Modding and Miscellaneous

Table of Contents

Modding Fleet Operations?

How can I adjust the main menu (not in-game) button volume?

To do this you can adjust the volume of the file that plays the sound. This will not damage multiplayer compatibility. The names of the files are Beep1.ogg for the button rollover, Beep2.ogg for the button click.

How can I make missions in Fleet Operations?

Megadroid has created a system to allow you to build your own missions using LUA. You can find it here http://www.secretundergroundbase.com/mmm/forum/index.php

Are there any goodies (ships, stations, mods) released specifically for Fleet Operations?

If you take a look around in the modding section of the Fleet Operation's web site, you can be sure to find a large amount of vessels, stations, and textures imported from other mods or designed just to be add ons to Fleet Operations. You can also be sure to find entire new mods for Fleet Ops, although most are in production phases and have not been released yet.

What sort of permissions do I need to mod Fleet Operations?

Please contact Optec first before redoing stuff from Fleet Operations, as Fleet Operations contains some third party work that they have exclusive distribution rights for, and therefore further permissions must be obtained. Optec has no problems with his textures being modified in the scope of a Fleet Operations mod, but there are other texturers involved as well. Always check the readme for credit information. If you want to make sure nothing is missed, feel free to send Optec a list of textures/files that you want to release that are based on FO material. Optec can then acknowledge that you have all the required permissions. If you are releasing work for Fleet Operations that is not based on Fleet Operations material, then you don't need permissions from our side: you are free to mod Fleet Operations, you just should talk with the original author if it’s not your own work that you want to release. The Fleet Operations staff does not ban people (unless there are extremely extenuating circumstances).

Here are some basic "rules" from Optec himself: Modding Guidelines

When will the A2 Patch Project (PP) be continued?

Unfortunately due to time constraints and the increasing complexity of making any of the new coding backwards compatible, the patch project has been discontinued for the foreseeable future. To make the patch project up to date with more modern Fleet Ops commands would eventually break compatibility and at this stage it is far simpler for everybody interested in those commands to use Fleet Ops as a modding base instead. Future Fleet Ops patches will continue to increase the usability of the enhanced engine, so feel free to post requests for additional modding features.

In a similar vein, it is not possible to release the "source code" for the Patch Project: the developers can't even move all the tooling required for the development of the loader from one pc to another without significant overhead - so a public release is far beyond their capabilities (especially as one would need quite impressive knowledge of how the Armada II exe calls functions, and how to create your own hooks).

What are the commands added in the A2 Patch Project?

http://www.fleetops.net/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,3/topic,3545.msg61741/#msg61741

The only ODF command that has been removed from the A2 Project in the latest releases of Fleet Operations is maxBuildableNumber.

Is there an Armada I Patch Project?

Yup: at the moment however it just concentrates on a few bug fixes intended to allow Armada I to work on more modern systems. http://www.fleetops.net/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,3/topic,10788.msg176853/topicseen,1/#new

Why is there an "f" letter after some values in ODFs

It is a leftover from Stock Armada II C++ handling indicating float values. It isn't required and can be left out.

How can I go about converting a 3.0.0-3.1.4 mod to 3.1.5+?

Many ODF commands had different names in versions of Fleet Ops earlier than 3.1.5 compared to Stock Armada II. In 3.1.5 all of these commonly used commands have been reverted (the only ones not changed back are the totally undocumented and thus 'hidden' Stock Armada II commands). A complete list, and what they were changed to, can be found here: /guide/modding/odf-commands

I have loaded one of your SODs into the Sod Viewer and I noticed all your models look like CRAP!

The reason for that is that the Fleet Ops models use a 3 depth resolution of polygon count. To see the models in the highest polygon resolution, just press the D button 3 times. Also, the textures on all ships and stations have a 3 depth resolution, but the SOD viewer is only able to show the lowest. There is currently no way to always see the highest texture resolution in the Storm 3D Viewer. We recommend making in-game screenshots instead.

Miscellaneous

Happy birthday Fleet Operations?

December 15, 2008, for Version 3.0!

Release timeline for those who are curious:

  • 3.2.6 Hotfix Dec 10, 2011
  • 3.2.5 Hotfix June 7, 2011
  • 3.2.4 Hotfix May 31, 2011
  • 3.2.3 May 30, 2011
  • 3.2.1 3.2.2 Hotfixes April 26, 2011
  • 3.2.0 April 25, 2011
  • 3.1.5  December 25, 2010
  • 3.1.4  November 30, 2010
  • 3.1.3  July 14, 2010 
  • 3.1.2  May 3, 2010
  • 3.1.1  January 19, 2010
  • 3.1.0  January 10, 2010
  • 3.0.7  June 07, 2009
  • 3.0.6  May 20, 2009
  • 3.0.5a  March 16, 2009
  • 3.0.5  March 08, 2009
  • 3.0.4  March 05, 2009
  • 3.0.3  February 18, 2009
  • 3.0.2  February 16, 2009
  • 3.0.1  December 31, 2008

Why are the markings on many of the Starfleet vessels so light?

According to Zeich - two reasons: personal taste and for older ships he wanted to make them look like they are sort of rubbed off or old, especially in regard to Warp-In vessels.

Where be the good maps, yarrr!?

You can find a complete list of Fleet Operations maps here, although no guarantees that they are all updated to the latest version of Fleet Ops.

An additional list of maps that is much better organized can be found at Phoenix's Map Forum. Download and enjoy!

Built-In Replay System?

Unfortunately although Stock Armada II did ship with a replay system, it was non-functional. In Fleet Ops 3.2.3+ it will be possible to enable this feature, however the system is unstable, creates enormous  files depending on the situation, and crashes after a few minutes of recording.

To get replays working:

First create an empty trigger file in your data directory "unsupportedextension_replay".

Then open your fodata.ini file, which you can find in the application data directory (type "%appdata%\star trek armada ii fleet operations" in start->run box). There, change the line m_replay from False to True.

Finally, get the replay0.tga from a Stock Armada II installation from textures\rgb\ and put it in your Fleet Operations installation in textures\

Now, when you run a game, a replay is automatically created (you won't see it initiate, but it happens). Go to the Load Game screen, as if you would want to load a saved game. There you now should find a saved game called replay. Load it up, then you get the replay controls. This solution is unlike Fraps, as the file is not only a video but a real replay mode like you know from Starcraft and similar games.

If you want to disable replays later on, it should be sufficient to set the m_replay in fodata.ini to false again. Again, this is an experimental feature that didn't make it into Armada II for a reason. There are currently no plans to work on fixing or finishing it. Some impressions are still welcome, as Doca has only made a few tests with the "feature".

How can I record Fleet Ops games?

/guide/multiplayer/replay-making

Additionally, this thread should provide an overview of how to record your own replays via Camstudio.
Making FO Videos for Free with Camstudio

Problems with Porting Fleet Ops Material to Stock Armada II

A Fleet Ops SOD does not correctly display

Be sure to include the texture file empty.tga . Errors can include a featureless white box through the entirety of the model in-game.

Units imported into Stock Armada II are all blue!

All Fleet Operations units are bump mapped - similar to Stock Armada II Borg vessels. If you save the bump TGA as compressed (TLE), the texture will appear blue.