T
thunderfoot
Deleted Due to Inactivity
Former MSFC Member
Building a Custom Install inside STA 2 Classic for Fleet Ops.
Alrighty then. Here we go!
I am in the process of making over the STA2 Classic mod for Fleet Ops into a custom install. I want it to look like the custom install I currently call A2 Rebuild Mk II. I am going to add things one at a time and check my work for flaws and problems. Hopefully I have solutions for these and will post them here. Please note I am doing exactly what Dominus told us not to do, adding mods directly to the STA2 Classic folder instead of making a new mod and writing up a new .ini file. To me it seems easier to do it this way and then go back and include STA2 Classic as a separate mod at a later time. I don't mind very well sometimes. Draw a line in the sand and I am usually the first one across it, rofl.
Ground rules.
- Some things in Fleet Ops work better and look nicer than what I have in A2 Rebuild Mk II. Where this is the case, I intend to default to the Fleet Ops items.
- Some mods have items which conflict with or cause problems within the Fleet Ops environment. Again I will use the default Fleet Ops items.
- Anything which has the chance of breaking Fleet Ops online Multiplayer will not be used.
- Major mods will be added one at a time and discussed individually. Smaller mods will be added in groups.
- If an instruction can be misunderstood, it is a given with me that it will be. I will try really hard not to make things any more complicated than they need to be. Where possible I will explain with pics what I am doing.
- The instructions in these posts are for specific mods which I use and enjoy. They should apply to other mods as well. As long as the instructions are adjusted to fit the mod in question.
- If you post a problem, I will need far more information than "It doesn't work! Waaaah!" can give me. I am a fair to middlin' Code Monkey. I am not a mind reader.
- Opinions and observations about the mods listed herein shall be kept to yourself. If you start a Hate Fest on someone's work because being a troll amuses you, I will immediately do everything within my power to get both of us perma banned from MSFC and every other website I can reach. Please do not think for one second I will hesitate or that I am bluffing. Because I am not.
Before we begin.
- This install will require the 'label.map' file or else it will crash. You will get an EAccess violation because the game cannot read an address.
- Do not install the 1.1 Patch. This will crash the install.
- Do not install the Map Editor. This will crash the install. Not needed because Fleet Ops already has a Map Editor.
- My install of STA 2 Classic included the RGB folder, with all the textures in it, inside the Textures folder. The textures folder already has all of the needed .tga files. The game will apply all of the textures it finds at the same time to whatever mesh you are using. Remove the RGB folder.
- Go thru the textures and remove all of the one marked " *_1" and " *_2" for the ships and stations. Again, the game will apply all of the textures at once to a mesh, causing serious appearance problems. These textures have names like "FBase_1.tga" and "KMartok_2". The files whose names begin with the letters "X" and "W" are background and weapons sprites. Do not remove the " *_1" and " *_2" textures from these because the weapons effects and such will then have a clearly defined edge which detracts from their appearance. If you are unsure, then leave it in the folder. You can always come back later and delete it after you are certain it is the correct one to do this to.
Onto new business!
The basis for any custom install I do is always Yacuzza's Midnight Universe. I use version 2.0 and then apply Patch 2.01 to it. I'm not an 'Eye Candy' sort of guy normally. But Yacuzza's work is breathtaking. Even after all these years. Yacuzza thoughtfully included an auto installer. I really wish he had not. I don't like them. They will usually overwrite something I want before I can stop them and are always far more trouble than they are worth. In this case, the auto installer will apply a Map Editor, complete with desktop icon, to wherever you tell it to. Fleet Ops has a Map Editor already, so this isn't needed and may crash your install. Yacuzza's auto installer will also install a few other things you may not want or need. Unzip a copy of MU2.0 and MU2.01. Place the folders and files one at a time into your install. When the system asks if you want to overwrite a file, click on, "Yes".
There are two things about Midnight Universe I do not like. Yacuzza did some wonderful work with the planet textures and then covered them with some really ugly clouds which are far too big. He also made the latinum nebulas into latinum asteroids which look really odd. Happily, both of these are easy to adjust.
I prefer the Stock A2 Latinum nebulas which is really easy to revert to. Open a Stock A2 folder and go to the .SOD folder. Copy/Paste the Stock Latinum.SOD file to your custom install. Next, open the Stock Textures/RGB folder. Copy/Paste the "MLatinum.tga" file to your custom install.
Adjusting the cloud cover is a bit more complicated. Lucky for you, I did the hard work already. Attached to this post is the correct file to make the clouds smaller and lighter. Dan1025 and I figured out how to do this a long time ago and it looks pretty good except for some edge mismatches which I can live with. We took another of Yacuzza's cloud .tga files and simply renamed it. When the system asks if you want to overwrite the file, click on, "Yes".
One more thing. Yacuzza's starfield odfs are quite extensive and can cause lag in less powerful computers. As a precaution against lag, use the Map editor to change the Starfield entries on all the maps to the following setting - stdefault.odf. This will not detract from the game's appearance. It will still look Star Trekky enough for even the most discriminating and exacting tastes.
The pics show the Economics tutorial map with the changes outlined above applied. Please note none of this requires skills more complicated than the ability to swap out or copy/paste files. Questions or problems? Feel free to PM me or post and I'll see if I can help.
