Karajorma's FreeSpace FAQ: General Questions

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General FreeSpace Questions

What is FreeSpace?

I doubt there'll be many people who come here who don't know what FreeSpace is but for the unenlightened FreeSpace 1 and 2 are quite possibly the finest examples of the space combat sim ever made. Like several other games in the genre (Wing Commander, Tachyon, Starlancer) FreeSpace went with a "aeroplanes in space" flight model rather than realistic Newtonian physics. You can read up more on the games from their official websites

[FreeSpace 1] , [FreeSpace 2]

When is FreeSpace 3 coming out?

Without a doubt this is probably the most common question asked by people entering the FreeSpace community. They see how brilliant FS1 and FS2 were and they find it hard to believe that FS3 isn't already available for people to play. I can't say I blame them. I found it hard to believe myself but the main reason FS3 isn't out already is because FS2 didn't sell that well. Despite widespread critical acclaim the sales of FS2 compared to FS1 were actually quite poor. The community puts this fact squarely at the feet of FreeSpace's publisher, Interplay. Quite frankly FreeSpace 2 was hardly advertised at all so it's hardly surprising that it didn't sell. [Volition], (Simply known as [V] by the fans), the makers of FreeSpace later struck a deal with another publisher THQ and no longer work for Interplay but Interplay retained the rights to FreeSpace. The really annoying thing about this is that [V] have made several statements that show their programmers are willing to do a third FreeSpace game but can't since Interplay hold the licenses and THQ prefer to own the rights to any games they make.

The FreeSpace community has tried various methods to bring about FS3 including petitions and mailings to [V] and Interplay. None of these have had much of an effect because since FreeSpace 2 didn't do very well so Interplay doesn't wish to stick their neck out and hire someone to write a third.

A while back an announcement by Derek Smart (creator of the BattleCruiser 3000 series) that he was attempting to purchase the license caused widespread consternation amongst the community. The quality of his other games, the attitude with which he treated the community when suggesting this and the fact that he showed no intention of asking [V] what they had planned for the storyline of FS3 left the community up in arms. Fortunately the situation appears to have normalized since then with Derek Smart deciding to leave FreeSpace alone and make up his own universe instead.

While the occasional juicy tidbit from [V] or Interplay (The fact that Interplay has been hovering near bankruptcy for the past two years for instance) occasionally stirs interest the general consensus of the community is to not mention FS3 at all unless there is something new to say about it. Comments about FS3 are generally unpopular amongst the veterans because we've seen them all before. If you have something new to contribute people will generally receive it politely but posting questions about FS3 that we've all seen a hundred times before generally results in a terse answer and a link to this site or the Wiki at best.

How about we get the community together and write our own FS3?

After questions about FS3's release date this is one of the sorest points in the community. Posting a topic like this on one of the FreeSpace boards is actually more likely to get you insulted that simply asking when FS3 is coming out. While that question is merely naive this one carries a rather subtle insult. After all if the solution is so simple wouldn't the community have to be idiots not to have thought of it before? The fact is that the idea has been brought up several times before. It came up shortly after the FS2 source code was released when for the first time not only could we make a new story for FS3 but also improve the engine to do it. The idea was rejected then for several reasons and continues to be rejected every time it comes up for many of the same ones.

   * What would the plotline be? - The various members of the community have their own viewpoints of where the FS3 plotline would go. Furthermore we've had several years to become convinced that our particular plotline is the best one. It would be very hard to persuade the community to rally around a single official storyline for FS3. In fact the only thing that the community would rally round would be an official plotline from [V] but they continue to play their cards very close to their chests. Without this the community tend to go by the motto that "If it isn't [V], it ain't FS3".
   * Who would play it? - The entire community would know large portions of the plot line so who would the campaign be for?
   * Who has the time? - Most of the community are working on their own campaigns already. To do this would mean that they would have to give them up for the duration of the project.

Since a fan made FS3 would be no more official than Inferno or Derelict or any of the other campaigns already released or currently in production most people don't feel there's much point. Many of these mods are our own visions of FS3. There is no need for a semi-official one.

