FreeSpace 2 - Free Space Sim

[Know Your Enemy]

I love FreeSpace 2. I bought the original Freespace + expansion pack a few years ago and fell in love with them (and never climbed out.) I remember reading the reviews for Freespace 2 back in 1999 and saying "I want that game!" It took 7 years to get it, but it was sure as hell worth it.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/karajorma/FAQ/intro.html <-- A great Freespace 2 page for anything you need

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php <-- The biggest Freespace 2 Forums with a dedicated community

And finally, what you've all been waiting for...

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/ind...c,38195.0.html <-- Freespace 2 Download links!

That's right, the whole game is free! That's not all! It's become Open-source, and the community has revamped the graphics (giving it a more modern look with shader-coated graphics), and even ported the original Freespace into the FS-Open engine.

I encourage anyone who wants to experience the most underrated, incredible space sim ever made to set up their torrents tonight and grab this great gem. Join the community, too. These guys are incredible.

Administrator Edit:

Thread title edited. No need to hype up a game in a thread title

Additional Comment:
Ok, since no one is interested, and I always find screenshots as a good way to show people things, I'm gonna post some screenshots I stole off the Hard Light forums.

Moderator Edit:

Please read the image guidelines thread and format your pictures accordingly. Images removed. -DeltaOmega553

[Epipsychidion]

I agree that Freespace 2 rocks! In fact, it's been too long since I played it, may just have to reinstall and play again. Or maybe even download the updated version that you've written about. I must admit, the original game looked awesome enough, but with the new shader effects ...

Now if they'd only announce Freespace 3 I'd be so freakin happy!

[Know Your Enemy]

Alright, didn't know there were image guidelines. Here's the thumbnail'd pics.

Moderator Edit:

Re-aligned images, so that they take less vertical space in the post. ~Stryker

Thanks for the re-align, Stryker. I saw how you re-aligned and now I know for future reference.

[SideSwipe]

Oh wow. I had heard Freespace was good, but those screenshots look phenomonial

I guess I will be downloading this once the Red Orchestra free week is over

[Know Your Enemy]

Yeah, it's a 1999 game (!) but thanks to the open source, the community has done wonders with the engine.

I'm playing this with my Xbox 360 controller and it feels great. The missions are alot of fun, and the tutorials (luckily skippable!) do a good job of teaching newbies how to play space sims. For those of that grew up with X-Wing, Tie Fighter, and Wing Commander, they're completely unnecessary and you're able to jump right into the meat of the game: the campaign.

Oh, and did I mention that they ported all of FreeSpace 1 into this engine and there's tons of custom campaigns? The amount of content for this game is staggering.

It's scalable too, so if your rig isn't too powerful you can adjust the custom effects. For those of us with monster rigs, there's even better effects available for download.

[SideSwipe]

Jeeze, now all I need to do is figure out what is wrong with my joystick. The base buttons havn't worked on it for 5 months and it drifts to the left almost constantly...

Thrustmaster tech support wern't very helpful either. I think it was an automated reply, I told them exactly what I had done and in the email back they told me to do something I already said I had done Ah well, the stick is about 3 years old so is out of warrenty, so I'll probably take it apart and find a loose wire or something inside

[Know Your Enemy]

Originally Posted by SideSwipe

Jeeze, now all I need to do is figure out what is wrong with my joystick. The base buttons havn't worked on it for 5 months and it drifts to the left almost constantly...

Thrustmaster tech support wern't very helpful either. I think it was an automated reply, I told them exactly what I had done and in the email back they told me to do something I already said I had done Ah well, the stick is about 3 years old so is out of warrenty, so I'll probably take it apart and find a loose wire or something inside

Maybe, I'd recommend just picking up a cheap gamepad or something. The Xbox 360 controller works wonders for all of my gamepad needs, and I've got some customized drivers for it, so it's very well tuned and easy to optimize. Sorry, shameless plug, but the 360 controller is the best one for PC, no doubt about it. SW Battlefront II is a blast to play with it; dogfighting in the space battles with the 360 pad's dual analog sticks helping you duck and weave... ah, it's too much fun!

[Evo]

Thanks for the tip, I started the DL when I left for work today. I've never played this one, but it looks fun! Although I'm not sure I'll be able to pull myself away from X2 long enough to play this. Looks great though.

[Know Your Enemy]

X2/X3 are more economic based space sims, with less of an emphasis on combat. This one is pure combat and dogfighting, along with strategic squad management. I think you'll enjoy a break from X2/X3, and will enjoy switching back and forth. I'll try to seed a little bit tonight to help you out. Make sure to get the 1.8 pack upgrade along with the 1.8 to 1.9 patch! That upgrades this whole entire pack, and it's alot easier than finding everything piecemeal.

[SideSwipe]

Interesting. According to this page I should just be able to buy any xbox 360 controler and plug it straight into a usb port and it should work with the right drivers? If so I think I'll take a little visit to the local game store and buy one