There are two automated installers that are actively maintained by the FreeSpace community. They can be used to install FreeSpace Open as well as other FreeSpace mods. The FreeSpace Open Installer uses the conventional step-by-step installer design known as a 'wizard'. After downloading your selections, it is necessary to run FSO using a launcher.
This page covers installing FSO and associated mods by hand. You may want to use the Knossos (mod manager) or the FreeSpace Open Installer as it considerably streamlines and automates the whole process.
- Kickass - KAT - Kickasstorrents - Site Status and Official Mirrors List.
- FS2 Open Launcher OS X will allow you to change the command line arguments of FS2Open (the open source port of Freespace 2 from Volition) without having to mess around with the command line file that resides into the user’s Library. It will also allow you to change the resolution of the game.
This guide assumes you already have a working copy of FreeSpace 2 installed. If not, see Installing FreeSpace 2.
- 3Step Three: Choosing a build
- 5Step Five: Configuring Everything
Step One: Understanding what you need
There are three main components that you need to get the most out of fs2_open.
- First, you need to install the retail data from FreeSpace 2
- Second, the fs2_open build. This is the core game engine, a single executable file.
- Next, the launcher. This lets you configure the fs2_open executable for your particular system, in much the same way the original FreeSpace 2 launcher is used to configure it.
- Finally, the MediaVPs. These contain all sorts of graphical improvements and are highly recommended. Version numbers of mediaVPs generally agree with the fs2_open build that they're supposed to be used with.
Step Two: Getting the Launcher
Unless you are using an extremely old build, you will want to get the appropriate launcher for your OS. It may be bundled with your release but the direct download link is below.
Windows: wxLauncher
OS X: wxLauncher unless you are using Tiger or a PowerPC Mac, in which case use Soulstorm's OS X Launcher 3.0 (instructions)
Linux: wxLauncher (build it from source; see the readme for instructions)
Step Three: Choosing a build
There are two main types of fs2_open builds, at the time of this writing. A 'build' is any executable built from source code. Any build may also be a debug build. (Debug builds usually have names that end with '_d' or '_dbg' or somesuch) If you don't know why you'd want to use a debug build, you're almost certainly better off not using one.
All builds should be extracted to your main FreeSpace 2 folder.
Official Releases
The first type is the 'stable' release build. Additionally, some official release builds are available with installers. It's a good idea to get the most recent official release, even if you end up deciding to get a recent build anyway. Current official release is FreeSpace Open 3.8.0.
Test Builds
Recent Builds are ones that individual coders release. Most of the time they're released to either test or showcase some particular new feature. If you're curious about how reliable a build is, your best bet is to check the original thread it was posted in and see what people's responses were.
Nightly Builds
In addition to recent builds, nightly builds are built every evening after any changes have been applied to the source code. These are put out so that the code base can be quickly verified for general stability. Testing nightly builds on a regular basis and reporting bugs helps ensure a stable code base is maintained.
Step Four: MediaVPs
With the release of the 3.8 MediaVPs, there is once again only one set of recommended MediaVPs available. The detailed instructions for installing and the current links can currently be found in the MediaVPs Release Thread linked below.
MediaVPs should be installed in a new 'MediaVPs_38X' directory under the main FreeSpace directory (freespace2MediaVPs_38X) This preserves the possibility to play with either with retail FreeSpace 2 vp files if this is desired (for example in multiplayer) and using the retail FreeSpace 2 executive files and requires minimal extra time to set up. (See step six for further details).
Step Five: Configuring Everything
Basic setup
At this point, you have one final stage remaining before fs2_open is ready to go. Open up wxLauncher. Select the EXE you'd like to use from the dropdown menu in the 'Basic Settings' tab. There are two types typically for any build release:
- a debug build with the name containing 'd', 'debug' or 'FASTDBG' right after the version number. For example, fs2_open_3_8_0_x64_AVX-FASTDBG.exe.
- a regular/release build with the name containing 'r' or nothing right after the version number. For example, fs2_open_3_8_0_x64_AVX.exe.
For normal play you will want to use a regular build but for any testing, development, or bug reporting you definitely want to use a debug build. For example, fs2_open_3_8_0_x64_AVX-FASTDBG.exe vs fs2_open_3_8_0_x64_AVX.exe.
Next, ensure that the 'Audio/Joystick' and 'Network' tabs have the proper settings.
Speech setup
If you are using Windows XP, or have the Speech API installed, fs2_open will be able to read briefings, techroom descriptions, and even ingame messages to you using computer-generated voices. Although no match for real voice acting, it is convenient when valid plot points are mentioned in the middle of combat. Speech in the various locations can be turned on and off by checking and unchecking the check boxes; you can choose which of the installed voices to use in fs2_open by changing the drop-down menu. As of this writing, fs2_open will only use the voice you choose for everything. Text to Speech is typically only available in stable release builds. Recent Builds from a coder's test branch will usually not have it, nor will Nightly Builds.
Video setup
In the 'Video' section, you can choose choose various graphics options. Here, you can set the resolution as well as the colour depth. It is recommended to use a resolution greater or equal to 1024x768 at 32 bits of colour depth.
Mod setup
The 'Mods' tab lets you easily switch between mods by clicking on them and hitting the 'Activate' button.
