[Mongoose]

So have you been looking around the forums, drooling over all of the gorgeous screenshots from the upgraded FreeSpace Open engine, and asking yourself, "How do I get in on the action too?"  Well you're in luck, because it's very easy to do so!

First, make sure you have purchased and installed a retail version of FreeSpace 2. You can get one from either GoG.com or Steam.

Then choose from the following friendly options:


The quick, easy, "download and go" way (recommended)

Knossos – the FreeSpace SCP combined installer, launcher and mod manager does most of it for you.  Click the following link and follow the instructions:

Knossos

Once Knossos is installed follow the 'Beginners Guide to Knossos Settings, Lighting Pre-sets and Global Flags' to get the most out of the game and tailor it to your preferences. Click the link below to access the guide:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kKXaTMhO57RCHi24mhJpO2Bt5PjeV8WvweDkyr7xKrw/edit?usp=sharing


The traditional "installation wizard" way

An older and slightly more complex way of installing FreeSpace Open is to use the FreeSpace Open Installer.  The FSO Installer, maintained by long-time prolific community stalwart Goober5000, provides a one-stop shop for downloading and installing the latest FS2Open version, the community-created updated graphical content that makes everything look shiny, and a selection of fantastic campaigns and mods.  Just hit up the following link:

FreeSpace Open Installer

The Installer is Java-based, so make sure you have the latest version installed on your system beforehand.  Once you have the Installer .jar file, just run it as you would any executable, and follow along with the instructions.  You'll be blasting super-shiny Shivans in no time!


The step-by-step manual way (for masochists and hackers)

We definitely recommend that new players start out with Knossos or the Installer to get FreeSpace Open set up and running.  But if you're a strong independent pilot who doesn't need any filesystem help from anyone, or if you just like seeing what makes FreeSpace Open tick, that's okay too!  Source Code Project team member jg18 has put together a series of instructional threads to walk you through just where everything needs to go.  Just choose the thread that applies to your OS of choice and follow along with the instructions:

• Manually installing FSOpen on Windows
• Manually installing FSOpen on OSX
• Manually installing FSOpen on Linux

If you run into any trouble, feel free to make a thread in our support forum, and someone from the community should be able to help you out.  Enjoy!