start_Up_Script like the one found here]) it's most likly the a permission problem.
Have your user take owenership of the .vp files, run as root:
$ chown <user> /path/to/vpfiles/ -R

=== I18n and Key mapping problems ===
''Me, being a Swede, need to use this aswell, especially for the grave key(`), but I also want to use a second X display. There is a way to tell xmodmap to use the new set of keys on the second X display, and thus eliminating the need for a temp. keymap table as it dies with the second display when exiting fs2_open, never touching the keymap table on display 0. We should dig that info up and write a super-start script. --ni1s'' 
Ok, imagine that like me you don't have an us keyboard but a french one (or anything). Well, you probably have problems mapping some keys or even using the default mapping.

Actually, the problem is fs2_open does not take modifiers into account, as it uses them internally as modifiers for keys, and it won't accept non-us charset either.

On a french keyboard layout, the numbers ''1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0'' are on the same keys than on a US layout, but you have to press shift to use them. The primary function for theses keys are ''& Ã© " ' ( - Ã¨ _ Ã§ Ã )''. These characters won't be accepted by freespace, and if you press shift to get a number, it won't work. This can be a problem, as theses keys are needed to use the communication system, and cannot be bound to anything. Also, as you won't get access some keys on your keyboard, it will be difficult to map every command on a key, or you'll have to use modifiers for nearly each key.

However, there is a solution. You can tell X to remap the keyboard before launching the game, and restore your normal keymap afterwards.

For exemple, I map 123456790 to &é"'(-è_çà keys so I can use the communication system, and I put , and ; on the Alt-Gr and Menu keys for convenience, as I binded thoses keys to next primary weapon and next secondary weapon.

To do this, I use a slightly enhanced startup script, which I put in ~/bin (this directory is in my path), together with a customized xmodmap.

* First, dump your current xmodmap :

<tt>~ $ xmodmap -pke > ~/xmodmap.current</tt>

* Then edit it with your favorite text editor. You'll see a bunch of lines looking like this :

<tt>
keycode 8 =
keycode 9 = Escape
keycode 10 = 1 ampersand onesuperior exclamdown onesuperior exclamdown
</tt>

The syntax is ''keycode <number> = <symbol list>''.

Use '''xev''' to scan the keycodes. The symbols are defined in ''/usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h''. Just make sure you write them without the ''XK_'' prefix. You'll find more information about xmodmap in the xmodmap manual page.

Just modify the keys you need, and be patient. This can be a long process. Test it with xmodmap :

<tt>~ $ xmodmap - < <filename></tt>

But don't forget to have your previous keymap at hand to recover your settings !
If you mess everything up, just restart X. Your default keymap will be applied from the X configuration.

Here is my own fs2 xmodmap, derived from fr-latin1 as described above. Feel free to use it if you're too lazy to modify your own. However, it may not fit with your needs. You may always use it as an exemple, thougt.
* http://clement.hermann.free.fr/fs2/xmodmap

Then, when the file is modified at your liking, just save it as '''~/.fs2_open/xmodmap'''

We'll start fs2_open with a slightly more elaborate startup script which will backup/apply/restore the keymap in addition of running the games with some options in the right directory.

<tt>
#!/bin/sh
# This script lauches fs2. If there is a file named $FS2_modmap (see below),
# backup the current modmap as $TMP_modmap and load it as the new modmap.
# The current modmap will be restored afterwards.