What is FS2_Open? What is the SCP?

From the time it became apparent that there would be no FS3 the most repeated complaint the community had was that Volition wouldn't release the source code so that the community could work on it themselves Quite a while after the release of FS2 [V] finally did the decent thing and released the code. It was immediately leapt upon by almost every person who could program (and some who couldn't and learnt in order to take advantage of it). An organisation was set up called The Source Code Project (SCP) who took the code with the intention of making FreeSpace 2 better. The product of their work was called FS2_Open. FS2_Open is not FS3. Instead it is a replacement for the FreeSpace 2 engine, a sort of super mod for FreeSpace 2 which improves it no end. The idea is that by running FS2_Open you can play the FreeSpace 2 main campaign and all the FreeSpace 2 mods with better graphics. In addition to this improvements have been made to several of the games basics to add new kinds of weapons and missions that couldn't be done before. These improvements won't show up in the main campaign but will show up in special "Made for SCP" mods and campaigns. The differences between FS2 retail and FS2_Open are breathtaking. It is almost like playing a new game. The project is not finished however and it continues to astound the community with every release. More information on FS2_Open and the SCP can be found in various places in this FAQ. Since the SCP influences almost all things FreeSpace related information about it can not be lumped together in one place. If you wish to look into the SCP the best places to start are [their website] and the [SCP forum on HLP]. You will of course need a working copy of FreeSpace 2 in order to get the SCP to work.

Where can I get FreeSpace 1 or FreeSpace 2?

Unfortunately both FreeSpace games are becoming increasing harder to find. FS2 has a very strange licensing agreement which states that "You may give copies away to friends..." which means that if you know some who has a copy you can get them to copy it for you perfectly legally. If you have no friends (or least friends who also suffer from Freespacelessness) you will have to search harder. There are still places on the web which still sell the game but they can be very difficult to find. The situation in the UK improved slightly for a while with the release of the game on White Label re-release. This version has both FS1 and FS2 in one package for £10 (sadly without the Silent Threat add on for FS1). For a while this meant that both games were available. However now that the copies have been sold it is even harder to find FS2 in the UK than in the US. If all else fails many people have also reported finding copies of both games on E-bay. Some of these auctions attract collectors and this results in the price rocketing upwards but occasionally they miss one and you can pick it up fairly cheaply. If you are looking for FS1 and already have FS2 you may wish to try [The FS1 to FS2 port] (aka FSPort) if you fail to find FS1.

A copy of FreeSpace 2 has been uploaded to the Home of the Underdogs website. It's not the full version and is greatly lacking in many areas (for instance you can only play in 640x480 and there is little or no voice acting) but as far as modding is concerned this is a full version and will therefore allow you to play add on campaigns etc. You can find this version at [The Home of the Underdogs Website]. I've made a page with information for those who have downloaded this version which you can find here. With the info on that page you should be able to bring the HotU download up to a full FS2 install with cutscenes. There's also information on the page which should help people who have the HotU version when installing user made campaigns. This version is a good way for someone on dial-up to download the game as it allows you to get hold of the core of the game as quickly as possible and then slowly get the extras.

In addition from time to time HTTP downloads do pop up. The problem with these is they tend to be too popular for their own good and are quickly taken down again or run out of bandwidth. Having a look around [HLP] may get you one of these. If you are lucky don't rush off and post it everywhere on the net. That's exactly the sort of behaviour that gets the site shut down. So keep the link to yourself.

Surely downloading FreeSpace is illegal?

Well that's actually an interesting question. If you ask ten different people in the community as to whether it's illegal or not you'll get ten different answers. I'll present all the facts for you, give you my own interpretation of those facts and let you decide.

