This installation method is the one where you download all the required components yourself and then place them to the correct places. It's a really manly experience and is guaranteed to provide a more powerful sensation of success, win and learn than any of the "click button, forget about whole thing" procedures. But still, if you feel you do not have the cojones to do things by yourself, feel free to try the alternative installation methods:
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Turey's FreeSpace Open Installer-
ShivanSPS's FreeSpace 2 SCP Update Pack-
hip63's FreeSpace Open SCP 3.6.10 Final Off-Line Installer-
Manual installation on Linux / Mac OS XIn case someone wonders about it, Jeff Vader wrote these instructions, though they are based on an early and limited version written by Kalfireth.
Protip: You need the original FS2 (version 1.2) in order to play FSO! If you do not own a copy of FreeSpace 2 yet, get one from
Good Old Games.
Good Old Games (GOG) is a legitimate company that sells numerous old (and not so old) and classic games at ridiculously low prices ($5.99 / $9.99). They also sell FS1 + Silent Threat and FS2. The games are delivered as digital downloads that are DRM-free. Sounds mighty fun, doesn't it? People who do not own FS2 (and FS1) yet are encouraged to buy their copies from GOG because it's cheap, easy, legal and the license holders get their share of the profits. Remember; originally FS2 was a commercial failure. If you like the game, buy it. And remember; FSO does not work without FS2.
Note that these are the installation instructions for real men. There are also a few alternate methods for installing FSO, but they are conciderably less manly, and I seriously recommend you to install FSO manually
at least once. Nothing about it is difficult, and you'll help yourself and others if you do these things, since you'll most likely understand a few basic things about how things work in the world of FSO.
Below is a ~9-step list of instructions for installing FSO the manly way.
The steps in orange are absolutely necessary and there is no way to skip them. Other steps are optional and are either things that will make life a little easier (7-Zip) or things that will make the game prettier (installing the MediaVPs and fiddling with the Launcher features).
Step 1) Installing FS2
Install the game to the location of your choice. C:\Games\FreeSpace2 is a popular choice. Note that
- having FreeSpace 2 in My documents or the desktop will cause errors.
- really long directory paths cause errors
- in Vista/Win 7, having FreeSpace 2 anywhere inside \Program Files\ can cause all sorts of surprising errors/problems.
- it is possible that when you select an existing directory for the GOG installer, for example C:\games\freespace2\, the installer actually installs the game to C:\games\freespace2\Freespace 2\. This is not particularly dangerous, but keep an eye one it, since the FSO executables and the FS2 installation must be in the same directory.Step 2) Installing OpenAL
Download and install OpenAL, an open-source 3D audio API, which is required to get FSO running. (Note: there are many download choices behind the link, but don't panic. Most likely you are a Windows user, so you'll need to download the OpenAL Installer for Windows.)Step 3) Getting an archive tool Get an archive handling tool capable of opening .rar and .7z archives.
7-Zip is a good choice.
Step 4) Acquiring the latest trustworthy build and the Launcher
Get the 3.6.10 build and a Launcher from the release thread. There are separate versions for Windows, Linux and Mac. Just download the ones that fit your operating system. If you're using Windows, extract the .exe files from the packages to your \FreeSpace2\ folder.
If you're wondering what "build" means: a "build" is a version of the open source game engine, or FSO engine. It is the single most important element regarding FreeSpace Open.
If you're wondering what a "Launcher" is: the Launcher is a tool for configuring certain options of the game. More about this later in this thread.Step 5) Doodling with the cutscenes
If you got your copy of FS2 from Good Old Games, be advised that the cutscenes are located somewhere in \freespace2\data2\ or \freespace2\data3\ or something like that, in any case a folder with the name "data<some number>". They're the .mve files. FSO cannot read the cutscenes from that folder, so move them to \freespace2\data\movies\ .If you feel like saving a little disk space, download
the cutscenes in .ogg format. Place the files to \FreeSpace2\data\movies\ . Note that the .ogg cutscenes only work with FSO; they won't show up if you play retail FS2.
