Get FS2 Running on a Modern System in TWO Easy Steps

[MP-Ryan]

FreeSpace 2 is one of, if not the, greatest space sim games ever made. Fortunately for anyone buying it from Steam (or GOG), it has also had it's source-code released, and a very dedicated group of people have been updating the engine, graphics, and resources steadily for the last 15 years so you can play it on a modern system. However.... these features are not included in the Steam install. So, here's the quick and easy guide to how to get FreeSpace 2 running on a modern system with the community enhancements (this has been covered piecemeal in other threads, but I'm trying to make this simple). What follows are the automated instructions, then the manual instructions:

(Updated June 9 to reflect the FSO 3.7.2 RC3 release which no longer requires you to move the files to a shorter path).

***NOTE*** Due to popular demand, all the download sites are getting hammered and this may cause problems for your downloads. Be patient; FSO is a volunteer effort and the people handling it are doing the best they can with the resources they have.

AUTOMATED PROCESS

Step 1: Download and install FreeSpace 2 through Steam
Step 2: Go to www.fsoinstaller.com, download the .jar file, and run.

Ta-da! FreeSpace 2 updated to run on modern systems. Use the launcher to run using the latest FSO build. Make sure you select the MediaVPs from the active mod list to use the updated graphics.

MANUAL PROCESS

Step 1: Download and install FreeSpace 2 through Steam.
Step 2: Find your FreeSpace 2 install folder. On a Windows 7/8 computer, this should be C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\Common\FreeSpace2
Step 3: Download the new engine executeable, OpenAL, and launcher from this forum post: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=87764.0
Step 5: Extract both the launcher and all the executeables to the FreeSpace 2 install folder. Install OpenAL.
Step 6: Download the updated graphical enhancements (VPs) from this forum post: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=86475.0 and follow the directions to install.

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New campaigns, mods, and total conversions can be found at http://www.hard-light.net/forums

For assistance with any of the above, please post in this subforum: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?board=151.0

[InsideOut]

FS 2 Open works fine with the auto installer and looks great to boot! Really glad I tried it. :)

[InsideOut]

Also, I used Herra Tohtori's Settings for lighting. Looks beautiful. Copy and paste this line into your launcher's custom flags box to make it work: -ambient_factor 35 -no_emissive_light -spec_exp 15 -spec_point 1.2 -spec_static 1.5 -spec_tube 1.5 -ogl_spec 20

[CaptainBadger]

Hella bump for the awesome IT support and presence on the community page here.

[CaptainBadger]

Right, so I don't know if anyone actually still looks here for help, but the FSO installer seems to be having some issues for me.

Firstly, the 2014 FSU MediaVPs files that I think need to play FS2 with all the purdy new effects seem to not want to download, they just fail to do so every time I restart the download, and it's starting to...

Nevermind, the most recent patch for the installer seems to have fixed the issue, time to see if it works.

Anyone know why this was a thing to begin with?

[MageKing17]

To quote myself in another thread:

Origineel geplaatst door MageKing17:

it was a problem with the installer not having a recognizable user agent string, thereby causing some servers to say, "Well, you're not a real browser, so no files for you."

Specifically, they were throwing 403 "Forbidden" errors.

[zul]

does this work with windows10?

[MageKing17]

Origineel geplaatst door boredom:

does this work with windows10?

Yes.