[TheFadingOutcast]

I'm having an excruciating time trying to get FRED (from Descent: Freespace The Great War) to open from my G: drive (CD-drive) and the file doesn't know the program in which to open FRED with.  I've spent numerous hours trying to find the help I need for this problem but I can't seem to salvage a single solution.  I had FRED running just fine yesterday until I turned my computer back on this morning.  I need to know how to start-up FRED again.

Please help.

[Droid803]

Wait, FRED. Not FRED2. Not FRED2_Open.

Why? AFAIK, nobody has touched that ancient thing in years. I'm not surprised at all that it doesn't run on modern rigs.

I cant even figure out what one would do with it other than waste their own time, as nobody's going to really be playing anything on the FS1 engine nowadays.

[TheFadingOutcast]

I'm on my modern computer sending these messages to you as we speak.  I'm using my old Windows 1998 Aptiva to play Freespace: The Great War and I cannot connect to the Internet with it.  I use it solely to play old PC games and such.  I need to figure out the program I need to use in order to open FRED.  I tried going to Settings/Folder Options to search for the correct program to open FRED but I cannot find a program on my CD that will run FRED; I might be wrong but I know I had the wretched thing running yesterday just fine.  I was so happy to start using FRED until the computer had a program fart.

[TheFadingOutcast]

I can't play Freespace 2 on my thing because the game requires Windows NT and I'm very certain that my computer wouldn't be able to run the game because of it's age.

[Droid803]

Seeing as FRED is a program itself...I don't quite understand why you need another program in order to open it? It should be something like FRED.exe, unless it was deleted...

You could play FSO (FS2) on your modern computer...like the rest of us.

[TheFadingOutcast]

It's named FRED.ex_.
Apparently, it's a EX_ file.  Would changing it to the .exe file extension prove anything useful or would it further plunge my problem into more complications.?

[Goober5000]

Woo, another FS1 enthusiast!   This probably means I should get back to work on my unfinished FS1 campaign...

TheFadingOutcast, your problem is most likely that you're trying to run FRED from the CD drive.  Try launching it from the hard disk location where you installed FreeSpace.  (It's usually in C:\Games\FreeSpace.)

[TheFadingOutcast]

I'll try that.  Give me a moment.

[Colonol Dekker]

* Dekker thinks back REALLLLLLY hard.......

Did FS1 generate a start menu shortcut for Fred or not, i can't remember

[TheFadingOutcast]

It worked...
It actually worked!

THANK YOU Goober5000.  If I knew that I had to go to Games/Freespace instead of by attempting to access FRED from the CD Drive, I would've saved myself from one of my mental earthquakes.

I feel so stupid right now.
*facepalms in selfpity*

[headdie]

* Dekker thinks back REALLLLLLY hard.......

Did FS1 generate a start menu shortcut for Fred or not, i can't remember

note that i recall from the FS1+ST box set

[Colonol Dekker]

It worked...
It actually worked!

THANK YOU Goober5000.  If I knew that I had to go to Games/Freespace instead of by attempting to access FRED from the CD Drive, I would've saved myself from one of my mental earthquakes.

I feel so stupid right now.
*facepalms in selfpity*

Congrats

* Dekker thinks back REALLLLLLY hard.......

Did FS1 generate a start menu shortcut for Fred or not, i can't remember

note that i recall from the FS1+ST box set

Ahh well i'll have a look later , Fading outcast, may i suggest installing the FSPort?

[TheFadingOutcast]

* Dekker thinks back REALLLLLLY hard.......

Did FS1 generate a start menu shortcut for Fred or not, i can't remember

Unfortunately no.  It didn't make a shortcut for FRED when I installed Descent Freespace: The Great War.

[Goober5000]

It worked...
It actually worked!

THANK YOU Goober5000.  If I knew that I had to go to Games/Freespace instead of by attempting to access FRED from the CD Drive, I would've saved myself from one of my mental earthquakes.

I feel so stupid right now.
*facepalms in selfpity*

You're welcome.   I think the file is renamed to .exe during the process of installation.

Are you making some FS1 missions to share?   Have you tried any of the FS1 campaigns out there, such as Awakenings or Destiny of Peace?

[mjn.mixael]

Awesome.. more FS1 missions for the three of you that still run actual FS1...

