Hi, i am relativley new to the Freespace 2 modding scene, and I downloaded a ship called the GTDn Archangel. It's primary cannon is a new type of beam cannon that uses some sort of mod to fire and exist. I attempted to install the files, but when i tested out a fred mission involving the ship, it crashed, so I tried another mission with out it, and it crashed again. Four files were in the download package but I dont know how to install them. Could someone who has installed it perfectly or would know how to please tell me exactly how it would be done? as my attempts have been as sucsessful as freezing water with a hairdryer.

Thankyou in advance,

Whatevermynameis.

Are you running on FS2 or FS2_Open? If it's the former is the mod definitely an FS2 Retail mod (Open mods will probably contain table features that make them break retail).

What error exactly are you getting with the crash? The generic report to MS one or something more specific?

What are the names of the files? You got the ship to work in FRED so it seems like a certainty that you've at least installed the table and the pof correctly.

I am running the Retail version of FS2, I have not considered downloading open and now knowing that it screws up some mods, wont for a long time. The mod i believe, is meant to be used with the retail version, as when I downloaded it there was no indication at all that it might have been made for SCP open.

When it crashes I am given a lot of crap about the computer being sorry for inconvienience and having to close the program, with an error report that means nothing to me. I did notice however, that it displays the FS2 logo and says- FreA(weird symbol above A)space
has had to close blah blah blah

As for the files, one is called Archangel (.Pof), one is called Dishcide(photoshop.PCXfile. and the other is called beamcannon (photoshop.PCXfile.

I am running the Retail version of FS2, I have not considered downloading open and now knowing that it screws up some mods, wont for a long time.

It's more the other way round actually. In theory any retail mod should run on FS2_Open perfectly well. The only mods that generally cause problems are old FS2_Open mods running on a newer build.

The mod i believe, is meant to be used with the retail version, as when I downloaded it there was no indication at all that it might have been made for SCP open.

When it crashes I am given a lot of crap about the computer being sorry for inconvienience and having to close the program, with an error report that means nothing to me. I did notice however, that it displays the FS2 logo and says- FreA(weird symbol above A)space
has had to close blah blah blah

As for the files, one is called Archangel (.Pof), one is called Dishcide(photoshop.PCXfile. and the other is called beamcannon (photoshop.PCXfile.

The pof file goes in Data\models, the other two in Data\maps. If you're doing that I've got no idea why it's crashing for you. Does the readme say who made it? There's been more than one Archangel released and it's hard to remember who's responsible for one particular incarnation.

I placed the Pof in models, and the PCX.8's in maps, but It still has no effect whatsoever! exept that it still closes the game. The GTDn Archangel that I am referring to is Clif "StratComm" Kerr's Archangel, hosted in the New Models section of Freespace 2 Sector on Sectorgame. Not only does the ship contain text to add to ships.tbl, it also text to be added to weapons.tbl. The main problem I am having with installing, is the fact that I do not know what file is causing the problem.

That is rather strange. Let's see if we can narrow things down a little.

Go to the table and in the $Flags entry for the Archangel add "in tech database"

Now restart the campaign (or make a new pilot) and go to the techroom. The Archangel should now appear.

Next open FRED and make a new mission consisting of just Alpha 1 and the Archangel. Run that.


That should get us a little more data

Ok, I will try that as soon as I can, but at the moment I am having some trouble with my actual computer system so bear with me until tomorrow

O.K I can do that now, but should I add in all of the archangel files including the addition to weapons. tbl? and when I tried it before I had another ship installed at the same time. Should I take it out?

It's going to depend on which version you're using. A version low-poly enough for retail exists, but it's not that easy to find and the readme isn't good about distinguishing between them. Open it in modelview; if the polycount is less than 4000, then it's the right version and something else is wrong.

However, I will say that the easiest way to get retail to crash is to exceed the ship table size limit; it's pretty tight and the archangel entry is a little large.

The possibilty that it is exceeding the ships limit seems very likely. Should i get the latest build of open?

isn't the low-poly version at hades combine

If you're worried about exceeding the maximum size of the table open it in notepad and do a search and replace. Replace two spaces with a single space. Keep doing that until you get no replacements.

You can knock nearly 100k off the size of the table doing that.


That said size is only an issue with retail FS2. FS2_Open doesn't have this issue at all.

Yes, I thought as much. I tried to install FS2 Open, but I managed to screw that up as well. Should I post a new topic in the FS2:SCP forum or could someone please give me an EXACT guide (more or less) on how to install 'fs2_open_3_6_9' On a system with all of the directories except the .tbl file directories properly in place?

I posted this guide over on the SCP website. A few quick changes and it should be relevant here.

--------------------------------------

I've written a guide on how to install FS2_Open which you can find in my FAQ but seeing as how I'm in a good mood I'll give you some specific information on what to do. You can read the guide if you're unclear on what I've said.

First thing you should do is install FS2. Do a full install (or else you may have problems with the 1024x768 resolution modes).

Then you'll need to download these two files

Launcher 5.4
and
3.6.9 Release Candidate 7

Extract both files to your Freespace 2 folder. The second link contains 3 links to patch VPs. Download these, create a new folder within your main freespace folder called media VPs and extract them to there.

Now go to this thread. You already have the patch VPs so what you need is mv_zpack (which is a big file containing the most important media VP files).

This too needs to be extracted to the mediavps folder you made earlier.
I suggest you leave mv_adveffects alone for now. If you have a really powerful computer you can go back and try it out once you're certain everything works.

Now go here, download and run the OpenAL installer.

That's everything downloaded that you need. Time to set up. Go into your FS2 folder and run the launcher. Click the browse button at the top and choose fs2_open_3_6_9.exe.

Go to the features tab and turn on the first 5 graphics options. You can experiment quite safely with the Audio, HUD, Game Speed and Gameplay options but you probably should leave anything else alone.

Now go to the video tab and select OpenGL if it isn't already selected. D3D support is virtually non-existant and you will almost certainly have problems running in D3D so you should only use it as a last resort.

Set up the audio/joystick and network tabs while you're here.

Lastly go to the mod tab and select mediavps as your mod. This step enables the mediavps. If your PC runs the game too slowly come back here and click no mods. You'll lose the new graphics etc but you'll be able to play the game with the original files this way and that should be faster..

Press run. Enjoy the game.

Thank you for your time and perseverence in a losing battle. You are a fine example of how helpful the community and THE WORLD should be these days. You have my commendations. I tried to run it and it was all fine until I found that while in-game, the ships experienced certain abnormal graphical anomalies. FRED 2 open's cursor did not show and there is a long list a long list of similar yet wierd errors. And last but not least, no non-volition made ships are showing up.