[gl3nnium]

Hey..Im new to this.
Unfortunately im extremely disapointed with what im seeing.
I loved the original FS 2.

I installed my gog version and just went through the whole process of using the automatic installer to download everything.
The game folder is now 10gb in size..it took forever.
After finally figuring out the launcher (using the browse button to select the exe) I then ran FS2.
Apart from now being able to run FS 2 at 1440x900 there is no freaking difference at all. The same opening cinematic...the same menu graphic. No additional campaigns only the standard FS2 campaign.
So i start the training mission and theres no graphical difference at all....in fact..i got nothing for my 9gb download...please tell me theres more to this bacause im ready to uninstall. The youtube clips looked awesome..but what im seeing looks like the same old **** from 1999.

[The E]

The first thing you need to do in order to get the graphical upgrades is open the Launcher's mod tab, and select the "MediaVPs 2014" mod. Then, when you start the game, you will still see the original interface graphics (we haven't touched those), but once you go into a mission, you should be able to see the hi-poly models and hires textures.

[gl3nnium]

thanks i will try that..but waht about all that extra content and missions im not seeing?

....okay im not seeing what you describe..I used the udater to get all the latest files..I have to use the browse function to open the directory and the closest im getting is media Vps 3.6.12

[The E]

Then use those.

Regarding the extra missions and campaigns: These will generally not show up unless you select the mod they belong to (for instance, in order to play Derelict, you will need to select Derelict as te active mod). Then you will need to open the campaign menu ("C" from the main menu), and select those campaigns.

[gl3nnium]

okay..im getting a handle on this now so thankyou for helping out a newbie...so if i understand this right then nothing about the game changes unless you activate a mod through the launcher. The mod could be etiher a graphic update or a mission file. Am I right so far?
So I have a couple of questions...do i have to download the 2014 graphic up date separately and then apply it in the launcher.
Also im guessing there must be lots of mods to download in a mission repository somewhere.
And lastly...now that I have everything, what mods do you suggest i activate or download for the best experience.

Thanks for your help......gl3nnium.

[Luis Dias]

Yes to all of your questions. Regarding the mediavps 2014, just follow the instructions in its thread and you'll be fine (although the mediavps 3.6.12 is not bad!), and to answer the last one, here's General Battuta's Guide to Finding Your First (Or Next!) Campaign, which is extremely awesome and useful:

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=80688.0

Happy frags, pilot.

[gl3nnium]

Thanks so much for your help both of you..will read the guide and then get to playing? (you guys helped me out very fast and so that already tells me that the FS2 community is active and really helpful...so I'm looking forward to getting involved)

[gl3nnium]

One quick question. I now have a whole bunch of missions and campaigns which is great but there are one or two files that are huge.
I can understand why the mediavps_3612 file is huge.
There are three large files relating to the orgingal Freespace (which im playing first).

Fsport
Fsport_Mediavps
and Fs_port str

Im going to store the extra missions on an external drive so do you need all 3 FS_port files to play Freespace 1? (a couple of them are one or two gigs in size) If there are any redundant files then ill just delete them.

Thanks.

[General Battuta]

Those are all vital files for playing FreeSpace 1 and Silent Threat Reborn with enhanced graphics.

[gl3nnium]

Thank-you...after my first few hours I can already see that you've done a great job with this. Personally im trying to play in order (FS1 game and missions first) before FS 2 and after that the user missions. I don't expect to ever run out of new content from what ive seen.
That guide you wrote on what to play first and other missions was brilliant and perfect for a newcomer like me..so thank-you Gen Battuta.


additional note...I've started to notice some problems and bugs. Everey time I start the game (the fsport) I get given a whole list of files that are corrupted or have failed...the game runs okay but its something that bothers me. Also textures are missing that ruin the game for me. Capital ships are invisible and you can only see the flames from the engines...kind ruined the whole experience for me.
You've done some great stuff here though but I'm afraid its an uninstall for me. If bugs this big appear in the official game i can only imagine what they must be like in the user missions....thanks for all your help and good luck with the project.

[deathspeed]

Of course it is up to you whether you decide to just uninstall, but if you enjoy the game and feel like giving it a chance, the people here are awesome about helping people out, and are very patient as well.  You might want to check out this thread: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,56279.0.html

Remember that FSPort is a re-creation of FS1, but it is NOT FS1.  The experts here will ask for more details, and that you post your fs2_open.log (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,56279.msg1180359.html#msg1180359).  They are witch doctors or something cuz they can spot immediately what the issue is.

Hope you decide to stick around!

[General Battuta]

Thank-you...after my first few hours I can already see that you've done a great job with this. Personally im trying to play in order (FS1 game and missions first) before FS 2 and after that the user missions. I don't expect to ever run out of new content from what ive seen.
That guide you wrote on what to play first and other missions was brilliant and perfect for a newcomer like me..so thank-you Gen Battuta.


additional note...I've started to notice some problems and bugs. Everey time I start the game (the fsport) I get given a whole list of files that are corrupted or have failed...the game runs okay but its something that bothers me. Also textures are missing that ruin the game for me. Capital ships are invisible and you can only see the flames from the engines...kind ruined the whole experience for me.
You've done some great stuff here though but I'm afraid its an uninstall for me. If bugs this big appear in the official game i can only imagine what they must be like in the user missions....thanks for all your help and good luck with the project.

These bugs are just the product of a misconfigured install, not problems inherent to FreeSpace Open. All you need to do is post a log file (we can give you instructions on how to do it) and we can fix it without much trouble.

You're too pessimistic. FSO can be annoying to get running, but when it's set up correctly it's rock-solid and polished. If you're experiencing troubles it's only because you don't have everything in the right place.

FreeSpace Port is particularly difficult to get set up right, why don't you just play FreeSpace 2 (a better game anyway) with the MediaVPs? It's where I started.

[jr2]

Ah, is this perhaps caused by not selecting the free space 1 campaign "The Main FreeSpace Campaign" from the campaign room?