TMP_modmap="$HOME/xmodmap.tmp"
FS2_modmap="$HOME/.fs2_open/xmodmap"

FS2_OPEN_DIR=/usr/local/games/fs2_open

FS2_ARGS="-glow -spec -spec_exp 11 -spec_point 0.6 -spec_static 0.8 -spec_tube 0.4 -fps -jpgtga -ambient_factor 75 -targetinfo -nograb"

FS2_BIN="$FS2_OPEN_DIR/fs2_open_r"

die() {
echo "** Fatal error : $1" >&2
exit 1
}

cd $FS2_OPEN_DIR || die "Could not change directory to $FS2_OPEN_DIR"

# dump current xmodmap
[ -f "$FS2_modmap" ] && xmodmap -pke > $TMP_modmap

# load xmodmap
[ -f "$FS2_modmap" ] && xmodmap - < $FS2_modmap

# prepare to restore xmodmap on crash or exit
trap "xmodmap - < $TMP_modmap && rm $TMP_modmap" 0 2 3 4 9 11 15

# launch fs2
$FS2_BIN $FS2_ARGS $* || die "Error while running \"$FS2_BIN\" with arguments \"$FS2_ARGS\" ($?)"
</tt>

Adapt this script to your needs, and save it somewhere in your PATH - I for exemple use ''~/bin/freespace2''. Make it executable with chmod +x ''<file>''

That's it, now you can use fs2 with full control over your keyboard.

=== fs2_open dedicated X display ===
A good way of running games on Linux is having them run on a separate X display. The display you are most likely using now when reading this is 0:0. This display is normally used for whatever Window Manager/Desktop Environment(KDE,Gnome,*box,E) you've chosen. Sometimes fs2_open freezes and locks your X. This is of course very annoying as you have to CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE to kill the X server, and in that, killing whatever program you had running besides fs2_open. The solution to this is to tell X to start fs2_open on another display. To to this we first need to tell X that you,the user on localhost, holds the permission to run on another display.
In a terminal, enter (NOT as root):
$ xauth list
A list that looks something like this should appear.
myuser@localhost ~ $ xauth list
localhost/unix:'''0''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
Let's look at that line, first up is your localhost, then unix, and last the display number,:0 (in bold). The rest is not really of interest.
Copy the whole line, but change the display value to 1 and paste it after the command ''xauth add'', like this:
$ xauth add localhost/unix:'''1''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
Run xauth list again. You should see a new entry.
myuser@localhost ~ $ xauth list
localhost/unix:'''0''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
localhost/unix:'''1''' MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 14ec70e7c8cc835def61a04c92bbd50d
You now have permission to use display 1:0.
To start fs2_open in that display, use xinit.
$ xinit /path/to/fs2_open_r -foo -bar -- :1
The ''-- :1'' tells X that we want to start fs2_open on display 1. 
You can switch between display 0 and 1 with CTRL+ALT+F7 and CTRL+ALT+F8 respectively.

If you try this from an xterm (or a similar X terminal program) and obtain the error ''X: user not authorized to run the X server, aborting.'', the reason might be the file /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config. On my ubuntu machine, it contains the line

allowed_users=console

which means that only users logged in from a console terminal may start a new X server. However, on an xterm, you are on a '''virtual''' terminal and so the above does not work. A possibility is to change the allowed_users in the Xwrapper.config file to "anybody" (see man Xwrapper.config). However, this undermines X security. Another possibility is to start the xinit command from a console window (to which you can change with CTRL+ALT+F1-6).

''If someone knows of a good method to start fs2 on a second X display from an xterm without changing Xwrapper.config, please report it here.''

''A solution might be running xinit as root with sudo, and drop the root privileges in the startup script... Didn't tried, though.'' -- nodens

''xgame / xgame-gtk2 may be of use to achieve this as normal user, see http://xgame.tlhiv.org/ '' -- Lone_Wolf

[[Category:Source Code Project]]

FreeSpace Open Installer

2007-01-13T20:02:28Z

Turey: Updated page to reflect changes to the Installer

The FreeSpace Open Installer is an attempt to significantly reduce the difficulty of installing FreeSpace Open over a Retail FreeSpace 2 installation. The Installer was coded by Turey, originally using the [http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page NSIS] scripting language, but was re-written in Java as of December 12, 2006. The first version was released on October 16, 2006, and the latest versions of the exe and the source code can be found at [http://www.fsoinstaller.com fsoinstaller.com].

More information about the Installer can be found on [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html Hard Light Productions].

