New Guy need some basic help please

posted on July 13th, 2013, 8:12 pm

Hello
I have been reading and learning about the mods for Star Trek Armada II. Perhaps I am just an idiot I do not know. The issue is that I can't seem to understand or find any instructions on how to put say a simple mod for the aegian ship into the game.
I was able to successfully follow and implement the tutorialship program that puts the tutorialship into the advanced shipyard. I have also downloaded and installed the milkshape program ,but can't seem to locate any data or information on how to export or import and what folders to do this with.

Thanks

posted on July 13th, 2013, 10:14 pm

I finally found the programs that allow you to install the mods. I have however when I install them not seen them. Are the mods only available in Multiplayer or should they be available in the Instant Action?

posted on July 13th, 2013, 11:57 pm

mods work in single player as well as multiplayer. if it isn't appearing then you've made a mistake somewhere.

i'm not sure on the process of porting an a2 ship to fo. it can be done. i don't know if the aegian has already been done or not.

posted on July 14th, 2013, 5:05 am

The Agiean itself hasn't been ported over to FO. But the process is actually pretty easy. You can take a ship from A2files and port it to FO by extracting the odfs of a similiar sized ship. If I were to port the Ageian, I would take a ship that has a similar role like the remoore, extract the odfs, and rename the odfs to fed_agiean.odf, r2, r3,r4,r5,r6 etc. I can play around with the hull, crew, shields, weapons etc but the ship would basically be done, you just have to make sure the rank 1 odf matches the sod file name. Also most textures work in the game as well so no need to convert those. Also make sure to copy over the hardpoint references and targethardpoints. What I do is copy over the weapon list from the original odf and change the weapon names to FO ones. After that it just a matter of setting up a mod folder and adding the ship to a shipyard and techtree and you would pretty much be done. If you want I can guide you through the process step by step.

posted on July 14th, 2013, 5:37 am

ModManager817 I found this program and a few variations of it. I created a mods folder and extracted mod folders into it. I launch this application and it sees the selected mods or folders. I select the mod to install it says it is installed. However I load Armada 2 and go into instant action and there is nothing there. I go back out and attempt to reinstall and it says it appears this mod is already installed yet I can never see it?

posted on July 14th, 2013, 4:25 pm

Is this for Fleet Operations or Armada II? You've mentioned A2 several times, which does not have a built in mod manager (unlike Fleet Ops).

posted on July 14th, 2013, 7:06 pm

Opps I am sorry it was for Armada II. I by the way really like the look of Fleet Opps.

posted on July 15th, 2013, 2:11 am

One issue that is not making any sense
I see files in Armada II tied to ODF, SOD, TGA and I can find folders for these files.
I also have files that are .3ds, ms3d which I can't find any folders for or similar files. There is so much information out here for Armada it is amazing to me that no one has taken the time time to provide step by step.

posted on July 15th, 2013, 2:34 am

afaik a2 has no reason/capability to read a 3ds/ms3d file, so there won't be folders for these files.

if you want a modding guide:
http://guide.fleetops.net/guide/modding

posted on July 17th, 2013, 2:59 am

THanks for that it was an intersting read what I want is to be able to install some of the cool mods for Armada II from armada2.fileplanet.com. A great deal of the mods up there do not have any form of direction on where to place the files and what modifications you need to make. The mod managers that I have found either crash or they only half way install the mod or say mod is installed but never does install.

posted on July 17th, 2013, 9:27 am

I find the best way to install mods is to do it completely manually and only install one thing at a time. That way, if something crashes, you know exactly what ship, station, weapon etc caused it.

posted on July 19th, 2013, 3:31 pm

SJ is spot-on. Start with a clean install of Armada 2 and then manually install the mods. Not only will this help with troubleshooting, it will also help you learn what modding is all about and what does what. Take the time to understand what the individual folders hold. For example, the odf or object definition files are essential code that tells the component (station, ship, weapon, etc) how to perform.

Good luck with your modding endeavors.

posted on July 19th, 2013, 4:24 pm

Did you mean armada2.filefront.com? The address you posted for fileplanet didn't pull up any site. In my experience, I find a great deal of the mods do have fairly well laid out installation instructions on the A2 site at FileFront.

posted on July 20th, 2013, 6:40 am

Hello I find this community very refreshing in this day and age. I have been actively trying to use these mods over and over.
I have spent probably about 4 days trying to use the mods for Armada II. I started with Windows 7. I have tried using Modmanager1.2.0.3 and the other version. It would say the mods installed ,but when I went to instant action no such luck. I finally out of frustration created a dual boot and installed WinXp and tracked down the necessary drivers etc to get my pc to work with the XP Dinosaur operating system. I have tried to use the Akira saucer seperation the excelsior mod, premonition class. I am just completely at a total loss here.
One classic example Excelsior mod v2 in the directions says to Open your techtree folder, techtt. I have installed Armada II and looked for this file. I have ensured that my display hidden files and folders option is open. I don't have this file installed on my pc. I also tried to find it after patching officially. I also attempted to locate it after adding Armada restoration. I thought maybe the file is for original Armada but the file wasn't there either. I noted a few of you commented on the installation of mods manually. I spent my entire day today trying precisely that. I worked a lot with the Akira Seperation file this constantly crashed my game after attempting to build the Akira. I tried to install DS9 no luck.
I am 40 years old been playing on the pc since DOS and the 80/86 processor. I consider myself pretty good with a computer. I have 16 years of professional pc support in the field and over the telephone. I build my own pc's. I must admit that I feel like an absolute fool hear. I have to date only been able to make one mod work which was a step by step tutorialship mod.
I have played the sims and used the mods for that game and wow and its mods. I used mods with Dragon age etc ,but this game has stumped me for days and days and days. The only thing I have successfully accomplished is Armada I had graphic issues which STRANGELY resolved upon installation of XP. VERY FRUSTRATED but remaining optimistic ,because of such a refreshing community.

posted on July 20th, 2013, 10:42 am

There is a mod that bring Classic Armada 2 into Fleet Operations. So you can play old Armada 2 mods using Fleet Ops. Here is the link and works just fine with my Fleet Ops. Would be nice to create an account on the Moddb.com site to can access more quickly the link:
http://www.moddb.com/games/star-trek-ar ... a2-classic

After downloading, please install it into your Mod directory then start Fleet Ops ---> Option --> Mods and then Armada 2 Classic.