SCP Installation Guide

Shivans, space crack and the SCP.

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SCP Installation Guide

PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 1:03 am

c
Posts: 363
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 5:49 pm
This guide will help you to install Freespace2 open to your computer. Keep in mind the SCP is a work-in-progress and the guide might not always be 100% up-to-date. However, this thread will be updated regularily to include any new changes.

Thread overview:

- Step1 - Install a working copy of FS2
- Step2 - Download an SCP executable and set up the launcher
- Step3 - Get important files recommended to run FS2open
- Step4 - Setting up and configuring the SCP (first-time setup)
- Step5 - Setting in-game preferences from the launcher
- Step6 - Multiplayer and FS2open
- Lighty's feature reccomendations
- How to use MODs with FS2open

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Step 1 - Install A Working Copy Of FS2

If you own a copy of Freespace 2, simply install a full install of the game and patch it to V1.2. You can then immediately proceed to step 2.

If you do not yet have a copy of Freespace 2:
Freespace 2 is available as a free download on HOTU. Click here to be taken to the HOTU Freespace2 page. Scroll down to find the download options. Once you have downloaded the game, extract the files to your (future) FS2 folder. Now, the version you downloaded is downstripped. In essence it's missing the following files:
sparky_hi_fs2.vp (Contains the Hi -Res info for FS2. You need this to play in 1024x768) - 254MB
stu_fs2.vp (Contains the voice files) - 170MB
warble_fs2.vp (Contains the music files) - 116MB
tangoX_fs2.vp (3 Files. Where X is 1 to 3. These contain the animations for the command briefings) - 311MB
smarty_fs2.vp (The animations for the tech room. Probably the file you'll miss the least) - 120MB
Movie files (The last 3 cut scenes were included but the rest are missing)
Now, while FS2 can run without these files, you might want to obtain FS2 with all of it's content in order to make full use of any SCP features. There's a couple of locations to get the missing files:
The first (and probably most reliable) source is the Freespace FTP. Click here to reach the Freespace FTP thread on HLP. There, you will find the server details and information. Currently there are two FTP servers to choose from. It is also recommended you download the file root_fs2.vp to make sure you don't run into version conflicts when playing on FS2NetD.
Alternatively, Stealth has hosted the most important files. Click here to be taken to his downloads.
On the Freespace FTP you will also find converted .avi versions of the movies, which is a recommended download (since FS2open can play these, but not the original ones). If you have downloaded root_fs2.vp, go to your Freespace2data ables folder, and delete all .tbl files in it (this is done so the game uses the updated ones from the VP rather than those from the HOTU version).
Place any downloaded VP files and movies in your main Freespace2 directory, and you should be the proud owner of a full Freespace 2 install.
Last edited by c on Sun Sep 05, 2004 12:06 am, edited 4 times in total.

PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 1:09 am

c
Posts: 363
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 5:49 pm
Step 2 - Download an SCP executable and set up the launcher

You will now need to download a SCP executable. You can find a link to a recent and tested version in the "SCP - The Files" thread. Place the file in your Freespace 2 directory.

To run Freespace 2 open, you also need the SCP launcher. Click here to download the SCP Launcher. Place the Launcher in your Freespace 2 directory as well. You will need it later to set up and configure your copy of Freespace 2 open. Do NOT run the launcher that comes with the HOTU version, since it will create a duplicate entry in the registry, which has no use at all when using the SCP.
Last edited by c on Sat Sep 04, 2004 3:11 am, edited 2 times in total.

PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 1:14 am

c
Posts: 363
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 5:49 pm
Step 3 - Get important files recommended to run FS2open

All the important files have been packaged into a FS2open core VP. Download it by clicking here.

Included are additional HUD graphics for FS2open's ballistic primary feature, various interface graphics for new SCP options, altered game files to look for the .avi rather than the .mve movies, as well as the SCP splash screen and logo. The most important things in this VP, however, are the HT&L jump node model (if you do not have this file, you will not see any jump nodes in-game), and the FS2NetD config file, which is needed to play Freespace 2 open online.

PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 1:33 am

c
Posts: 363
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 5:49 pm
Step 4 - Setting up and configuring the SCP (basic setup)

Now it's time to configure FS2open ;)

To do this, start the FS2open launcher you have copied to your Freespace 2 directory. It may be a good idea to make a shortcut to it on your desktop since you will use it every time to start FS2open. When you open the launcher, the first thing you have to do is select the SCP executable you want to use to run the game. To do so, click the Browse button in the upper right corner of the launcher. You will be taken to a file requester. Select the FS2open .exe file you have downloaded in step 2. Then hit the "Apply" button. Every time you install a new SCP executable, you will have to select it this way from the launcher.
Now that you have selected your executable, go to the video tab. Select Direct3D8 in the Graphics pull-down menu. You can run Freespace 2 open in OpenGL as well, but Direct3D is recommended, since not all features work in OpenGL yet. If you want to use Freespace2open with it's whole potential, you will have to choose Direct3D.
Now look at the little tickboxes at the bottom. If the (grey) tickbox "Highres pack (sparky_hi_fs2.vp) installed" is ticked, FS2 open successfully found the highres VP installed in your FS2 folder. If the box is not ticked but you still want to play in 1024x768, download the highres VP and place it in your FS2 folder (see Step 1).
If the tickbox is ticked, you should be able to choose between the resolutions 640x480x16, 640x480x32, 1024x768x16, 1024x768x32 (in the resolution pull-down menu). Generally, a 32bit resolution is recommended (unless you have an old computer and want to run FS2open as basic as possible), it is vital if you plan on using any new content for the SCP (as in highres textures, new effects, and other eye candy).
Once you have chosen your resolution, have another look at the tickboxes at the bottom. If you want to run FS2open with extra eye candy, tick the box "Use large textures". Also tick the box "Fix font distortion problem". This will fix font problems that occur with newer graphic cards and Freespace 2.
Enabling anti-aliasing in the launcher may cause problems with the fonts and various SCP features, so it's generally not recommended.
Switch to the Audio tab. If you have a sound card capable of EAX or Aureal 3D, select the option from the Sound Card pull-down menu. If you are unsure, or don't have a card that supports these features, leave it on default. Below, you will find the joystick settings.
If you want to play FS2open online via FS2NetD, switch to the Network tab, and fill in your connection settings.
Ignore the Speech and Registry tab. Simulated speech is not compiled into most common FS2open builds, and will thus not work in-game. The registry tab is generally not recommended unless the SCP team specifically asks you to.
You have now set the basic Freespace 2 settings. Hit apply to save them - you will never have to set them again (even if you switch executables, they will be carried over).

PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 1:56 am

c
Posts: 363
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 5:49 pm
Step 5 - Setting in-game preferences from the launcher

Now, the fun part ;)

Hit the features tab in the Launcher. Probably it will look confusing to you at first, but it's relatively easy to use, once you got the hang of it. From here, you can control ANY of Freespace 2 open's features and individually decide to turn them on or off. If you leave everything on default, Freespace2 open should act and play exactly like retail FS2.

If you enable any of these options you may need extra artwork and files. These files can be found in the thread "SCP - The Files".

You can select the feature category in the "List Type" menu. Here's a brief explanation of all features and what they do:

-spec "Enable Specular"
Enables specular highlighting (aka shinemapping)

Using this flag, FS2 ships will have a more realistic lighting applied. In any case, you should definately give it a try - it's probably the most visible change ever made by the SCP. However, if you plan on using this feature, it is recommended you install a set of corresponding shinemaps (check "SCP - The Files") for optimal looks. If no shinemap is found, Freespace 2 open will use the base texture as a shinemap, which, in some cases, can look pretty bad. This feature is definately recommended for anyone.

-glow "Enable Glowmaps"
Enables glowmaps

Using the glowmaps flag, FS2 can have a seperate layer of textures (so called glowmaps) which are rendered at full brightness all the time. This allows lights and glowing parts on ships. You will need a set of glowmaps for this flag to make any visual difference whatsoever. Check "SCP - The Files" for more information. This feature is another must - it will cause no slow-down worth mentioning but provides a vast visual upgrade.

-pcx32 "Enable 32-bit Textures"
Increases texture and interface quality - may cause slowdowns

Loads images used in Freespace into 32-bit rather than 16-bit structures, resulting in an improvement in texture and especially interface quality. Note that this does not enable 32-bit PCX file support; in order to load 32-bit textures, you must use JPG and TGA files (See -jpgtga). This flag also has no effect on ANIs. Using this flag will make images take up twice as much space as before; if you have a small amount of video card memory or RAM, this may cause slowdowns. It should also be used in conjunction with 32-bit mode, else the difference will not be easily seen. Currently this flag only works in D3D but theres no reason OGL wont follow soon.

-jpgtga "Enable jpg,tga Textures"
Allows Freespace2open to load 32-bit textures

Allows the use of JPG and TGA as well as DDS files to be loaded as textures. Obviously, this requires extra artwork, which can be found in "SCP - The Files". This is a must for people who want to use any of the new eye-candy.

