So you wanna kill Shivans? Here's how!
WHAT YOU NEED
Freespace 2 - Available via direct download on gog.com for only $5.99! Clan Jade Wolf does not officially endorse piracy.
OpenAL - It's an audio something-or-other... I dunno, FS2 needs it for some reason.
- Windows
- Linux... er, sorry? You're a fucking Linux user, go figure it out.
- OS X
Freespace Open 3.6.18 - This is what actually runs the game in place of the retail exe.
Freespace Open Launcher - Use this to configure your settings once you get everything installed, and to select different mods. You will be running the game through this.
FSO MediaVPs 3.6.12 - This is what makes the game pretty! The following files are
required.
The following are optional, but will greatly enhance your experience.
HERE'S SOME MODS
"Mods" is a bit misleading, each modpack is usually just one campaign (notable exception: FSPort, which contains three). But these are the campaigns you will be playing.
FSPort - It's pretty much what it says on the tin... Freespace: The Great War ported to FS2 SCP. The following files are required:
Blue Planet: Age of Aquarius - A narrative epic unlike any other Freespace mod before it. Blue Planet explores what happens when the lost generation returns home. Its first release is the story of one man's revelations and his unique destiny.
Get it here.
Blue Planet: War in Heaven - The first three of five acts of Blue Planet's second arc. It deals with the lengths one goes to in war, and whether the moral high ground means anything. A tale of personal transformation on the losing side of a conflict that should never have started in the first place. Requires Age of Aquarius. Now with the JUST RELEASED ACT THREE WOOOO!
Get it here.
IMPORTANT! Blue Planet no longer works unless you point the launcher to the special .exe included within (fs2_open_3_6_17_SSE2_BP.exe). WiH Act III was developed with access to as-yet unreleased SCP features, and outpaced official releases significantly.
HOW TO SET IT UP
- Install Freespace 2.
- Place your launcher and 3.6.18 exe files in your root Freespace 2 folder. (C:\Program Files\FreeSpace2)
- Unzip your 3.6.12 MediaVPs and the 3.6.14 shader update into their own subfolder. (C:\Program Files\FreeSpace2\mediavps)
- Unzip your mods. FSPort goes in FreeSpace2\fsport-mediavps, Blue Planet has installers.
- Configure your launcher.
HOW TO CONFIGURE YOUR LAUNCHER
First, click the Browse button at the top of the Welcome tab and point it to your 3.6.18 exe, the file called fs2_open_3_6_18... etc. Next, go to the Video and Audio/Joystick tabs, and set those up according to your system. Finally, go to the Features tab. Ensure that under the Gameplay list 3D weapons, ships, and warping are enabled. The rest is up to personal preference. Most of the flags under the Graphics list will improve the game's visuals, and if you enable preloading of mission game sounds you can increase performance at the cost of higher loading times. Some samples for configuring your graphics flags can be found
here. When you are ready to play, head to the MOD tab and select a mod folder. If you just want to play Freespace 2 with improved graphics, select your mediavps folder.
Here are my launcher flags, if you are simply too lazy to do it yourself. It's slightly glossy, a little brighter than the engine default, and has high bloom and environmental effects. All the bells and whistles are on.
IMPORTANT! Hey, see where it says
-res 1920x1200 below? Change that to your
actual resolution.
-mod fsport-mediavps,fsport,mediavps_3612 -nomotiondebris -missile_lighting -3dshockwave -post_process -soft_particles -fxaa -dualscanlines -targetinfo -rearm_timer -ballistic_gauge -ship_choice_3d -weapon_choice_3d -3dwarp -snd_preload -mipmap -bloom_intensity 100,
-res 1920x1200, -no_emissive_light, -ambient_factor 85, -ogl_spec 80, spec_exp 14, -spec_point 0.8, -spec_static 0.8, -spec_tube 0.8 -spec -glow -env -mipmap
EDITED Blue Planet section due to obsolete links.
also added launcher flags and current FSO links
the preview button is for gaylordes
Edited 9 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2013 04:03AM by Leeko.
