StarFox' Slightly Better Asteroid Fields by thunderfoot006

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INTRODUCTION

Hello and thank you for D/Ling this. Like you, I am amazed at the beauty of Yacuzza s Midnight Universe. It is the most beautiful of mods and made my A2 spectacular to look at when I still played A2 on my desktop computer. However the laptop which I now play A2 on just does not have the horsepower it takes to run MU2.0 and A2 simultaneously.
I miss Yacuzza s asteroid fields. They are one of the parts of Midnight Universe which really gives one the feeling of "being in space". The stock asteroids look like something out of a really badly done early Fifties Space Opera. But without adequate system resources, it is difficult to run MU 2.0 without serious lag. Upgrading my computer again within seven months of my last upgrade was not a viable alternative.

Just as with the stock starfields, there had to be some way to get the stock asteroid fields. This may be it. Based upon something StarFox said in a conversation earlier today, I began hunting for the ODFs which control the stock asteroid fields. After a little experimentation, I came up with this. The stock asteroids were shrunk and increased in number to the point where the field is "busy", but not to the point where my laptop hitches and lags. I did this for StarFox. It is his idea after all and is a rather simple effect to achieve without modding Sprites or adding in additional objects which add to the load on my graphics card. There are a lot of people in this Community who do not have nuclear-powered,
4 terabyte VRAM graphics cards available to them. I hope this gives them a map background which looks a little more like "Space. The final frontier." whilst playing A2.

BTW, the people here are -
1) Uber Cool
2) Fun to hang out with
3) Helping me effectively manage my little Star Trek: Armada 2 addiction. (2.25GB and growing daily!)

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INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

NOTE: If you have never modded this game before, right click on C:Activision and left click on Properties.
Left click on the 'Read Only' button near the bottom.
Next, left click on the 'Apply' button at the bottom of the Properties window. Another window will pop up at this point.
Left click on the 'Apply to this folder, all subfolders, and Files option.
Right click on C:ActivisionStar Trek Armada 2 and left click on Properties.
Left click on the 'Read Only' button near the bottom.
Next, left click on the 'Apply' button at the bottom of the Properties window. Another window will pop up at this point.
Left click on the 'Apply to this folder, all subfolders, and Files option.


****Starfield odfs****NOTE: Copies of the stock Asteroid field odfs are included, just in case.
Open the C:ActivisionStarTrek Armada2odfother folder.
Open the Modified Asteroid field odfs folder found here.
Place all the files in the Modified Asteroid field odfs folder found here into the C:ActivisionStarTrek Armada2odfother folder.
If prompted to overwrite, click on 'yes'.

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TO UNINSTALL

Open the C:ActivisionStarTrek Armada2odfother folder.
Open the Stock Asteroid field odfs folder found here.
Place all the files in the Stock Asteroid field odfs folder found here into the C:ActivisionStarTrek Armada2odfother folder.
If prompted to overwrite, click on 'yes'.

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POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
This mod has been tested only within the SP Campaign and Instant Action vs. the 'puter. I do not know if it will work in online Multiplayer. As always, I accept no responsibility for your 'puter or your game. This file was checked for viruses and completeness before upload. If it doesn't work right the first time, please go back and read the directions. Then, install the mod again AFTER you read the directions.

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CREDITS:
This was all StarFox1701's idea, Y'all. He s the piano player here. I was just the piano carrier.
Gene Roddenberry, for giving us such a cool place to play.
Paramount, Activision & Mad Doc for making and putting out Armada I and II
thunderfoot006
YOU, for D/L'ing this mod.

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RELEASE INFO:
Since this was orginally StarFox1701 s idea, please contact him for permission to use these as part of your own work. I do not care if you credit me or not because this is something anyone else could have done for themselves.

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CONTACT:
Any doubts, questions or suggestions, you can E-mail or PM me from here.

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COPYRIGHT AND DISTRIBUTION PERMISSIONS
Copyright notices:

Star Trek, Star Trek Armada II, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation,
Star Trek: Voyager (and the various logo devices used in them) are copyright Paramount Pictures, as are the characters, related images, and sound from the productions.

THIS PATCH IS NOT MADE, DISTRIBUTED, OR SUPPORTED BY ACTIVISION TM & (C) ACTIVISION & PARAMOUNT PICTURES.