This tab allow you to choose a mod directory to use; files in the mod directory will be given precedence over other files, so you can easily switch between mods by installing them to different directories.
Advanced setup
This tab is where most of fs2_open's options can be toggled on and off. At the bottom is a readout of your current command line; you should include this in any debugging reports you make.
The long list of checkboxes let you toggle the various new features in fs2_open, many of which are graphical improvements. Recommended options for midrange systems are 'Enable post processing', 'Enable soft particles' and 'Enable FXAA anti-aliasing'. There are many, many more options, but these should get you started.
'Custom flags' allows you to add any command line flags that don't show up in the Launcher. This may be because they require additional arguments, as is the case with the '-fov' command line argument. For more information, see the Command-Line Reference page.
Language Setup
Freespace & Freespace 2 supported non-English languages such as French, German & Polish. Some mods (most notably Freespace Port) also support non-English languages. The steps required to change the language differ depending on which OS FSO is running on.
Note that due to pilot file limitations, pilots can only be used with one language. If you switch languages you need to have multiple pilots.
To set the language, modify the Language entry in the registry or the [Default] section of the .ini file.
e.g.
[Default]
...
Free Space 2 Launcher For Mac Os
Language=French
Step Six: Cutscenes
Depending on how you installed the game, the cutscenes might not be in the proper location. If you bought your copy of FS2 from Good Old Games, the cutscenes (ten .mve files) are somewhere in freespace2data2 or freespace2data3 . You can get them working by moving them to freespace2datamovies . Create the directory if it does not exist. You can also download either the original MVE cutscenes or OGG-encoded versions from FreeSpaceMods.net. If you have the game CDs/DVD, you can copy the cutscenes from them to the FreeSpace2/data/movies/ folder. The OGG cutscenes are smaller but might not perform as well on older hardware that could run the MVEs without problem. Now you should have the full gamut of updated and retail content installed!
Note: If you've found the AVI versions of the cutscenes, do not use them. Support for AVI has been removed in FSO versions 3.6.10 and higher.
Freespace 2 Launcher For Mac Windows 10
Installing FreeSpace Open on a Mac takes several distinct steps:
Install FreeSpace 2 (required)
You need a copy of the original game. You can buy a copy from Good Old Games.
FreeSpace 2 is a game for Windows only, so the installer also requires Windows to run. On a Mac you can work around this is several ways:
- install FS2 on a Windows PC and move the entire program's folder to your mac.
- use Boot Camp.
- use Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion or VirtualBox.
- use CrossOver Mac or Wine.
If you've gotten your copy of FS2 from a source other than GOG, you'll need to install the 1.2 patch.
In all cases, you should end up with a folder that contains an FS2.exe, several .vp files, and several folders including data, ereg and tools. The usual location on your Windows (virtual) machine is C:GamesFreeSpace2. Move this folder to a convenient place on your Mac. You no longer need any of the .exe files.
Install FreeSpace Open
You can do it by hand according to the instructions at the bottom of this thread, but you can also use Turey's FSO installer. For the Mac, you need the cross-platform .jar installer. It needs Java 1.5, which is standard on OSX 10.4 (Tiger) onwards, and can be hacked into 10.3 (Panther).
Run the installer. Select the folder where you have your FS2. Then make sure you leave the Update Current Files option unchecked. Otherwise, you can select anything you want.
Freespace 2 Launcher For Mac Os
After you select software and mods, allow the installer to fetch the latest versions. Caution: Depending on your mod choices, the installer may start downloading several GBs. If you are on a relatively slow connection (including basic broadband) this could take hours.
If you want a newer build of the FSO game than the installer provides for, you can find build announcements in the Cross-Platform Development forum. Caution: these builds are experimental and may not function as intended.
Freespace 2 Launcher For Mac Pc
Find your FS2 folder and put the FS2_Open application in your FS2 folder
Installing the OS X game launcher
On platforms other than Mac, FS2O is configured via command-line options. On the Mac, these options are not used on a command line, but are listed instead in the ~library/FS2_Open/data/cmdline_fso.cfg file. You can edit this file by hand, but a more convenient way is to use Soulstorm's OSX launcher. Download the disk image, mount it, and put the launcher in your FS2/FSO folder.
When you first run the installer, let it update itself to at least version 3.1, and enter the location of your FS2O application in the bottom part of the window.
Go to the GamePlay + Speed tab to select one of the mods you have installed. FS2O can have only one mod active at the same time, so select the one you want to play. The launcher should be able to find the mods in your FS2O folder. If not, you will have to add them to your cmdline_fso.cfg file by hand.
Go to the Graphics tab to enter your graphics options. The MediaVP's mod readme.txt file recommends the following settings, but your Mac may or may not support these:
Further OS X graphics settings
Open up ~/Library/FS2_Open/fs2_open.ini with the text editor of your choice (TextEdit.app). You'll see something like the following:
To set FS2_Open SCP to use the highest setting possible, add the following lines (set AF and AA to preference). Anti-aliasing is available in 3.6.11:
Install additional mods
You can use the FSO installer to download more mods, or follow the links in the FS campaign list. Total conversion mods are also available, which take place outside the FreeSpace universe.