Step 6) Getting the MediaVPs If, and when, you want to improve your FS2 graphically, download
the MediaVPs.
If you're wondering what "MediaVPs" are: MediaVPs are a compilation of graphical enhancements including, but not limited to: high-poly models, improved textures, new effects and so on. The installation of the MediaVPs is not handled here because there are highly detailed instructions behind the link.
Step 7) Setting things up
Open the Launcher (which you downloaded in step 4).
There is a "Browse" button at the top of the Launcher. Click it.
Select the file "fs2_open_3_6_10.exe". This is the FSO game engine you downloaded at step 4. Click Open.
Open the Audio/Joystick tab and make sure that Generic Software is selected. If you have a joystick, you can also check that it has been detected properly.
Open the Video tab and make sure that OpenGL and 32-bit colours are selected. (Side note: 3.6.9 is the last build in which there is a difference between selecting Direct3D and OpenGL in the Launcher. All newer builds will select OpenGL regardless of what's been selected with the Launcher. This is because
- the Direct3D implementation in FSO has been seriously outdated and sucky for a long time
- it is not worth the effort to continue Direct3D support
- OpenGL is cross-platform, while Direct3D is a "Windows only" sort of thing.)
Click "Apply" at the bottom of the Launcher to apply the changes.Step 8) Setting advanced things up If in doubt, just skip this step.
If you have the MediaVPs and you want to use them, open the MOD tab. Click "Select MOD". Select the
folder called "mediavps" and click Ok.
Open the Features tab of the Launcher.
Select "Graphics" as the list type.
Tick on at least "Enable specular", "Enable glowmaps", "Enable environment maps", and "Enable normal maps".
Select "Gameplay" as the list type.
Tick on "Use models for ship selection" and "Use models for weapon selection".
Click "Apply" at the bottom of the Launcher to apply the changes.
If you want to enable further options, especially regarding lighting, read through
the command-line reference in the FreeSpace Wiki. Command-line flags that can't be found from any of the lists can be manually added to the "Custom flags" field.
Hurray! You have now successfully installed FreeSpace Open and are officially a man by HLP's standards. Now just open the Launcher, click Run and play the mother****ing game already.
To update FSO with new files...:If you are updating your MediaVPs, delete or move away the old ones from \freespace2\mediavps\ and empty the \freespace2\mediavps\data\cache\ directory, then place the new ones to \freespace2\mediavps\.
If you want to install new FSO builds, just place the new ones to \freespace2\ and use the Launcher to select the build you want to use.
If you want to install a new Launcher, simply replace the existing Launcher with the new one. Fun 'n easy.
You may want to return to this thread from time to time, since it will always be kept up to date and you can be sure to find working download links for the latest trustworthy FSO builds, Launcher and MediaVPs from this thread.
Other stuffInstalling modsInstalling mods is very much like
making love to a beautiful woman installing the MediaVPs. First, create a subfolder \freespace2\modfolder\ for the mod. If, for example, you want to install Derelict, create the folder \freespace2\derelict.
Download the mod files.
Place the mod .vp files and other files, like the readme, to \freespace2\modfolder\.
Open the Launcher and select the mod folder as your mod the same way you did with the MediaVPs in step 7.
Click "Apply" at the bottom of the Launcher to apply the changes.
When you start the game, note that you must first go to the Campaign Room and select the correct campaign, because the main FS2 campaign is selected by default.
Using a mod with the MediaVPs If (and when) you want to use the MediaVPs
with another mod, you'll have to create a mod.ini file to the mod folder, unless the mod already contains one. To create a mod.ini file, consult
the mod.ini article at the FreeSpace Wiki. Note that using multiple mods may actually be required sometimes: for example, Cardinal Spear requires FSPort, and as such it needs a mod.ini that points to the FSPort folder.
If you encounter problems, please read
the stickied Troubleshooting FAQ thread on this board.
If you've spotted typos, errors, out-of-dateness, something that's missing, or if you just think that these instructions suck... **** you.
