Topic: SFC:Orion Pirates Patch 2.5.5.0 Available Now

[Captain Ron]

My question goes what changed in the Shiplist file?
As always the patch loads a defualt version, and I don't don't just want to replace it with my models custom one with out knowing if it will change things I might need. It is a lot of work to redo it so I would please like to know if anything needs to be kept?

[3dot14]

Quote:
My question goes what changed in the Shiplist file?
As always the patch loads a defualt version, and I don't don't just want to replace it with my models custom one with out knowing if it will change things I might need. It is a lot of work to redo it so I would please like to know if anything needs to be kept?  

I have no idea, sorry.

But Why not use Mag's Comparator to find out?

http://klingon.stasis.ca/sources_and_utils/Comparator.exe (FireSoul's Site)

[Captain Ron]

Ok the fighters just completely disappeared after the patch!

Yeap it sure fixed the issues with the fighters, if you can not use them they cause no issues!

Ok anyone else experience this and find a solution?
Win 98 SE fully patched
Direct X 9.0B
All Drivers are up to date as well

[Cleaven]

Did you read the readme file? Right at the top, underneath the file description?

"Important Note: Make sure that the properties of your Orion Pirates
desktop shortcut shows the Target of your game pointing to the StarfleetOP.exe
file and that the Start In path is correct for your game install directory. "


 

[Captain Ron]

Yup did that before the patch and no luck on that.

Yes I actually do read those things and check before i patch good try though, NEXT!

[Captain Ron]

Quote:
Did you read the readme file? Right at the top, underneath the file description?

"Important Note: Make sure that the properties of your Orion Pirates
desktop shortcut shows the Target of your game pointing to the StarfleetOP.exe
file and that the Start In path is correct for your game install directory. "


   

Ok this is just wierd if I launch the game using the SFCOP.exe it works fine the fighters load.
Bizare I tell you, don't ask i don't know why either...

[FireSoul]

Quote:
Yup did that before the patch and no luck on that.
Yes I actually do read those things and check before i patch good try though, NEXT!  

We're serious. This *IS* the problem. It always is. (This is a FAQ question, if I have ever seen one)

Humour me: try the simplest thing. Do a right-click-drag of StarFleetOP.exe to your desktop, and select "Create ShortCut". Then try it out. (It fills in all the appropriate information automatically).
 

[Cleaven]

Quote:
Yup did that before the patch and no luck on that.

Yes I actually do read those things and check before i patch good try though, NEXT!  

You are doing it wrong! If you correctly fill in the Start in location when you use StarFleetOP.exe  it will work.

So, go back two spaces and try reading it again.  

[Cleaven]

Quote:

Ok this is just wierd if I launch the game using the SFCOP.exe it works fine the fighters load.
Bizare I tell you, don't ask i don't know why either...  

Nothing bizarre or weird about it at all. When you run SFCOP it plays the intro movies and then runs StarfleetOP.exe with the working directory set correctly. When you bypass SFCOP and run starfleetOP.exe directly you have to define the working directory manually.  

[Captain Ron]

Quote:

Quote:

Ok this is just wierd if I launch the game using the SFCOP.exe it works fine the fighters load.
Bizare I tell you, don't ask i don't know why either...  

Nothing bizarre or weird about it at all. When you run SFCOP it plays the intro movies and then runs StarfleetOP.exe with the working directory set correctly. When you bypass SFCOP and run starfleetOP.exe directly you have to define the working directory manually.    

No you guys don't understand, trust me here!

I created two shortcuts on the desk top now just for fun.
I created two shortcuts in the programs files Starfleet command etc in the launch menu also for fun
I also opened explorer and went to the directory I have SFC in
Now stay with me here!

If I launch the program from ANY of these areas they all say version 2.5.5.0 in the lower right corner of the loading screen with the pic of the orion ship on it. Now here is were it gets interesting, If I use the "C:\Program Files\Taldren Software Inc\Starfleet Command Orion Pirates\SFCOP.exe" I get the video and the fighters work fine they are there. If I use the "C:\Program Files\Taldren Software Inc\Starfleet Command Orion Pirates\StarFleetOP.exe" then the fighters don't work they are available if I pick a carrier (the fighter bar goes black) I can not select a fighter type and do not show up in the UI in game. and this works this way if I launch it from any of these areas, repeatedly the same way everytime.

Now lets get to the meat of the issue:
 When you run SFCOP it plays the intro movies and then runs StarfleetOP.exe with the working directory set correctly. When you bypass SFCOP and run starfleetOP.exe directly you have to define the working directory manually
Ok I agree with you here if you run the SFCOP.exe you get the movie and then it launches StarFleetOP.exe for the game. So if everything goes to the StarFleetOP.exe why is there a difference here? it would not matter which one I pick because the only difference would be If I get to watch the Paramount/software houses logo movie.

Come on now if i can launch the game from three different areas it can not be the path is wrong, that is absurd. Now everything launches from the one EXE and just the game from the other, and since the everything one is actually calling the other EXE after the movie finishes why would it make a difference? According to YOU (and I do agree with it) the game is in the StarFleetOP.exe the other could be deleted and the game will still work.

So now then lets skip down to here and try once more.
Opened up explorer and launched it from the directory the game is Installed in launched the EXEs' directly. Same thing occured StarFleetOP.exe no fighters work, SFCOP.exe fighters worked fine. There is no real reason for this to behave this way. Now bit of personal histroy here I use to help get ppl to be able to play these games back in the day both here and at Interplays forums for both SFC 1, EAW, and OP. This is also the only time I ever had a real problem with patching period, because I do check the readmes before hand to make sure everything is alright with my setups and to what has changed incase I need additional backups for mods and such. This IS something that should not be working this way either EXE should lead to the right files, as the game is run from only one EXE (StarFleetOP.exe)

Note:
I reinstalled and used the 2500-2550 patch and now it all works fine from either EXE it doesn't matter which one I select, as it should have from the first time. I also put my modified file back in and it still works fine (well Shiplist and fighter list).

