[blainedeyoung]

Hi,

I just bought a Freespace 1 and 2 bundle from GOG.  Naturally, I thought I'd start with Freespace 1.  I'm having this graphics issue.  On all the menus my mouse is moving really slow and my clicks only register after several repeated attempts.  So I looked through the GOG forums, and a thousand people are having a thousand different graphics problems and other people are offering a thousand different solutions.  But the one solution that seems to work in all cases is installing Freespace Open. 

There's just one little problem- does Freespace Open even work with Freespace 1?  The installer instructions say install Freespace 2.  I see some mentions of Freespace 1 on the forums here, but it's confusing because a lot of people seem to use "Freespace" and "Freespace 2" interchangeably.  Is there a forum dedicated to Freespace 1? 

I appreciate any advice you can give me.

[BirdofPrey]

I'm not really sure if there is a specific Freespace 1 forum, though you may find some help here.

As for Freespace Open, that does indeed require Freespace 2 to be installed since it's built on the FS2 source code.  The team ported the FS1 campaign to FSO under the name Freespace Port.  It's technically a different game, but isn't noticeably different (without using the upgraded graphics), and with the upgraded graphics you can get through FSO, it's not necessarily a bad choice.

As for FS1 itself, what sort of system are you running, and is FS1 running in any sort of compatibility mode?

[blainedeyoung]

Thanks, BirdofPrey, I just decided to fire up Freespace 2 to see if it works, and it does without the lag that Freespace 1 was giving me.  I think I'm going to install FSO, and play the original game through it. 

[blainedeyoung]

Why didn't anybody tell me about the installer before I installed everything manually?!

[X3N0-Life-Form]

Sorry, it's usually our first reflex, but it's relatively recent, so there might be a bunch of instructions out there still pointing to a manual install :s

[General Battuta]

It's right at the top of the screen!

[Galemp]

I would recommend installing FreeSpace Open with the 2014 MediaVPs, FreeSpace Port, FSPort MediaVPs, and Silent Threat: Reborn. Then play the campaigns in this order:

FSPort - FreeSpace: The Great War (30 missions)
ST:R - Silent Threat: Reborn (18 missions)
FSPort - Operation Templar (4 missions)
MediaVPs - FreeSpace 2 (30 missions)

We've made sure FSPort gives you the most authentic FS1 experience possible on modern systems (though I prefer the original soundtrack, and not the remixes).

[Nohiki]

Installing manually is not bad experience, especially since the installer has it'S days at times, and understanding the basic mod folder structure is good for making adjustments to older campaigns to work with newest graphics, not to mention not everything is in the installer, so no loss there

[blainedeyoung]

It's right at the top of the screen!

Yeah, it's right at the top of the screen as one item in a menu on a bar with five other menus.  And of course there's another bar with even more menus underneath the logo.  Now, I understand what a dunce I was not to have seen it especially considering that the link I found on the wiki took me to a installation instructions page that didn't mention there was an installer.  That instruction page took me to another instruction page for the launcher and another for the MVPs and neither of those pages mentioned there was an installer.  But surely, where I should have looked for installation instructions was the menu bar at the top of the forum page.  Right.

Installing manually is not bad experience, especially since the installer has it'S days at times, and understanding the basic mod folder structure is good for making adjustments to older campaigns to work with newest graphics, not to mention not everything is in the installer, so no loss there

Yeah, I've tried running the installer twice now.  It hung both times, but I should note that my internet connection is not all that reliable.  My downloads hang all the time.

I would recommend installing FreeSpace Open with the 2014 MediaVPs, FreeSpace Port, FSPort MediaVPs, and Silent Threat: Reborn. Then play the campaigns in this order:

FSPort - FreeSpace: The Great War (30 missions)
ST:R - Silent Threat: Reborn (18 missions)
FSPort - Operation Templar (4 missions)
MediaVPs - FreeSpace 2 (30 missions)

We've made sure FSPort gives you the most authentic FS1 experience possible on modern systems (though I prefer the original soundtrack, and not the remixes).

Thanks, Galemp, I'll do that.

[Mongoose]

We really do need a big honking button right on the main site that yells "Install FS Open!" at any passers-by, especially given that the direct "Installing FS Open" top bar link doesn't appear on our homepage at all.

[Goober5000]

Naturally, I thought I'd start with Freespace 1.  I'm having this graphics issue.  On all the menus my mouse is moving really slow and my clicks only register after several repeated attempts.  So I looked through the GOG forums, and a thousand people are having a thousand different graphics problems and other people are offering a thousand different solutions.

Which solutions did you try?  The one I would recommend first is running FS1 in Windows 98 or Windows XP compatibility mode.  Make sure you set the mode on FS.exe, not DescentFreeSpace.exe.

the link I found on the wiki took me to a installation instructions page that didn't mention there was an installer.

Where did you find this link?  I thought we updated all the wiki pages but it's possible we missed a few.

[deathspeed]

Where did you find this link?  I thought we updated all the wiki pages but it's possible we missed a few.

If some outside source links directly to the manual installation page, there is no mention of the installer.  Maybe that is what happened?

[X3N0-Life-Form]

We really do need a big honking button right on the main site that yells "Install FS Open!" at any passers-by, especially given that the direct "Installing FS Open" top bar link doesn't appear on our homepage at all.

How about making the "install" button a different color to make it stand out ? (and adding it to hard-light.net/ homepage)

[blainedeyoung]

Where did you find this link?  I thought we updated all the wiki pages but it's possible we missed a few.

If some outside source links directly to the manual installation page, there is no mention of the installer.  Maybe that is what happened?

The installation instructions page I found is: http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Installing_fs2_open

I'm afraid I can't tell you how I found it.  I might have googled it.  Maybe you could modify the page to mention that there's an installer.  But like I said, the installer didn't work for me.

I got everything installed and configured and played the first few training missions of the original game (with the updated graphics from Freespace Port), and I started the other two campaigns I've got.  Everything seems to be in order.  And I just have to say that I started the first mission of the original game, and the improvements you guys have made are just unbelievable.  This is super work.  If nobody's paying you to do this, they should. 

[Goober5000]

We really do need a big honking button right on the main site that yells "Install FS Open!" at any passers-by, especially given that the direct "Installing FS Open" top bar link doesn't appear on our homepage at all.

How about making the "install" button a different color to make it stand out ? (and adding it to hard-light.net/ homepage)

A link to the Installer is there; you just have to click on the "Downloads" tab to see it.  But that tab strip leaves some things to be desired, so I've PMmed Sandwich to discuss revising it.

The installation instructions page I found is: http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Installing_fs2_open

I'm afraid I can't tell you how I found it.  I might have googled it.  Maybe you could modify the page to mention that there's an installer.  But like I said, the installer didn't work for me.

Okay, I've made some edits to that wiki page.  And some Installer tweaks are in progress to improve the user experience.

I got everything installed and configured and played the first few training missions of the original game (with the updated graphics from Freespace Port), and I started the other two campaigns I've got.  Everything seems to be in order.  And I just have to say that I started the first mission of the original game, and the improvements you guys have made are just unbelievable.  This is super work.  If nobody's paying you to do this, they should.

Glad to hear it!  Alas, this is merely a labor of love.  If you'd like to support us, though, we gladly accept donations to cover our hosting expenses.

If you ever want to try to get FS1 working, try what I mentioned in the previous post, or ask here for further tips.