Star Trek Armada II: Fleet Operations

Hey. as promised some info how to convert your maps properly from earlier versions of Fleet Operations to a 3.1.0 (or later) compatible format.
The problem with earlier versions of Fleet Operations has been, that i was not able 'crack' the map versioning used by Armada 2 until the 3.1.0 release. 3.1.0 will be the last release where you have go through the pain of a map conversion like this.
Some of you may remember that 3.0.2 included a new map format, that made it impossible to use previously made maps. The reason behind this was that fleet operations could only handle one map format and wasn't able to use the versioning features of armada 2 that can distinguish between different map formats.
3.1.0 is now also capable of converting the real old maps that were created with 1.0-3.0.1 or maps from Armada 2 BUT of course restrictions still apply. Maps are usually filled with asteroids, wormholes, planets etc. Maps can only be used if all these objects still exist in that one particular mod. Maps created with Fleet Operations 3.0PR should still work with Fleet Operations 3.1.0 and later. Maps from Armada 2 are unlikely to work at all. Fleet Operations 3.1.0 now can read all Armada 2 map formats, but it isn't said, that it understands with what objects the map is populated.

Anyway, here is what you have to do:
Fleet Operations 3.0PR maps
Unlike previous versions, 3.1.0 is capable of reading those map types again. 3.0PR may still have problems as many objects from 3.0PR don't exist in in 3.x versions anymore, so they may crash.
no conversion should be required, though some maps may just not work properly

Fleet Operations 3.0.0-3.0.1 maps
In theory you should be able to use 3.0.0 and 3.0.1 created maps without further complications.
no conversion should be required

Fleet Operations 3.0.2-3.0.7 maps
These maps have to be version tagged, so that 3.1.0 knows which format they have, as these maps have a different map format then those from stock Armada 2 which Fleet Operations was previously not able to distinguish.
Requirements
The conversion can be done through a Hex Editor of your choice (for example XVI32 (http://www.chmaas.handshake.de/delphi/freeware/xvi32/xvi32.htm)).
Convert map from 3.0.2-3.0.7 to 3.1.0 (and later)

• first of all, backup your map!
• an unmodified 3.0.2-3.0.7 map should look similar to this. What has to be edited is the version. 2177 is the standard version of an Armada 2 map, which is wrong for those maps:
  (http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/4900/bildschirmfoto20100111u.png)
• it has to be changed to 3007 like shown here:
  (http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/4900/bildschirmfoto20100111u.png)
• save the map and you should be ready to go.

Please feel free to ask here in the forums, if you need any assistance with the process.

Don't change the version number on maps created with 3.0.1 or earlier, it will corrupt your map. If your map crashes and has been created with an earlier version than 3.0.2 it is likely that on object that fleet operations cannot read anymore is being used.

Hmmm... I'll just abandon my oldones in exchange for new ones. :D But thanks anyway.

Do any one of you sexy modders have a hex editor?  Sadly, I do not and I've had some people asking me to convert Malta II so they have a balanced 3 player FFA map to play on.

   Anyone?

I found a free Hex editor today it seems to work.
http://www.hhdsoftware.com/Products/home/hex-editor-free.html (http://www.hhdsoftware.com/Products/home/hex-editor-free.html)

so let me see if i got this correct a map from stock a2 will work in fo3.1.0 will work as long as all map objects are present?

yes, this was previously not possible. with 3.1.0 armada 2 maps should work without a hitch if all appropriate odf files are present

great that saves me a lot of time and effort wen updating my mod

Doca when the next content (not fix only) patch comes out will you guys consider making some use-made maps standard for FleetOps?

  That would be a great honor to any one of us :)

Just to warn other people, I have some maps that have some so called 'easter eggs/map objects' in them. turns out that one of the following is changed or is diffrent so that they must be removed in 3.0.7 before converting to 3.1.0 otherwise it crashes when you try to load those maps. (allthough I haven't tried removing the eggs yet but all maps without these piticular ones works fine so...)

premonition class
mckinley station
some experemental romulan station (can't remeber name sorry  :sweatdrop:)


Edit: removing all of them fixed my maps

yes, there are actually some maps on the todo list that are going to be integrated in fleet operations.

OH great!

  Also:  Mort converted one of my maps for me but no .txt file came out with it.  I then pulled up the editor and saved it again but no .txt file again ...

  Are they necessary anymore?  I noticed all the maps standard with FO still have them but I'm ... a little confused as to how this works.  Will a 3.0.7 .txt file for that map still work or does an updated one need to be made?  If so, what needs to be done?  ^-^

A good free hex editor (and one I use personally) is XVI32 (http://www.chmaas.handshake.de/delphi/freeware/xvi32/xvi32.htm)

Edit - Fixed Link.

How do you use Hexeditors? Like, what files can this be used for? Could it help with oh... maybe recoding A2?

hex editor is like a text editor (notepad++ has a plugin for hex editing) the difference is u will see hex values in it (the binary representation of the file). U can edit any file with it.

Hex editor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hex_editor)
Google ftw

ok my a2 maps keep crashing i've got all the sprites, sods, textures, odfs and relevant map files copied over but still no luck

Erm I'm not sure what you mean by Sods and ODF's when it comes to maps ... if your maps contain derelicts or other map objects not part of FleetOps 3.1 then you will be HARD pressed to actually manage a manual transfer of your SODS and textures and such to align with the converted map.  I realize that's wordy ... but if your map had lots of "non-fleetops" stuff on it before 3.1, then I can see the only way of making it feasible for 3.1 would be to re-install 3.0.7, take those things off the map, save it, convert it, install 3.1 and make sure the map works.  Then mod your new things into 3.1 and add them to your map.

  I don't think you'll manage to do a straight convert ...  It's just too complicated with too many variables.  Your life will become infested with crashes upon crashes.

hard to say why this occurs to you. if you really have all the stuff converted into fleet operations, you can send me a crash report (change the subject accordingly) via email and i will try to see if i can help you

ok thx welll i have got all the files copied over gonna check now to see if it could be the odf coding

A2 maps working (forgot to add the nebula.spr sprite file lol)