PinkDot on 29/5/2017 at 14:49
Hi,
I wonder if somebody could give me a quick refresher on how the FMSel handles the paths for our fanmissions. I haven't been dabbling with Dromed in a while and this knowledge seemed to have evaporated somehow...
So, a thing I noticed is that Dromed nor Thief by default do not see any of the models nor objects, which are placed in the FMs subfolder. If you just skip the FMSel and load a mis file, let's say: D:\Thief2\FMs\MyFanmission\miss22.mis, it won't see the objects in D:\Thief2\FMs\MyFanmission\obj folder. But when you launch Dromed with FMSel on and you choose to Edit MyFanmission, all the resources will be seen.
What does exactly FMSel do to make it happen? I looked at the install.cfg and DARKINST.CFG files, but they are not being changed (no extra path is appended there).
So, in other words - what do I need to set up in order to be able to run miss22.mis from D:\Thief2\FMs\MyFanmission location without relying on FMSel?
BTW. is that normal, that Dromed can never find .gam files, even if they sit right beside the .mis file? I'm forced to manually locate them every single time I open a .mis file. It's a bit annoying...
Thanks.
Unna Oertdottir on 29/5/2017 at 15:05
All you need to display resources is to zip up the mission file and put it in a folder which FMSel can find. FMSel will write the data for this mission in fmsel.ini (or you can create a entry for this mission in fmsel.ini).
It can look like this
Code:
[FM=myfmname]
Archive=myfmname.zip
Flags=1
Now you can put whatever you want in FM/myfmname and DromEd will read it.
PinkDot on 29/5/2017 at 15:31
Thanks Unna.
That will work for the released missions. I need to understand however how to keep my working files in a folder - it can be inside the FMs sub-folder if needs be, and let Dromed know about these resources WITHOUT using the FMSel.
In case my question was confusing - I mentioned FMSel, because it knows how to do that, but in the end I don't want to be using FMSel.
R Soul on 29/5/2017 at 15:43
Why not? If it's because of the austere interface, you can use (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146917) NewDarkLoader, which is much more exciting.
Here's what happens with both loaders:
The program (Dromed/Thief) calls the .dll file, which then shows its own interface. Choosing an FM causes its folder name to be sent back to the program, which sets the current working directory for all resources.
Unna Oertdottir on 29/5/2017 at 15:45
Quote Posted by PinkDot
That will work for the released missions.
No. This will also work with FMs in progress. You can work on your mission in the FM folder until you finished it. I made my mission this way. It's more handy amd comfortable than keeping the resources in the root folder.
Finally, just zip up the content of the FM folder for testing.
PinkDot on 29/5/2017 at 16:32
Quote:
No. This will also work with FMs in progress. You can work on your mission in the FM folder until you finished it.
But how can I be working on something which is already zipped? Sorry, I must have missed something.
Quote:
Why not? If it's because of the austere interface, you can use NewDarkLoader, which is much more exciting.
No, there's nothing wrong with FMSel. There are other reasons I want to skip it.
Quote:
Choosing an FM causes its folder name to be sent back to the program, which sets the current working directory for all resources.
This part is what I'm interested in - are there any particular commands?
I just had a look at the
Dromed.log after running Dromed through FM and selecting 'Zamek' fnamission:
Code:
: PID: 9032
: CPU: arch=x86-64 , fam=586 , cpus=8
: SIMD: SSE=3 , 3DNow=0 , MMX=1
: OS Version: 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1
: Desktop resolution: 1920 x 1200
: Virtual desktop resolution: 1920 x 1200
: -----------------------------------------------------------
: CWD: D:\Thief2
: FM Path: FMs\Zamek
: -----------------------------------------------------------
: App Version: DromEd Final 1.23 MSVC opt playtest
: --------------------- misc config -------------------------
: resname_base D:\Thief2\RES
: cd_path \
: load_path D:\Thief2
: script_module_path D:\Thief2
: movie_path FMs\Zamek\Movies+H:\Games\Thief 2 - The Metal Age\MOVIES
: install_path D:\Thief2
: language english
: fm
: game_screen_size 1920 1200
: game_screen_depth 32
: game_screen_flags 45
: game_full_screen 1
(...)
The FM Path: FMs\Zamek seems to some kind of command passed to the game\editor.
There's also FMs\Zamek\Movies added to the movie_path parameter. And this looks like a copy\paste from the install.cfg - maybe that's the way to do it by hand, without the FMSel?
How things were done before the NewDark? I vaguely remember people having some configuration allowing them to work outside of the root folder.
Unna Oertdottir on 29/5/2017 at 16:40
Quote Posted by PinkDot
But how can I be working on something which is already zipped? Sorry, I must have missed something.
If you install the mission zip with FMSel, it's not zipped any more. You'll find the data in FMs/mymission*
Since FMSel already knows that this your mission folder, you can put all the resources that you need in this folder
*mymission is a single folder.
R Soul on 29/5/2017 at 17:48
Quote Posted by PinkDot
No, there's nothing wrong with FMSel. There are other reasons I want to skip it.
My curiosity is unabated.
Quote:
This part is what I'm interested in - are there any particular commands?
You can modify your Dromed shortcut's target, e.g.
D:\Thief2\dromed.exe -fm=Zamek
This will bypass the FM selector, so it requires the FM to already be extracted to the FMs folder. You'll need multiple shortcuts if you want to load other FMs, or none.
Quote:
Code:
: App Version: DromEd Final
1.23 MSVC opt playtest
We're on 1.25 now.
Quote:
And this looks like a copy\paste from the install.cfg - maybe that's the way to do it by hand, without the FMSel?
I think the file is darkinst.cfg, but I can never remember. I think pasting in those paths will work, but all instances of Dromed (and the game) will have access to it. It seems like a lot of bother for no clear reason.
PinkDot on 29/5/2017 at 20:40
Quote Posted by Unna Oertdottir
If you install the mission zip with FMSel, it's not zipped any more. You'll find the data in FMs/mymission*
Since FMSel already knows that this your mission folder, you can put all the resources that you need in this folder
*mymission is a single folder.
Ah, I got you know. Makes sense.
Quote Posted by R Soul
My curiosity is unabated.
Let's just say I'm doing a bit of automation of launching missions. Nothing really worthy digging deeper at this stage.
Quote:
You can modify your Dromed shortcut's target, e.g.
D:\Thief2\dromed.exe -fm=Zamek
This will bypass the FM selector, so it requires the FM to already be extracted to the FMs folder. You'll need multiple shortcuts if you want to load other FMs, or none.
That sounds interesting - I'll give it a go.
Yeah, I noticed that too. Recently I downloaded the latest version of Thief2 from GOG and the Thief2.exe is 1.25, but Dromed only 1.23. I thought the Dromed itself maybe hadn't change since 1.23, but I'll doublecheck that.
Quote:
I think the file is darkinst.cfg, but I can never remember. I think pasting in those paths will work, but all instances of Dromed (and the game) will have access to it. It seems like a lot of bother for no clear reason.
There's two identical files for some reason. Changing these would make sense probably only when it was automated. I wouldn't bother modifying it every time manually.
Overall thanks for the answers - I've got a couple of things to test now!
PinkDot on 29/5/2017 at 21:15
Quote Posted by PinkDot
BTW. is that normal, that Dromed can never find .gam files, even if they sit right beside the .mis file? I'm forced to manually locate them every single time I open a .mis file. It's a bit annoying...
If anyone has answer to this question as well, I would be grateful!
