[Siriusly.Andrew]

New to this forum, but not new to Forums.. Search never works in my favour!

To start, I love FS. Started when I was kick playing FreeSpace : The Great War. I played Silent Threat and moved right into FreeSpace 2.
I cannot overstate my satisfaction with this game. I simply cannot lol.

I recently rediscovered my old FS disks including FS: The Great War, Silent Threat and FS2. I installed FS2 and have Winodws 7 running it in Compatibility mode for Win 98.

I recently did some youtube searches to find some of the cut scenes I couldn't wait to see again, then found a link to this website. Now come my questions.

1 -- Now that is Open Source, and there has been years of people modifying and tweaking, where can I find a more updated version? I read some where it is Free to download? Will it overwrite my current install? Is it considered a new Install? Running it off the disks is a pain in the rear as I cannot update it, and some of the text is hard to read. (Cannot update the game as the auto-update servers have been down for x years) I just want an updated version of the game, something more new PC friendly if that makes sense..

2 -- My joystick doesn't work. Windows reads it normally, as expected, but FreeSpace won't let me configure it in game. It shows Joystick 1 in the list when I click Find Joysticks in the launcher, but then I remember I can't load the game from the launcher, only from the .exe in the installed folder so I wonder if the launcher info even makes it to the game I'm playing. Its a Saitek Cyborg Evo (little dated as well).

I'm going to spend many hours on this forum now that I've discovered it... oh good bye life for the next week Hello FreeSpace.

[General Battuta]

Look at the top of your screen.

Press 'Getting Started' or 'FreeSpace Open Installer'.

Enjoy.

[The E]

1 -- Now that is Open Source, and there has been years of people modifying and tweaking, where can I find a more updated version? I read some where it is Free to download? Will it overwrite my current install? Is it considered a new Install? Running it off the disks is a pain in the rear as I cannot update it, and some of the text is hard to read. (Cannot update the game as the auto-update servers have been down for x years) I just want an updated version of the game, something more new PC friendly if that makes sense..

Please follow this guide: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=61606.0 to install all  the community-produced goodies.

Now, one thing you should be aware of: Although we have the sourcecode, and are allowed to alter and distribute it, that only applies to the engine, not all the game data that make up the bulk of FS2. You still need a full install of retail FS2 as a base to enjoy the FSO goodies.
You won't need to keep the discs in the drive, however.

New to this forum, but not new to Forums

Not reading stickies is a mockable offence around here.

[General Battuta]

There are massive engine upgrades, graphical enhancements, and dozens of user-made campaigns for your enjoyment.

[Siriusly.Andrew]

I browsed a majority of the stickies, but was still unsure what I'd need.  Between being dumbfounded by this discovery (Felt like discovering God lol) and rushing upstairs, laptop in hand to show my dad the incredible news, I probably missed a few note worthy articles. Thanks for the post.

< Flame Suit equipped, so bring it

[Siriusly.Andrew]

omg. I found something that said Valid for MULTIPLAYER. Im confused how this works, PxO ran the validation servers for FS2 online, and thats been out for a while hasn't it? Or can you still connect to PxO?

Would like some info on that please

Multiplayer was the **** back in the day, I was in a squad called FullDeck. I still talk to one of the guys I flew with back in the day. Brings back so many memories lol

[General Battuta]

Multiplayer is still a go through a service called FS2NetD.

[The E]

Read the sticky. Read the links it leads to.

Or join the #hard-light IRC channel (link in my sig), where your questions can be answered directly.

To answer this one: Yes, PXO is dead. Yes, we do have a replacement called fs2netd. No, there's not much activity in Multi.

[TrashMan]

That's because FS was the king of atmospehre and story. It was beloved because of it's awesome singleplayer

[headdie]

1 -- Now that is Open Source, and there has been years of people modifying and tweaking, where can I find a more updated version? I read some where it is Free to download? Will it overwrite my current install? Is it considered a new Install? Running it off the disks is a pain in the rear as I cannot update it, and some of the text is hard to read. (Cannot update the game as the auto-update servers have been down for x years) I just want an updated version of the game, something more new PC friendly if that makes sense..

the SCP (Source Code Project) is constantly updating the engine, we are in the final throws of the current development cycle with public testing of release candidates for 3.6.12, http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=68944.0  there are also graphics enhansments with the mediavps http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=65038.0

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?action=unread is a godsend for keeping upt to date with whats happening.