[Oddgrim]

Awesome.. more FS1 missions for the three of you that still run actual FS1...

if you think in % well that is a 33% increase in players! XD

[TheFadingOutcast]

You're welcome.   I think the file is renamed to .exe during the process of installation.

Are you making some FS1 missions to share?   Have you tried any of the FS1 campaigns out there, such as Awakenings or Destiny of Peace?

I can't insert add-ons into my Windows 1998 Aptiva.  It doesn't have internet nor does it know what a USB Storage Drive is so I can't insert any downloads I snag from hard-light.  I sure as Hell would love to try those special campaigns though.

And, honestly, I was interested in joining the FRED academy for help and tips on how to make the missions I desire to create with my imagination.  Unfortunately, I see that FRED Academy is a dying Forum and very few people are on there browsing and posting topics on the forums.   I've done a little tour of this website and I see that you, Goober5000, are a major veteran of FREDding and knowing the ropes to everything that is the most influential game of my lifetime,  Descent: Freespace.

I am in the process of making my own simple mission that includes simply destroying different Terrorist Squadrons attacking a GTD Orion, both by Kamikaze and by simply unloading heavy payloads of explosive missiles.  And, as a matter of fact, I'm actually stuck with a piece of Event Editing for the mission and I was wondering if you guys could assist me. 

[Legate Damar]

Why not just download and run FSOpen on your "modern" computer?

[karajorma]

I cant even figure out what one would do with it other than waste their own time, as nobody's going to really be playing anything on the FS1 engine nowadays.

I don't know. If I had the time I might make a mission in FRED just for the challenge. Sorta like getting it into your head to recreate Scott's expedition to the South Pole only using equipment he'd have had access to.

It would be interesting to see whether I could beat the FS1 FREDders of old due to the fact I have much more experience of how FRED works than they ever could have had (both in time and due to the fact I've seen the code, unlike them).  Or whether I'd find the restrictions I'd placed upon myself (no arguments, no new SEXPs, etc) so confining that I'd have to give up. It would be interesting to see if 12 years of learning FREDding tricks could compensate for that. It would be interesting to see if I learned new tricks trying to do things I could do with a single SEXP in FS2_Open.



And it's worth remembering that like a polar explorer who brings along a satellite phone just in case, I can always import my mission into FS2_Open if I got really stuck (or once I'd finished).

[Goober5000]

I can't insert add-ons into my Windows 1998 Aptiva.  It doesn't have internet nor does it know what a USB Storage Drive is so I can't insert any downloads I snag from hard-light.  I sure as Hell would love to try those special campaigns though.

But you have a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM though.  Just burn some mods to CD or DVD and copy them over.

Either way, you ought to be able to install USB support.  (And I thought that 98SE came with USB support by default.)  You might find some assistance at this forum:
http://www.msfn.org/board/forum/8-windows-959898seme/

And, honestly, I was interested in joining the FRED academy for help and tips on how to make the missions I desire to create with my imagination.  Unfortunately, I see that FRED Academy is a dying Forum and very few people are on there browsing and posting topics on the forums.   I've done a little tour of this website and I see that you, Goober5000, are a major veteran of FREDding and knowing the ropes to everything that is the most influential game of my lifetime,  Descent: Freespace.

Aha.  Well, despite the low activity level of FRED Academy, there are plenty of FREDders around, and we love adding to our ranks.   I would recommend posting one of your missions in the FRED Discussion board, or frequenting the #freespace channel on HLP's IRC.  If you're really ambitious, you could join one of the hosted projects as a FREDding apprentice.

You can also read the FRED documentation in the HLP wiki or FREDZone.  I would recommend checking out the freddocs pages that were included with FS2 -- most of it is applicable to FS1 as well.  The freddocs also walk you through FREDding a complete mission from start to finish.

I am in the process of making my own simple mission that includes simply destroying different Terrorist Squadrons attacking a GTD Orion, both by Kamikaze and by simply unloading heavy payloads of explosive missiles.  And, as a matter of fact, I'm actually stuck with a piece of Event Editing for the mission and I was wondering if you guys could assist me. 

Certainly.  It will be tricky without having the mission or a screenshot to check from, but be as thorough as you can and we'll give it a shot.