[scattergg]

FSOpen is fantastic!! I played FS1 and FS2 back when they were new, and its great to play it again. 
I just want to make sure I followed all the instructions correcty.


1) I think I have v3.6.7 up and running, placing all of the .vp files into the root directory.  I downloaded "mv_zpack" which is supposed to have all the needed files, and the "amodelspatch2".   I am about 6 missions into FS2 with no errors.

2) I also wanted to get the FS1-Port running, so I created a subdirectory and put all of the FS1 .vp files in there.  When I run the launcher, I select my FS1Port directory, and all seems to work ok.  I don't get the main cutscene though, I also put that into the subdirectory.  I think this means I have FSOpen running with all vp files, along with all the FS1 VP files.  Is this the correct way to run FS1?

3) I tried a CVS build, from dec 8.  I just put the EXE into the root directory.  I didn't know the differences between the various builds, so I selected the Optimised as this is for a P4?  It crashed on one of the missions, so I am back to v367 and running fine.  I also installed OpenAL, and it appears to run fine on my turtlebeach santacruise card.

4) I have an ATI Radeon 9800pro, and I did activate shinemaps, and all seems fine.  Don't know if its working or not though.

Let me know if I missed anything.
Thanks for the help!!

[Cobra]

FSOpen is fantastic!! I played FS1 and FS2 back when they were new, and its great to play it again.
I just want to make sure I followed all the instructions correcty.


1) I think I have v3.6.7 up and running, placing all of the .vp files into the root directory. I downloaded "mv_zpack" which is supposed to have all the needed files, and the "amodelspatch2". I am about 6 missions into FS2 with no errors.

Good, although you might want to download the 3.6.8 BETA media vp's in the FS Upgrade forum.

2) I also wanted to get the FS1-Port running, so I created a subdirectory and put all of the FS1 .vp files in there. When I run the launcher, I select my FS1Port directory, and all seems to work ok. I don't get the main cutscene though, I also put that into the subdirectory. I think this means I have FSOpen running with all vp files, along with all the FS1 VP files. Is this the correct way to run FS1?

If you can play FSO, you have it installed correctly. however, you're only wasting hard drive space putting the cutscene files in the FSPort folder. FSO can't play cutscenes. The only build that can was made by Taylor, but it's not compatible with 3.6.7 AFAIK.

3) I tried a CVS build, from dec 8. I just put the EXE into the root directory. I didn't know the differences between the various builds, so I selected the Optimised as this is for a P4? It crashed on one of the missions, so I am back to v367 and running fine. I also installed OpenAL, and it appears to run fine on my turtlebeach santacruise card.

If you have a pentium 4 processor, you need to choose the P4 Optimised builds. Anything else is Standard Build. Oh, and get a new CVS build. Some of us really don't need the OpenAL installer, i just used it to fix the invalid flag file error.

4) I have an ATI Radeon 9800pro, and I did activate shinemaps, and all seems fine. Don't know if its working or not though.

It works.

Let me know if I missed anything.
Thanks for the help!!

[karajorma]

If you can play FSO, you have it installed correctly. however, you're only wasting hard drive space putting the cutscene files in the FSPort folder. FSO can't play cutscenes. The only build that can was made by Taylor, but it's not compatible with 3.6.7 AFAIK.

I'd better explain that one better. FSO won't play the original FS1 or FS2 cutscenes because they are in the .mve format. Once they are converted into .avi format they'll work just fine. Details on how to do that (or where to download .avi versions) can be found here.
 If you have all the cutscenes working except for the FS1 Intro then I suspect I know the cause. The intro needs to be named intro.avi. Some of the downloads have been renamed in order to have the FS1 and FS2 on the same website. Simply rename it back again.

I'd advise that you don't touch the 3.6.8 VPs until you can get a working CVS build. 3.6.8 VPs won't work with the official 3.6.7 build so you'll basically be trading a working FSO setup for one which doesn't work.

[StratComm]

I also want to contradict Cobra on one point.  With a Radeon card and any driver from the past year and a half, shinemaps will not work in D3D mode.  At this point though just about everyone is recommending OGL mode if it works on your hardware, so if you aren't already using that (video tab) then try changing it.  It's been much more stable and has been performng better to boot of late, so it's a win-win choice for most people.

[scattergg]

I tried opengl, but monitor refresh is stuck at 60hz.  Is there anyway to change this?

[Flipside]

Well, the refresh rate for the monitor should be adjustable from your settings (right click on an open spot on the desktop and select properties). If you mean the frame rate, I believe it's deliberately designed to max-out at 60fps or the like? You'd need one of the coders to confirm that though

[neoflame]

Poor refresh rates are more generally a problem with the OS, and not specific to FS2 or the SCP. Most popular solution (I think) is RefreshForce. Certain other programs will do it as well, including ATI Tray Tools.

[Flipside]

Nice helpful starting post, and welcome to HLP, both Neoflame and Scattergg, sorry forgot to do that last time

[taylor]

There is also a registry setting for the game which will override the system default refresh rate for OpenGL.  I highly recommend using another tool though, such as those listed by neoflame.  If that doesn't work then you can fall back on the registry setting if needed (DWORD value, "OGL_RefreshRate").  Going with the registry option provides no safety checking though and if you break anything it's your own problem.

[scattergg]

Got it all running fine now, thanks!!

[phreak]

There is also a registry setting for the game which will override the system default refresh rate for OpenGL. I highly recommend using another tool though, such as those listed by neoflame. If that doesn't work then you can fall back on the registry setting if needed (DWORD value, "OGL_RefreshRate"). Going with the registry option provides no safety checking though and if you break anything it's your own problem.

When i was making the launcher detect non-standard resolutions for OpenGL, the EnumDisplaySettings() function also returns all valid refresh rates your display adapter can support. we can use that to build a list selectable from the launcher.

[taylor]

When i was making the launcher detect non-standard resolutions for OpenGL, the EnumDisplaySettings() function also returns all valid refresh rates your display adapter can support. we can use that to build a list selectable from the launcher.

I did that once already, and fixed numerous other bugs (including the non-standard resolutions thing), but then RT released Launcher 5.3 without notice and I was rather pissed since I had been working on the various changes for over a month.  I then ditched the changes and vowed to never work on the current Launcher again.

The new Launcher I'm working on does do this though and the refresh rate, verified by the system, is settable in the UI for both OGL and D3D.  The only OGL refresh rate problem I have right now is that I still want to move to SDL for init and it doesn't allow setting the refresh rate.  I'll have to figure a way around that at some point.

[scattergg]

I am playing with multi mods, and can't find where the download link for mod.ini file specs is.  So far I created them manually with only the "secondrylist" keyword. 

[karajorma]

Here's a bunch of more advanced ones with some pictures. I've been meaning to make a better explaination of how to use multimod/mod.ini files for a while but the majority of stuff in there should be self explainitory.