As I said Weird
 

[Cleaven]

You still have it wrong in your appreciation of the problem. What needs to be correct is the working directory, so that the game can find the ftrlist, not the path to the executable. If the path is wrong it just won't run. If the working directory is wrong then it won't be able to find any files that it expects to be in that working directory or it's sub-directories unless those locations are explicitly defined. This is not complex or mysterious or weird.    

[Toasty0]

Quote:
You still have it wrong in your appreciation of the problem. What needs to be correct is the working directory, so that the game can find the ftrlist, not the path to the executable. If the path is wrong it just won't run. If the working directory is wrong then it won't be able to find any files that it expects to be in that working directory or it's sub-directories unless those locations are explicitly defined. This is not complex or mysterious or weird.    

It's not?    

[Cleaven]

Quote:

Quote:
You still have it wrong in your appreciation of the problem. What needs to be correct is the working directory, so that the game can find the ftrlist, not the path to the executable. If the path is wrong it just won't run. If the working directory is wrong then it won't be able to find any files that it expects to be in that working directory or it's sub-directories unless those locations are explicitly defined. This is not complex or mysterious or weird.    

It's not?    

Do you think it is?    

[Toasty0]

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:
You still have it wrong in your appreciation of the problem. What needs to be correct is the working directory, so that the game can find the ftrlist, not the path to the executable. If the path is wrong it just won't run. If the working directory is wrong then it won't be able to find any files that it expects to be in that working directory or it's sub-directories unless those locations are explicitly defined. This is not complex or mysterious or weird.    

It's not?    

Do you think it is?    

I envoke my right not to incrimnate the innocent or guilty until we can change their names and land a juicy movie rights deal.  

[Captain Ron]

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:
You still have it wrong in your appreciation of the problem. What needs to be correct is the working directory, so that the game can find the ftrlist, not the path to the executable. If the path is wrong it just won't run. If the working directory is wrong then it won't be able to find any files that it expects to be in that working directory or it's sub-directories unless those locations are explicitly defined. This is not complex or mysterious or weird.    

It's not?    

Do you think it is?    

I can tell you what the problem with your logic here Cleaven. The frtlist and shiplist are in the same directories in both places the paths are correct or the shiplist would also not have been found. Reinstalling the game putting all my mods back in then patching (having to replace the Ship and fighter lists again) had no issues. Something literally went wrong with the EXE file itself or the spirtes file during that last patch that is all. it all works now but took a reinstall, no directories have been changed and the modified files are all the same ones again.

The patch did not install properly that is all and caused a unique situation. It was solvable and I could have done the reinstall any time I wanted I was just seeing if another less time consumming way of fixing the issue was available. The path had nothing to do with it you can believe it all you want, but it was not the case. I should kept a copy ofthe spirtes and StarFleetOP.exe file to test to see which one it was but that would be time consuming and I really did not want to bother with it anymore. The paths that you are referring to are for the on-line and campaign games and that path is stored in the Starfleet Command Orion Pirates\MetaAssets\ServerProfiles\SinglePlayer\assets.gf this file has not been changed, nor has it been.

Code:

[Paths]
Maps      = ".\MetaAssets\"
Scripts      = ".\Assets\Scripts\"
Campaigns   = ".\Assets\Scripts\Campaigns\"

[Files]
ShipSpecs      = ".\MetaAssets\shiplist.txt"
FighterSpecs   = ".\MetaAssets\ftrlist.txt"
CurMap   = ".\MetaAssets\MiddleMap.mvm"
 

This file can be changed and I use to change it for EAW so that they read from one place for the Skirmish and Campaigns while leaving the MP file alone. Unfortuantly a code change somewhere along the line stopped that as both files had to match for the MP file check to work. it could be modified like so:
Code:

[Paths]
Maps      = ".\MetaAssets\"
Scripts      = ".\Assets\Scripts\"
Campaigns   = ".\Assets\Scripts\Campaigns\"

[Files]
ShipSpecs      = ".\Assets\Specs\shiplist.txt"
FighterSpecs   = ".\Assets\Specs\ftrlist.txt"
CurMap   = ".\MetaAssets\MiddleMap.mvm"

While I do agree the simplist solution is usually the answer that was not the case here. Considering that the problem occured in Campaign and Skirmish modes (campaign controlled by this file Unmodified) and Skirmish modes path hard coded into the game you will start to understand the problem a little more.
 

[Cleaven]

What can I say? I'm sure nothing I say will be able to convince you, but you definitely have errors in fact with your explanation. Both in blaming the patching process and in describing the purpose of the Start In information. The only way you will be able to see this is by observing what happens when you change the Start In information and try to use fighters in single player mode.

(Or you made an error with the modding you did, which in itself made the initial question a bit misleading.)  

[Sethan]

Simple solution:

1) find out if his install is in the default directory
2) someone send him a shortcut with the proper working directory.

[Netman]

the 2250 patch is workin out great.. the I-XCA is rockin as always and for a permant newbie  like myself, it is the perfect ship to fly coop 3.01 missions set on admiral 1.8 and win    I don't seem to do too well with human players  

[MagnumMan]

Another user who prefers the Nasty Admiral.  Good!
Have you tried the Hard Commodore, and the Easy Captain yet?
Little did I know when I put that slider in there how obscene it would become.  Heh.

[Corbomite]

Wow! Mags yer still alive!