=Features=
The Installer is designed to be one-size-fits-all, so that dial-up users can have a small Installer that only installs the necessary files, while broadband users can have an Installer that downloads all the extras for them.
The Installer automatically checks to see if it is outdated, and will bring up the download page of the newest version if it is outdated.
The first version of the Installer included only the Executables and the MediaVPs. Since then, many other parts have been added and refined.

==FreeSpace Open Executables==
The Executables were originally packaged as part of the installer, which added about eight megabytes to the size of the Installer. However, as of the 3.6.9 - RC 7.9x version, the Executables have been taken out of the Installer file and are downloaded at runtime.

==OpenAL==
One of the most common problems people have installing FreeSpace Open is that they do not install OpenAL. From the first version, the Installer has had an option to download and run the OpenAL installer automatically. This feature has temporarily been disabled, but will be re-enabled in the future. In the meantime, you can get OpenAL [http://fs2source.warpcore.org/exes/latest/OpenALwEAX.exe here].

==MediaVPs==
The MediaVPs are a set of graphical enhancements to FreeSpace Open, created by the [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/board,120.0.html FreeSpace Upgrade Project]. These upgrades have been included since the first version, and as of version 3.6.9 - RC 7.9x, they use the Mod Installation System (see below).

==Mod Installation System==
The Mod Installation System is a feature that first made its appearance in version 3.6.9 - RC 7.9x. The system allows the creator(s) of a mod or campaign to include their work in the Installer, so that it can be downloaded and installed at the same time as FreeSpace Open. By interfacing with text files, the Installer can get the most recent files for each mod directly from that mod's web site. This allows mod creators to update their files at any time, without the need for a new release of the Installer.

Help with the Mod Installation System can be found at [http://www.fsoinstaller.com/modhelp.html fsoinstaller.com]

Mods and Campaigns currently included in the Installer can be found at [http://www.fsoinstaller.com fsoinstaller.com].

=Version History=
Visit the [http://www.fsoinstaller.com/changelog.html changelog on www.fsoinstaller.com].

Feature Requests

2006-12-27T23:59:22Z

Turey: moved side mounted turrets

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). The ability to do this with turrets too would be great.
* '''Supported By:''' Shadows of Lylat, Twisted Infinities

=== 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.
*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.
Requested Upgrades:
*Support for "model-relative" movement in addition to "current submodel position-relative" 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

=== 3D Muzzle Flashes ===
Support for pof based 3d muzzel flashes. perhaps also add variables for scale factor and fade speed.
* '''Supported By:''' Nukemod - Children of Shiva

=== 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, Twisted Infinities

=== Warping Without Vortex ===
Adds another checkbox to the arrival and departure cues for ships and wings, to disable rendering of the warp vortex, but will preserve all other aspescts of conventional warping, such as the arrival/departure speeds and deceleration/accelleration. Current option to disable warp rendering, will cause ship to appear and disappear without movement.
* '''Supported By:''' The Babylon Project

=== Convergence Firing ===
Also called "X-Firing", allows a weapon to have secondary source effects so that a weapon can appear to gain a charge boost from converging fire from other sources on the model. Could be either a beam or a standard primary. Would require additional data in the weapon table entry, for effects to be used and timing of the secondary prior to the main firing sequence, as well as data on the turret entry in the ships table, indicating co-ords for where the secondary effects will originate, and the number of secondary sources.
* '''Supported By:''' 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, Twisted Infinities

== Implemented ==

=== 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

'''Implemented. See [http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,43524.0.html Bobboau's Turret Build]'''

=== 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

=== Submodel Animation Triggers & Upgrades ===
*Afterburners - Performs animation when afterburners are used and undoes the anumation when they go off.
*Turret Fire - Performs animation when a particular turret is fired and undoes it before the turret can fire again.

=== Muzzle Flashes and Turrets ===
Extented support for muzzle flashes so that all turreted weapons could use the muzzle flashes.
* '''Supported By:''' Starfox mod, Twisted Infinities