Hello guys!
As promised in Simon´s release thread for his new magnum opus, I do a quick down and dirty direct install guide for his packs here;
some of you have already posted that JSGME is painfully slow plus, and, this is what I do not like at all about JSGME, it takes twice the space you actually need for getting the game to run with Simon´s great packs; you need the unzipped packs in the JSGME folder and then JSGME just copies them over again into the game, and this it does really really slowly...
IMHO using the Selector and the direct install method is a much more elegant way of getting a working install and this is, what this guide will be about.
ONE OR TWO SENTENCES OF CAUTION BEFORE WE START!!!
direct install is intended for people who know there way around modding, at least the basics should be well known.
before you have a running install, there will not be much safety nets around (once there is a running install, there are a few neat ways to back up some important stuff and be on the safe side, more about this later...)
so if you do not know much about how ini or properties files work, what they do, where they are and why you need them, do not read any further...the JSGME way might be the better idea to stay with as you can roll back to previous packs easily, avoiding any potential disasters...
but: if you choose to do the direct install way and run into some problems, feel free to post here as well; I am sure together we can come up with possible solutions to direct install problems
after you have a working game, methods of finding and eliminating errors are the same as with JSGME enabled packs
ok, then lets start:
first of all, you need a running 4.12.2 install with ModAct 5.30 enabled - checked and working! I will not describe how you do this, other threads have covered those topics pretty well!
you also need the AI flyables for ModAct 5.30 plus the SFS files in place in the respective directories as described by Simon in his release thread;
but instead of copying the unzipped packs into the JSGME folder and enabling them in sequence, we do it differently - directly into the game to be precise;
but to be more flexible and have room for also adding DBW 2 once it is released, we will also use the ModAct selector, IMHO one of the best tools that was ever released for IL2!
1) get all the packs (including the vanilla #SAS folder) downloaded and copy them to a temporary folder for unzipping - you can call the folder as you like, we will delete it after we have
finished our work
2) unzip all the packs, no need to follow a special sequence or order, you will get individually named folders that we can work with now
3) within the temporary folder you have created for unzipping the packs, create a new folder now which I suggest you name "stufftocopyover" and inside this create a new folder
called#newTFM412
now, the process becomes a little bit more tricky, but it is still just basic file copying, so no fear little Padavans...
when you open the folder of TFM pack #1, you will find a folder called #SAS and documentation; delete those folders named "documentation" - you will not need them...
4) but go into the #SAS folder and mark and copy over all folders and files inside there into the #newTFM412 folder you have created in step 3
5) do this for every pack folder you got after unzipping the currently 23 packs - BUT do it in sequence! starting with the vanilla #SAS folder and then #1, #2, #3, well, you get the idea!
it is important to do this in sequence because each pack adds stuff that needs entries into ini files which are replaced by newer packs with newer ini files in turn; if you do not build your
direct install in sequence here, it will crash, it is a simple as that!
6) do not forget to also copy over the missions and paintschemes folders and the dll files you get which reside outside the #SAS folders but within the unzipped pack folders
7) basically, copy over the complete content of the unzipped pack folders bar the documentation stuff
after you have finished copying over the content of the 23 #SAS folders into the #newTFM412 folder and also followed the instruction to copy the other folders inside the pack folders out,
you should have a structure like stufftocopyover\#newTFM412 and stufftocopyover\paintschemes (and missions and so on) and you should also have some .dll files inside the
stufftocopyover folder
9) now it is time to check the folder structure within the #newTFM412 folder as this is going to contain all mods files from now on; do the walkthrough of the help section in the release thread,
commenting out some files and doing what Simon suggest to troubleshoot his baby...
10) once this is all completed, we are now doing the thrilling part - copying over the folders and files from the stufftocopyover folder into the actual game folder
11) you should have get the warning to overwrite missions and paintschemes folders, let Windows do it;
12) now you should have a #SAS folder and a #newTFM412 folder, containing your TFM mods, let us do the last part necessary now, the Selector configuration; I make it simple for you and
copy over my part of the il2fb file that deals with #newTFM412
; Mod Type No.4 (Zero-based Index = 3).
[Modtype_03]
Name=new TFM 4.12
Help=new TFM 4.12, mods reside in '#newTFM412#' folder
Files=none
Mods=#newTFM412
I replaced the UP selection with TFM412 ad UP does not have any use in a 4.12.2 install;
so replace the text for Mod Type No.4 inside the il2fb.ini with the one posted above and save it;
start the Selector, choose newTFM412 and hit the start button - you should now have a working, direct install newTFM 4.12 game
concerning expanding or backing up stuff:
I suggest you create a -BACKUP folder inside your game and copy the STD, XTD and all.ini out of the mapmods folder into this folder if your game works like intended;
that way you have a set of backup ini, properties and other stuff to revert to, should you have a crashed install; it is always a good idea to do this before adding stuff, because that way
you can roll back without much drama, much like deactivating a pack in JSGME;
ok, that was it, have fun copying stuff;
FULL CREDIT GO TO SIMON AND HIS TESTERS FOR GIVING US TFM412 - THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH TO ALL INVOLVED!
should you have any questions or remarks or ideas or whatever, feel free to post or PM me
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Topic: A quick TFM 4.12 direct install guide (Read 7277 times)