Next Time - Adding A2 Physics Project version X.01
Alrighty then. Here we go!
I am in the process of making over the STA2 Classic mod for Fleet Ops into a custom install. I want it to look like the custom install I currently call A2 Rebuild Mk II. I am going to add things one at a time and check my work for flaws and problems. Hopefully I have solutions for these and will post them here. Please note I am doing exactly what Dominus told us not to do, adding mods directly to the STA2 Classic folder instead of making a new mod and writing up a new .ini file. To me it seems easier to do it this way and then go back and include STA2 Classic as a separate mod at a later time. I don't mind very well sometimes. Draw a line in the sand and I am usually the first one across it, rofl.
Ground rules.
- Some things in Fleet Ops work better and look nicer than what I have in A2 Rebuild Mk II. Where this is the case, I intend to default to the Fleet Ops items.
- Some mods have items which conflict with or cause problems within the Fleet Ops environment. Again I will use the default Fleet Ops items.
- Anything which has the chance of breaking Fleet Ops online Multiplayer will not be used.
- Major mods will be added one at a time and discussed individually. Smaller mods will be added in groups.
- If an instruction can be misunderstood, it is a given with me that it will be. I will try really hard not to make things any more complicated than they need to be. Where possible I will explain with pics what I am doing.
- The instructions in these posts are for specific mods which I use and enjoy. They should apply to other mods as well. As long as the instructions are adjusted to fit the mod in question.
- If you post a problem, I will need far more information than "It doesn't work! Waaaah!" can give me. I am a fair to middlin' Code Monkey. I am not a mind reader.
- Opinions and observations about the mods listed herein shall be kept to yourself. If you start a Hate Fest on someone's work because being a troll amuses you, I will immediately do everything within my power to get both of us perma banned from MSFC and every other website I can reach. Please do not think for one second I will hesitate or that I am bluffing. Because I am not.
Before we begin.
- This install will require the 'label.map' file or else it will crash. You will get an EAccess violation because the game cannot read an address.
- Do not install the 1.1 Patch. This will crash the install.
- Do not install the Map Editor. This will crash the install. Not needed because Fleet Ops already has a Map Editor.
- My install of STA 2 Classic included the RGB folder, with all the textures in it, inside the Textures folder. The textures folder already has all of the needed .tga files. The game will apply all of the textures it finds at the same time to whatever mesh you are using. Remove the RGB folder.
- Go thru the textures and remove all of the one marked " *_1" and " *_2" for the ships and stations. Again, the game will apply all of the textures at once to a mesh, causing serious appearance problems. These textures have names like "FBase_1.tga" and "KMartok_2". The files whose names begin with the letters "X" and "W" are background and weapons sprites. Do not remove the " *_1" and " *_2" textures from these because the weapons effects and such will then have a clearly defined edge which detracts from their appearance. If you are unsure, then leave it in the folder. You can always come back later and delete it after you are certain it is the correct one to do this to.
Onto new business!
The basis for any custom install I do is always Yacuzza's Midnight Universe. I use version 2.0 and then apply Patch 2.01 to it. I'm not an 'Eye Candy' sort of guy normally. But Yacuzza's work is breathtaking. Even after all these years. Yacuzza thoughtfully included an auto installer. I really wish he had not. I don't like them. They will usually overwrite something I want before I can stop them and are always far more trouble than they are worth. In this case, the auto installer will apply a Map Editor, complete with desktop icon, to wherever you tell it to. Fleet Ops has a Map Editor already, so this isn't needed and may crash your install. Yacuzza's auto installer will also install a few other things you may not want or need. Unzip a copy of MU2.0 and MU2.01. Place the folders and files one at a time into your install. When the system asks if you want to overwrite a file, click on, "Yes".
There are two things about Midnight Universe I do not like. Yacuzza did some wonderful work with the planet textures and then covered them with some really ugly clouds which are far too big. He also made the latinum nebulas into latinum asteroids which look really odd. Happily, both of these are easy to adjust.
I prefer the Stock A2 Latinum nebulas which is really easy to revert to. Open a Stock A2 folder and go to the .SOD folder. Copy/Paste the Stock Latinum.SOD file to your custom install. Next, open the Stock Textures/RGB folder. Copy/Paste the "MLatinum.tga" file to your custom install.
Adjusting the cloud cover is a bit more complicated. Lucky for you, I did the hard work already. Attached to this post is the correct file to make the clouds smaller and lighter. Dan1025 and I figured out how to do this a long time ago and it looks pretty good except for some edge mismatches which I can live with. We took another of Yacuzza's cloud .tga files and simply renamed it. When the system asks if you want to overwrite the file, click on, "Yes".
One more thing. Yacuzza's starfield odfs are quite extensive and can cause lag in less powerful computers. As a precaution against lag, use the Map editor to change the Starfield entries on all the maps to the following setting - stdefault.odf. This will not detract from the game's appearance. It will still look Star Trekky enough for even the most discriminating and exacting tastes.
The pics show the Economics tutorial map with the changes outlined above applied. Please note none of this requires skills more complicated than the ability to swap out or copy/paste files. Questions or problems? Feel free to PM me or post and I'll see if I can help.
Next Time - Adding A2 Physics Project version X.01
.
Great to see you at it again, hope everything works out for you. 
