Freespace2 Online Installer

[[DW]-Hunter]

The FreeSpace 2 Online Installer
By [DW]-Hunter & Turey

About

This installer allows you to pick and choose what game packages you desire to install. This Installer provides the original CD quality features that came with the game, unaltered at all. You do not need a CD to play, which makes this a more efficient way to play the game, rather then needing to insert the FreeSpace2 play disc every time you want to play single player or watch cutscenes. This is a great way to start if you just need the core files for open because this installer gives you the option to install just the key files that are required to play or more features that you may want to enhance your game-play. Although all you really need is the core files, I suggest for those just using this for open to also download Voice, Music and Animations as well so you aren't missing those key elements in the single player campaign since open doesn't supply these in the media vps.

Installer Contents
Version 1.03

• FreeSpace 2 No-CD Crack
  (dont worry about the problems in the past with FreeSpace asking for the cd at odd times, this does not occur with this crack)
• High Graphics (sparky_hi_fs2.vp - 1024 x 768)
• Full Quality Sound Effects
• Full Quality Voice Effects
• Full Quality Music
• Original Full Quality *.MVE Cutscenes.
• Tech Room Animations
• Act 1 Animations
• Act 2 Animations
• Act 3 Animations

Instructions

Download the latest version using the link provided in the under the downloads heading in this thread. A prompt may appear when you select the link, press run (illustrated below). After this it should run the installer automatically after the download.



Downloads

FreeSpace2Setup.exe

Comments

12/13/06 : New Installer Released!

12/14/06 : Fixed the files that it doesnt download, its fully functional now.

12/31/06 : Retail Installer has been updated to download and run the Java-based FreeSpace Open Installer.

1/6/07 : Retail Installer has been updated to use the new exe Open Installer.

1/11/07 : No longer Includes Turey's Open Installer neither the MVE Cutscenes since their link is broken. I Will have new cutscenes uploaded and will have them included again later.

[Turey]

(reserved for future updates)

[[DW]-Hunter]

Please sticky this thread.

[[DW]-Hunter]

More like spell check Thanks for your grammar concerns, the spelling is fixed.

Edit : Can someone remove the stupid grammar posts, it isnt relevant to the topic at all. And the first post being someones OCD problem only makes it look bad.

[Turey]

Retail Installer has been updated to download and run the Java-based FreeSpace Open Installer.

[Swantz]

You guys should really consider an offline installer, just including Freespace 2 itself and Freespace Open with no unnecessary MediaVPs or something.  That would be a much better option for people with ****ty connections, or people that had no connection at all, but still wanted to play.

[Turey]

You guys should really consider an offline installer, just including Freespace 2 itself and Freespace Open with no unnecessary MediaVPs or something.  That would be a much better option for people with ****ty connections, or people that had no connection at all, but still wanted to play.

That'd require a HUGE amount of storage space and bandwidth.

[Swantz]

You guys should really consider an offline installer, just including Freespace 2 itself and Freespace Open with no unnecessary MediaVPs or something.  That would be a much better option for people with ****ty connections, or people that had no connection at all, but still wanted to play.

That'd require a HUGE amount of storage space and bandwidth.

The online one doesn't?

[Turey]

That'd require a HUGE amount of storage space and bandwidth.

The online one doesn't?

No. The online one downloads its files from different servers (mediavps from fs2source.warpcore.org, mods from the mod creator's site, etc.), but an offline one would have to be hosted all in one place, so someone would have to pay for that space and bandwidth. It'd be very hard to find a free place willing to host that many files, especially since the Installer is run over 100 times a day.

[[DW]-Hunter]

I only host a fraction of the files that are downloaded through the installers, not the whole thing.

[Swantz]

How big would you estimate a full offline installer to be?

[karajorma]

You guys should really consider an offline installer, just including Freespace 2 itself and Freespace Open with no unnecessary MediaVPs or something.  That would be a much better option for people with ****ty connections, or people that had no connection at all, but still wanted to play.

The solution for that problem is HotU and a visit to here. Unless we're going to start saying that people on slow connections only deserve the 640x480 version

[chief1983]

How big would you estimate a full offline installer to be?