I'm going to spend many hours on this forum now that I've discovered it... oh good bye life for the next week  Hello FreeSpace.

not just the next week mate, most ppl that wind up here never get out..... enjoy


edit:
ohh, now i think about it you might want to check out all the mods and custom campaigns that have been made in the last 10+ years

edit2:
 another word of advice, dont bring up FS3

* headdie looks around for flame headding his way

its a sore point, and the general oppinion is that it should have been made but never did due to corporate politics, no there is not a fan made story because it would never get accepted (well here anyway) because it is not canon as created by and canon is the word of law round here (even if it does conflict with itself at times), though there are many good post fs2 campaigns out there BP:AoA is the current buzz campaign for that with BP:WiH looking set to make similar waves

[Jeff Vader]

this guide: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=61606.0 to install all  the community-produced goodies.

Speaking of. That guide seems to be a bit outdated. I can try to bring it up to date this week or maybe next week, but as a person who doesn't use the Installer ever, I have a few questions. Does it download
- 3.6.10 Final
- the latest 3.6.10 MediaVPs
- the patch for the MediaVPs
- Launcher 5.5e
- everything FSPort-related?

Before I go about fixing things, I'd like to get my facts straight.

[General Battuta]

another word of advice, dont bring up FS3

* headdie looks around for flame headding his way

its a sore point, and the general oppinion is that it should have been made but never did due to corporate politics, no there is not a fan made story because it would never get accepted (well here anyway) because it is not canon as created by and canon is the word of law round here (even if it does conflict with itself at times), though there are many good post fs2 campaigns out there BP:AoA is the current buzz campaign for that with BP:WiH looking set to make similar waves

There are lots of great post-Capella campaigns, not just BP. Derelict, The Procyon Insurgency, Inferno R1 and others all explore what happened after Capella.

[Goober5000]

Speaking of. That guide seems to be a bit outdated. I can try to bring it up to date this week or maybe next week, but as a person who doesn't use the Installer ever, I have a few questions. Does it download
- 3.6.10 Final
- the latest 3.6.10 MediaVPs
- the patch for the MediaVPs
- Launcher 5.5e
- everything FSPort-related?

Yes.

[Jeff Vader]

Speaking of. That guide seems to be a bit outdated. I can try to bring it up to date this week or maybe next week, but as a person who doesn't use the Installer ever, I have a few questions. Does it download
- 3.6.10 Final
- the latest 3.6.10 MediaVPs
- the patch for the MediaVPs
- Launcher 5.5e
- everything FSPort-related?

Yes.

Gotcha. It'll take some effort and right now I must continue reading for Friday's exams, but I'll try to find some time to work on the guide.

[jr2]

New to this forum, but not new to Forums.. Search never works in my favour!

They use Google custom search here, it works pretty good usually if you know how to phrase your question.

And...    Everyone was so busy welcoming you, they forgot the obligatory...

* jr2 bumps the firecontrol panel

[Siriusly.Andrew]

I followed the guide found here http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,47640.0.html
on my high performance rig, and I did the Auto Installer on my laptop, both worked well

I have one question though. Both my laptop and Game Rig had an original copy of FS2 installed. The Movies are kept on disk and if you want movies, you disk must be present.

Step 5 of said guide says if you got the GoG copy, the movie files are included. Is it possible for me to pull the movies off the disk and put them in a hand made movie folder for the FSO to read, so I don't have to have the disk in to watch the cut scenes between some missions?

Thanks for the welcome and everything  
Was up till 3am last night playing lol, how could you not? Looks so pretty and up to date, I love it!

[Wobble73]

You could copy the mve files from one of the disks (disk 3 IIRC) to the Freespace2/data/movies folder. (create it if it doesn't exist) or there is an ogg format cutscene pack downloadable if you want, (takes up less disk space). I'll find the link for you if you so wish?


*Edit* Actually here it is! */Edit*

That will save you from having to have the disk in the drive.

[Siriusly.Andrew]

Awesome, got those in and works like a charm, thank you

[Mancubus]

Also, If you want play FSport (basically FSopen with all the new and flashy things, you'll have tto download the fs1 cutscenes in .ogg format and put them inthe fsport/movies folder)

[Siriusly.Andrew]

was actually about to go dig up all the FSport stuff, so I can start from the very beginning again

woot