Freespace 2 complete install guide

Freespace 2 is one of the legendary space-sim dogfighting games, along with X-Wing, the earlier Wing Commander and Freespace (the newer X games instead are crappy dogfighting games but they offer more for space exploration, trading and so on). While on a emulator the three Colony Wars for PSX are still a lot of fun.

Freespace 2 is still a valid game to play today. The genre is dead commercially, but this is one of the games (along with Falcon 4 or Jagged Alliance) that got a huge following of modders along the years. The source code was released and work on the game never stopped since. Today you can play it relatively bug free with a very good engine and all the graphic redone for a much better quality overall. Definitely worth checking out since now it's both pretty and fun as it always was (if you never played it then you should).

I spent a day figuring out the best install possible and it wasn't an easy task at all.

So, in the case I need to go through this again and for you, here are all the steps to follow.

Freespace 2 perfect install - Freespace 1 + 2 with all campaigns, missions, audio files, movies and updated graphic

1- Get in some way the three original CDs of Freespace 2. Freespace 1 is not needed.
2- Install the game normally (full install).
3- Get this file and move it to FreeSpace2\Installer\ (create this folder if it doesn't exist)
4- Get the very latest .exe.
5- Get the latest launcher (at this time Launcher55e.zip).
6- Get the compressed FS2 cutscenes. All the files of 4,5 and 6 go in FreeSpace2\ directory (root, no subdirs).
7- Check the latest Media VPs release (at this time 3.6.10). This is all the updated graphics and effects.
8- Create a new folder called "mediavps" in your Freespace 2 install folder.
9- Get the Total 3.6.1 package.
10- Unpack the whole content into the "mediavps" folder you created (8 files).
11- Get the 3.6.10 Patch.
12- Copy 3610_Patch.vp into the "mediavps" folder.
13- Get CubeMap.dss file and put it into /mediavps/data/effects (create dirs)

Now to get FS1 files:

14- Check latest release (at this time 3.1.1).
15- Create a new folder called "fsport" in your Freespace 2 install folder. All the following files go in there.
16- FSPort 3.1.1 Core.
17- FSport Mission Pack.
18- High Resolution Interface Art.
19- Cutscene Pack.
20- Voice files.
21- Command Briefings.
22- Music.
23- Create a new folder called "fsport-mediavps" in your Freespace 2 install folder. The following file go in there.
24- FSPort Media VP Pack.

Now to configure:

25- Run Launcher.exe from root directory.
26- Press "browse" and select the .exe to use (at this time: fs2_open_3_6_10r-20090203_r5063.exe).
27- Go to "video" tab and set everything as you want.
28- Go to "feature" tab, list type "graphics" and check the following: enable specular, enable glowmaps, enable environment maps, apply lighting to missiles, enable normal maps, enable 3D shockwaves.
28- list type "gameplay" and check the following: enable 3D warp, enable flash upon warp.
29- Add the following to "custom flags" field: -ambient_factor 125 -ogl_spec 40 -spec_exp 10 -spec_point 1.2 -spec_static 1.5 -spec_tube 1.5
30- Go to "MOD" tab, press "select MOD" and pick the right directory. It's "mediavps" for Freespace 2 and "fsport-mediavps" for Freespace 1. You need to swap these if you want to change between the two games.

That's it. My complete install takes about 3.65Gb of hd space. The rest is about configuring the options in the game, controls and all the typical stuff. If the two games and all their missions aren't enough you can still find a number of brand new campaigns and total conversions on the forums. There's as much content as you want.

Have fun with one the best game in its genre, it's rare nowadays to find one worthy. Maybe Jumpgate Evolution won't suck, but then Netdevil has taught me to keep hopes low.