Return to Freespace 2

Mad Max RW · Post by **Mad Max RW** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 6:47 pm

I was bored and thought what the fuck, reinstall Freespace 2 and try that sexy looking FS2Open source code modification. I haven't played in 7 years after beating it 62 times in a row. Anyways, FS2Open or whatever it's called adds high resolution shit, better things, stuff, and makes the game look and run better overall. Here's some links cuz I'm nice like that:

http://www.freespacezone.net/
If you don't own a copy of FS2 (for shame) it's available here. Don't ask me how to get that shit to work because I've had a legal copy since the original release in '99.

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index. ... 410.0.html
Latest version of FS2_Open with launcher and stuff. Just unzip to the Freespace 2 directory. Only run Launcher.exe

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index. ... 905.0.html
All the goodies to make the game sexy as hell. Create a folder called MediaVPS and extract everything in there. Run the Launcher, chose mod, then make that folder a mod. Some of those files are pretty big, so prepare to wait a few minutes to get everything.

Some tips from me:
Before you do anything install the latest patch. Grab it from the FS2 SCP site. With a decent video card you can have all the bells and whistles maxed out. Just remember to set it to OpenGL. They dumped DirectX in favor of it. Specular lighting, environment mapping, and other effects glitch out with DX. Other new features like the 3D radar and 3D models for ship selection are awesome and should be used.

St. Toxic · Post by **St. Toxic** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 9:56 pm

Looks good, I'll try it out soon.

POOPERSCOOPER · Post by **POOPERSCOOPER** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 5:27 pm

So I just put FSopen into the FS2 directorythen unzip and open the launcher and hit "apply"? Then all i have to do his play the game from its original shortcut and all the fancy shit will take place?

I've never played more than like 10 minutes of FS2. I generally stop when I can't figure out how to move the ship around.

Mad Max RW · Post by **Mad Max RW** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 5:46 pm

No, always run from the new Launcher (should have a black paw icon). The default command line (for me anyway) is C:\Freespace 2\fs2_open_r.exe Leave that shit alone and apply all the changes and whatnot in the tabs, click Apply, then Run.

I discovered you can add a custom FOV in the "custom flags" line. This is what mine looks like:
-fov 0.90
0.75 is default. 0.35 makes everything bigger. The higher number you go the better it looks, in my opinion. You can see more and space seems more vast. It depends on your monitor, but if you go too high it gets a fishbowl look which is kinda cool. I haven't tried anything higher than .9, because that's typically how I configured all my FPS's since AvP1.

St. Toxic · Post by **St. Toxic** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 11:15 pm

So hey, how about an mp game, when we get it up and so forth?

VasikkA · Post by **VasikkA** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 11:57 pm

I'm downloading it as we speak. It looks pretty awesome. Thanks, MMRW.

Freespace was one mindblowing experience when I got it (I think it came free with my old computer). I gots the same vibes when playing Wing Commander as a kiddo. Good times.

EDIT: I'm downloading this torrent (assuming it's freeware) as well as the update. The mirrors on the main site seem to be down.

Nicolai · Post by **Nicolai** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 12:09 am

Hm, will have to try to make some room for it on my HD.

MadBill · Post by **MadBill** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 12:27 am

Oh god yes.

Mad Max RW · Post by **Mad Max RW** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:56 pm

Here's a warning. DO NOT use an old profile with FS2 Open. It'll ask to convert it and appears to work, but certain things are broken and you won't notice until later. Scripted events, weapons, other new things can be fucked up slightly. But slightly is enough to break the game.

St. Toxic · Post by **St. Toxic** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 7:37 pm

So hey, I don't see much difference.

Mad Max RW · Post by **Mad Max RW** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 8:17 pm

Did you download all those media files and install it correctly?

St. Toxic · Post by **St. Toxic** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:38 pm

Yeah.

Mad Max RW · Post by **Mad Max RW** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:17 pm

Delete the mv_cell one because it might overwrite stuff. It's only the cartoony cell shaded graphics that are unnecessary to have installed if you don't like that stuff.
If you have an ATI card there will be problems.

That's all I can think of. Everything is running perfectly for me now and looks awesome. The major improvements are in beam weapons, ship models, shiny metal stuff, and high res textures with bump mapping and other goodies. The Hercules Mk2 and Perseus Interceptor are so much better. You can see inside cockpits and shit. Also explosions are significantly more impressive.

This is my command line:
C:\Freespace 2\fs2_open_r.exe -mod mediavps -spec -glow -env -jpgtga -mipmap -missile_lighting -cache_bitmaps -dualscanlines -orbradar -rearm_timer -ballistic_gauge -ship_choice_3d -3dwarp -warp_flash -alpha_env -fov 0.90 -allslev

Stainless · Post by **Stainless** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 5:26 pm

Just managed to find my FS2 cds and I get a problem with textures not appearing with smoke and shield impacts, basically I just get a big black block obscuring my view instead.

Any idea what the problem is?

Mad Max RW · Post by **Mad Max RW** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 7:37 pm

Get the two patches here: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index. ... 410.0.html

Download mv_alphapatch.rar and mv_advalphapatch.rar

If you get weird things like white capital ships then switch to OpenGL or turn off the shader effects.

johnnygothisgun · Post by **johnnygothisgun** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 8:57 pm

Is the improvement really that good? I can't find any screenshots from what you've linked, but I'm pretty psyched to play Freespace 2 again, with newer visuals.

St. Toxic · Post by **St. Toxic** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 9:04 pm

It looks good, do it.

Stainless · Post by **Stainless** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 10:13 pm

Cheers, MMRW. Worked a charm. Now I just need to stop getting slaughtered by capital ships, freighters and fighters...

This game seems harder then I remember it.