-d3dmipmap "Enable mipmapping"
Better graphics quality over distances - may cause slowdowns

This flag is best used in combination with HT&L (enabled by default), it smoothes textures of 3D objects depending on how far away they are, this leads to less flickering of pixels. The disadvantage of using this is that it takes more memory because it has to generate and store smaller versions of textures used in 3D space to blend between. However once this is done far away ships need only use textures of a size that suits their distance so only small texture may be shifted in memory which will takes less time. The effect on performance will depend on the bottlenecks of your system. In most cases however, it causes a horrific slowdown. This is normally NOT recommended.

-cell "Enable Cell Shading"
Enables cellshading

Cellshading only works in software rendering mode (no HTL). Cellshading is a different lighting system for textures, making your game look like a cartoon. While not suitable for normal FS2 or most MODs, it is an interesting feature for some of the non-realistic MODs in development. Do not activate this.

-dualscanlines "Another pair of lines when scanning"
Modifies scan effect slightly

Changes the scan effect in the targeting computer to have secondary horizontal and vertical lines.

-ship_choice_3D "Enable models instead of ANI"
Actual ship models rather than ANIs are displayed in Ship Selection. Not recommended.

-targetinfo "Enable info next to target"
Shows info next to target

Shows info on the current target, such as name or type, to the right of the actual ship (if it is onscreen). This is a pretty neat feature - no harm in turning it on :)

-nomotiondebris "Disable motion debris"
Removes motion debris

Removes what appear to be small rocks, which appear during a mission. These were in vanilla Freespace 2 to give the impression of motion, but look completely unrealistic. This feature is recommended if you do not use any special debris art (see "SCP - The Files").

-2d_poof "Stops fog intersect hull"
Stops fog to intersect hull

If 2d_poof is checked, the nebula whisps (in a full nebula mission) will be rendered in 2D instead of 3D. This will prevent them from causing ugly cutting edges when you get close to larger ships. While slowing down the nebula rendering, this is an extreme boost to visual quality.

-orbradar "Enables 3D radar"
Different radar system for Freespace2open

If checked, you will have a 3D sphere as a radar, instead of FS2's 2D view. This may or may not be to your liking, best thing to do is to try it.
Last edited by c on Sat Sep 04, 2004 3:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 2:13 am

c
Posts: 363
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 5:49 pm
-snd_preload "Preload mission game sounds"
Decreases lag when a sound is played - takes up memory

Preloads sounds used within a mission. Increases performance at the cost of memory. This is recommended.

-d3d_no_vsync "Disable Vertical Synch"
Increases performance - may cause tearing

By default D3D operates in a way that safeguards drawing to the screen too soon by waiting. If the next frame is drawn too soon a graphical glitch can be obvious especially with lighting. However if really need a frame rate boost you can disable v-sync you will get a slightly faster render but it may cause glitches. Not recommended.

-pcx2dds "Compress PCX"
Converts all PCX files to DDS in order to save memory on-the-fly.

Not recommended - looks worse and causes longer loading times. Do not use this unless you have SEVERE memory problems.

-nobeampierce
Beams are effected by shields

Causes beams to impact and drain shields rather than ignoring shields and depleting the hull. WARNING: This can seriously affect balance. Do not enable this if you want to play on FS2NetD.

-radar_reduce
Specifies Maximum Radar Range

This flag takes a numeric argument telling fs2_open how far you want to max range to be. Syntax is -radar_reduce <integer>. Example would be -radar_reduce 40000 would be 40K. Obviously, you should not use this flag.

-load_only_used "Loads only used weapons"
Loads only used weapons

Loads only the weapons used in a mission, rather than every single one. However, in some missions a weapon may be fired that was not loaded; in this case, you will experience a crash-to-desktop. Do not use this flag, it's known to cause problems.

-env "Environment mapping"
Environment mapping

Backgrounds can now reflect on your ships. This especially cool looking effect is still in development. It doesn't cause any problems worth mentioning anymore, but causes a bit more slowdown than it technically should. Still, it is worth being enabled, as it looks absolutely breath taking.

