[AzeaBraxi]

So yeah, kind of the title of the topic.

Are most user made campaigns compatible with Freespace 2 if you aren't using the fan updates? I ask because I use a very poorly designed computer not intended for gaming and as I understand the (undoubtedly excellent) fan work requires OpenGLwhich the base game does not and that would probably make my PC cry a little bit (or a lot ... or catch on fire). An engine overhaul and graphical improvements would I am sure be nice but for me are not possible (besides, the game is beautiful as is).

If most of the user content requires the user made updates then is there a list of which campaigns can be played without those?

Are there any updates which have zero effect on system requirements that should be obtained?

Having recently decided I want to take an interest in this game again I'd like to get the most content out of it possible (considering how many buttons I have to re-learn ... so many controls  ).

P.S. To all you creators out there supporting classic games - you're awesome.

[The E]

There are very few mods out there that can run on the retail executable. The FSPort is the biggest and best-maintained out there, and one of the original Inferno releases ran on it as well, but that's about it. Modern mods require the modding support the FSOpen executable gives, and there's no way to make them run on retail without fundamentally altering how they play.

That being said, can you post your system specs? FSOpen should be able to run on most systems the original executable ran on, and while some of the more high-end mods may be out of reach for you, there should be no reason not to use FSO.

[wardog300k]

Here are most retail-compatible mods released

http://www.freespacemods.net/download.php?list.49
http://sectorgame.com/fsfiles/?dir=uploads/Projects%20-%20Campaigns%20-%20TCs/Campaigns/Old%20Campaigns%20%28Pre-SCP%29

They will work

Of newer mods that are compatible with retail,as far as i know,only my WIP Final Destination is.

Hopefully i helped.

[AzeaBraxi]

1GB - 3GB RAM (should be 3 but I've been having some issues recently and I'm getting concerned about a 2GB Stick's health).
2.8 Ghz Dual Core Intel.
Direct X 9.0c

That is more than enough, problem comes with GPU ... or lack thereof.
Intel(R) Q965/Q963 Express Family Chipset
Yeah, old integrated graphics cards and shiny mods do not mix happily.

Thank you wardog300k, will look into those soon.

This place is surprisingly sprightly for a board dedicated to this old of a game.

[wardog300k]

Well my integrated intel piece of junk runs it,so you should be able too.And my specs are far worse than those you mentioned.

[Phantom Hoover]

It sounds like this is a case of being able to run FSO but not the MediaVPs, which is a situation I was in for a long time. In that case you can play FSPort and STR, Derelict, Homesick and Transcend for a start.

[wardog300k]

I'd suggest that you play FreeSpace Port,Silent threat Reborn,Derelict,Homesick,Inferno release 1,Meditations on the Abyss,Return to SOL,Allied Forces,Deus Ex and The Centaur Project.Those are the ones i played,and are good.All them work on retail too.

If you get FSO,i suggest you try Deus Ex Machina as well.

[AzeaBraxi]

Well thank you all muchly for the advice, I have installed FSOpen and whilst it is being a little bit sub par on performance I hope to be able to tweak that to get it running more smoothly. Stupid integrated graphics and their dismay at the slightest request to display even the mildest of lighting effects. The increased loading times are a mite irksome but as a trade for masses of free content it seems more than fair.

Took an age to reassign all the controls, somewhat funny to have so many options I suppose but that is one of the draws of sims I guess - greater control in exchange for greater investment - and FreeSpace certainly embraces that ideology.

Have fun everyone and blow up some fighters for me

[BirdofPrey]

You can turn off most of the lighting options through flags in the launcher

[Solatar]

For what it's worth, I haven't had a gaming rig in a couple years, and I've been getting my FS2 fix on a crummy Dell laptop with very similar stats (the main similarity being the integrated Intel graphics).  My main way of coping is to use the -no_glsl flag (it's the "Disable GLSL (shader) support" button on the launcher) to turn off most of the lighting features.  The game then uses the older rendering pipeline without all of the newer features.  Glow and specular maps (and I don't know what else) were implemented before the newer pipeline, so they still work.  I usually turn off specular lighting to save performance, and leave glows on so the Shivans look cool.  In the in-game options screen, I turn off target rendering and knock model detail down a notch.

Hope that helps.

[AzeaBraxi]

For what it's worth, I haven't had a gaming rig in a couple years, and I've been getting my FS2 fix on a crummy Dell laptop with very similar stats (the main similarity being the integrated Intel graphics).  My main way of coping is to use the -no_glsl flag (it's the "Disable GLSL (shader) support" button on the launcher) to turn off most of the lighting features.  The game then uses the older rendering pipeline without all of the newer features.  Glow and specular maps (and I don't know what else) were implemented before the newer pipeline, so they still work.  I usually turn off specular lighting to save performance, and leave glows on so the Shivans look cool.  In the in-game options screen, I turn off target rendering and knock model detail down a notch.

Hope that helps.

Indeed, after my last post I had a look through and just disabled the lighting options and since have started the port of Freespace The Great War port which is running pretty smoothly (some frame rate drops but so far nothing too troubling) and given the breadth of options I am sure I can save some more performance if it seems necessary.

This is great work by the way I had planned to play the original vanilla but was holding off on it because I was concerned that it would suffer from less refined controls etc. (I really should have just played the original vanilla before playing the sequel but it was going to be the first space sim I played in years and I wanted the best experience I could get to grab my attention and make sure I didn't abandon the genre due to a poor first impression) so having it in the updated engine is lovely as there is nothing to re-learn in a different context. I'm really impressed with how customizable and user friendly the people here have made their conversion, something a lot of modders forget to do and simply cater to a certain presumed level of technology advancement on behalf of their users which locks players with lesser gaming computers out of great content.

Seriously, this is fantastically done and way beyond what I expected. Everyone involved should feel proud of themselves IMHO.