I'd think quite easily over 3GB, unless you get really good compression.  My folder, with mods, is 3.78GB.  Not gonna get much smaller than 3GB.  So, 100 times a day * 3GB  = 300GB/day.  Haha, not like everyone running the installer is downloading the whole mod.  However, it does present something.  People run the installer a lot because they only have to pull a couple files at a time, and whenever they want to run it they have to connect to a server.  Personally I think releasing an up to date offline installer would be nice, something compatible with all OS's, maybe even in a DVD iso format that could be distributed to others.  Maybe as a torrent if bandwidth is an issue, and just have Hunter and some others be permanent seeds for it.  Have an offline installer plus the updater installed, so you can update as soon as it's done.  I think it's headed in that direction already, it's just a matter of making sure whatever's created can be reliably available.  But I know I'd really like to just be able to hand my friends a disc, and say install this, run the updater, and you're good to go with the best the SCP has to offer.  I think that this would cut down on bandwidth costs in the end.  Picture this scenario.
   
A random guy loves Freespace 2 Open, and wants all his friends to play it.  Currently the way to get it is to download it live.  So he's download about 4GB of files so far.  He gets 5 friends to play, and they all download it as well.  There's 20 GB more downloaded.  If the first random guy had a dvd iso, he could have just burned it off and given it to his 5 friends, saving everyone bandwidth and time at the expense of a few cheap as hell dvds.  Since I'm guessing the SCP is being advertised almost solely by word of mouth, I have to imagine that the people who are spreading The Good Word about it could be giving away discs, if they were available.  I know I would.

I know the installer has a ways to go before it could be used for this, but I think it's making some real progress.

[Swantz]

How big would you estimate a full offline installer to be?

I'd think quite easily over 3GB, unless you get really good compression.  My folder, with mods, is 3.78GB.  Not gonna get much smaller than 3GB.  So, 100 times a day * 3GB  = 300GB/day.  Haha, not like everyone running the installer is downloading the whole mod.  However, it does present something.  People run the installer a lot because they only have to pull a couple files at a time, and whenever they want to run it they have to connect to a server.  Personally I think releasing an up to date offline installer would be nice, something compatible with all OS's, maybe even in a DVD iso format that could be distributed to others.  Maybe as a torrent if bandwidth is an issue, and just have Hunter and some others be permanent seeds for it.  Have an offline installer plus the updater installed, so you can update as soon as it's done.  I think it's headed in that direction already, it's just a matter of making sure whatever's created can be reliably available.  But I know I'd really like to just be able to hand my friends a disc, and say install this, run the updater, and you're good to go with the best the SCP has to offer.  I think that this would cut down on bandwidth costs in the end.  Picture this scenario.
   
A random guy loves Freespace 2 Open, and wants all his friends to play it.  Currently the way to get it is to download it live.  So he's download about 4GB of files so far.  He gets 5 friends to play, and they all download it as well.  There's 20 GB more downloaded.  If the first random guy had a dvd iso, he could have just burned it off and given it to his 5 friends, saving everyone bandwidth and time at the expense of a few cheap as hell dvds.  Since I'm guessing the SCP is being advertised almost solely by word of mouth, I have to imagine that the people who are spreading The Good Word about it could be giving away discs, if they were available.  I know I would.

I know the installer has a ways to go before it could be used for this, but I think it's making some real progress.

Exactly!  I'd love to be able to give my friends a DVD, or transfer it onto their jump drives.  Plus, a torrent for this would be acceptable.

Even if you throw the "everything's hosted here, there, and yonder" bit out for bandwidth, what if one of these locations fail?  Sure, someone will pick up it's loss eventually, but a few people may not be able go get what they need, and BAM!  You've got Steam with less-than-reliable servers.    Henceforth, WE LOSE NEWBIES.

[karajorma]

ShivanSPS is probably going to release a version of his pack for 3.6.9 as soon as the media VPs are finalised.

That should take care of the offline installer.

[Swantz]

ShivanSPS is probably going to release a version of his pack for 3.6.9 as soon as the media VPs are finalised.

That should take care of the offline installer.

heheh, forgot about that

[[DW]-Hunter]

if you want to just hand someone a disc, download freespace using the installer then zip your directory and then put it on a dvd, its as easy as that.

[chief1983]

That'd be great, unless I've been using my install for a while and it's cluttered with a bunch of stuff that wouldn't come with a fresh install.  Unless I have a really good idea what I'm doing, I wouldn't know what to clean out and what to make sure I leave.  I'd have to redo the installer to another directory, still using up the bandwidth anyway.  I wouldn't have any issues with Shivan's pack being used for this, except he seems to sometimes have a problem with that himself.  But since he's going to pack it, I'd really hope he does a standalone release this time and not just another patch on the old one.

[Swantz]

Yeah, the constant patching is getting annoying.  That's kinda the reason I didn't think about it as viable.

EDIT:  I think the setup is trying to tell me something.



[attachment deleted by admin]

[Turey]

EDIT:  I think the setup is trying to tell me something.

Never seen that one. Try running it again.