-alpha_env "Uses alpha for env mapping"
Uses alpha channel for env mapping intensity

Currently, enabling this feature is a two-sided issue. It will use the alpha map of your shinemap as the environmental mapping intensity. Theres one issue with that: If the shinemap does not have an alpha map, the env map will have maximum intensity all along the hull. Bob is trying to fix it to revert to the old way (using the shinemap as an env map) if theres no alpha channel, but this is not implemented yet. This command line only works properly with any ships from Lightspeed's release files, and will look very odd with the ships that aren't updated yet. To use it properly, either wait for the complete release from Lightspeed, or for Bob to fix the issue. Lightspeed is currently working on shinemaps with environmental maps for this effect. It is, according to Lightspeed is updated every friday. More information in "SCP - The Files".

-decals "Impact Decals"
Enable impact decals

A new effect by Bobboau - whenever you hit an enemy ship you will leave a scorch mark / hole in it. This needs new tables and image files, but is pretty cool looking. There's a bit of slow-down coming along with it, though. Not recommended at this time.

Ignore the multiplayer tab, you will not need to set anything here unless you want to run a standalone or are experiencing problems with multiplayer. In the dev-tool list, you can enable "Show Frames Per Second" to get a FPS counter in-game. The rest of the developer flags are not meant for common use though.

CUSTOM COMMAND LINE FLAGS:
Any of those flags will have to be typed into the "custom flags" box, because they have user definable values.

-max_subdivide X.X "Uses TruForm to improve lighting"
Use Truform to improve lighting

Improves the models (and the lighting) on the fly, but slows down your game a lot. You will have to type this in the custom flags box, and insert a number instead of X.X. 2.5 is default (IIRC). This is NOT recommended, it causes horrific slow-downs.

-fov X.X
Set your Field of View

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

-ambient_factor X
Specify your ambient light

This is a multiplier applied to the intensity of ambient lighting. (lighting applied to all parts of a ship). FS2's standard value is 120. If you use specular highlighting (-spec) it is recommended to turn the value down to make ships look realistic. Try 75 for a good and realistic looking value. If you do NOT use shinemapping or have a dark monitor, feel free to experiment with this value. However, if you use shinemapping, 75 should do just fine. ;)
Last edited by c on Sat Sep 04, 2004 3:16 am, edited 1 time in total.

PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 2:22 am

c
Posts: 363
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 5:49 pm
Step 6 - Multiplayer and FS2open

FS2open is played over the internet via FS2NetD. The first thing you will need is a FS2NetD login. You can register your account on the FS2NetD website.

Now, make sure you have your internet connection setting set up correctly in the launcher (Network tab). Once you have done this, start your game and create a multiplayer pilot. In the FS2 multi options menu, activate "PXO", and enter your FS2NetD account details. You should now be able to connect to FS2NetD and play FS2open online. :)

"I get hacked tables errors when I try to play or connect!"
There's three reasons why this could be happening. The first, and most likely issue is that you have the FS2open media VP component sp_effects installed. Remove it and replace it with the updated mv_effects_c (see "SCP - The Files" for more info) if you still want to use the new weapon effects and play multi. If this does NOT solve your problem, you are most likely running a not up-to-date FS2open build (FS2open 3.6 is not recent enough) and will have to remove the new weapon effects entirely from your system.
The third reason is that your FS2 version is not compaible with the standard one. In this case, download the original root_fs2.vp and place it in your FS2 main directory.

Lighty's feature reccomendations

Specular Highlighting (-spec)
Glowmapping (-glow)
32-bit PCX precision (-pcx32)
32-bit textures (-jpgtga)
Dual-Scanlines (-dualscanlines)
Extra targetting info (-targetinfo)
2D poof rendering (-2d_poof)
FPS counter (-fps)
Environmental Mapping (-env)
Alpha Environmental Maps (-alpha_env) to test my releases
FOV 0.39
AMBIENT_FACTOR 75

How to use MODs with FS2open

Freespace 2 open has a new system for managing MODs. You can create so called MOD directories inside your main Freespace2 directory. As an example, let's say I want to install Blackwater Operations on my system without messing up my game's compatibility for multiplayer. I create a new directory in my main Freespace2 folder called "BWO". Inside Freespace2BWO, I create another directory called "data". Now, I will install all BWO files to Freespace2BWOdata. If i normally start Freespace2 open it will NOT find and use these files and I will be able to normally play the FS2 campaign and multiplayer. You can enable your MOD with the MOD option of the launcher. In the features tab, click on "Select MOD". Now choose the BWO folder (Freespace2BWO). When you run FS2open now, it will use the BWO files, and you will be able to play BWO. If you want to return to normal FS2 and multi, just click "No MOD" and you will have your normal FS2 back. Of course, you can set up as much MOD folder as you want with this feature.

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