* Source Code Release - Volition released the source code to FS2 a few years back. Many people assume that this means that this makes the game legal to copy. It means nothing of the sort. Volition only have the right to release the code. The artwork, ship models and other intellectual property appears to have stayed the property of Interplay. This means that it is 100% legal for you to distribute the source code itself and any programs built using that source as long as you don't attempt to make a profit from it. You don't automatically gain the right to distribute the rest of the game just because the code is released and as far as I can see there are no provisions in the license that allow you to do so.
* Abandonware - A lot of people use the argument that FS1 and FS2 are abandonware. Since Interplay never gave anyone the right to freely distribute the game that claim can't be used to say the game is legal to download. If you look at Home of the Underdogs they'll freely admit that games like FreeSpace are illegal to download from their website. They justify this by saying that it's a bigger crime to allow games like FreeSpace to fade away and be forgotten just because no one is selling it.
* The EULA - Here's where it gets interesting. FS2 has two EULAs. The one that is saved to your HD on install is just your average EULA. The one presented on install however is different as it quite clearly states "You may make copies of the Software for your personal noncommercial use and to give to friends and acquaintances on a no cost noncommercial basis". Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself.

     So who can you legally describe as a friend or acquaintance? Do ISOs downloaded from the net count as copies of the software? That paragraph is the cause of most of the confusion surrounding the legality.

My View - My view tends to be this. If you make a copy for someone you know you're protected by the EULA. Downloading a copy from the web and especially from P2P like BitTorrent and EDonkey is probably illegal as you most likely won't know the sources you're getting the file from. However I subscribe to the HotU view that it is a bigger crime to let FS2 fade away. Considering that HotU have had a copy of the game available for download for a couple of years and no one has ever knocked on their door it's pretty likely that no one will be complaining at you for downloading a copy yourself (Which is why I included links in the FAQ - If ever I did get an official complaint I'd have to remove them). So feel free to download the game and enjoy it and if you're feeling apprehensive about it just make yourself some friends and acquaintances on one of the FreeSpace boards before you download it.

I've completed FS1/FS2. Are there any other missions I can play?

FS2 never had any official add-ons. FS1 had Silent Threat which is about as hard to find as the original FS1 (they are usually sold together in the US). Unfortunately Silent Threat is generally considered by most to be rather poorly done. However, [V] had the foresight to ship both FS1 & FS2 with the mission editor that they had used to make the games. Thanks to FRED we have a huge number of add on missions and even entire campaigns available for FreeSpace 1 and 2. Due to the ease of use of FRED some of these missions are as good as if not better than the official ones that came with both games. You can find most of these campaigns by having a look through Skippy's FS2 Campaigns list My personal recommendation from the list is Homesick although many prefer Derelict to it. Obviously only the ones with a demo or release available are playable. The rest are there so you can salivate about upcoming campaigns. One of the best sites to get single missions was the Volition Watch Archives. Sadly VW has closed its doors. Although the archives are up at the time of writing they may be down or have moved by the time you click on the link. If multiplayer is your bag you can get tons of new missions from FRED zone. If you play multiplayer a lot it is worth picking them up from here in one go rather than waiting for them to xfer when you play online as this way you won't keep everyone waiting while the mission downloads for you.(In fact it's a good idea to do this even if you don't play much. The other players will be much happier if you show this courtesy before you go online).

Where can I find other people who like FreeSpace?

There are 3 main FreeSpace related sites at the moment.

Hard Light Productions (HLP) is the biggest site of them all, much bigger than the other two FreeSpace sites put together in fact. Originally started as a site dedicated to modding for FreeSpace HLP has evolved into the FreeSpace site. If you only join one forum it pretty much has to be HLP unless you're really attracted to one of the campaigns on the other sites. Because it's the biggest site HLP tends to be the best place to ask technical questions as it's more likely that someone there will know the answer. HLP is the location of the FreeSpace Wiki, the communities knowledge base and also hosts the SCP (basically making it the place to go to with FS2_Open questions). (It's also the best place to find me to tell me to update the FAQ\fix errors or just give me some feedback).

SectorGame on the other hand is a lot more relaxed than HLP. Since it has a much smaller user base than HLP SectorGame has more of a members club feeling than HLP as the people on the board tend to know each other quite well. That said everyone is generally quite welcoming to new people. One good thing about SectorGame is that everyone on the board tends to have a fair bit of knowledge about FS2 as most of the members have been in the community for years.

Game Warden is the newest of the big 3. Although only a few months old at the time of writing GW has already attracted a fairly large number of hosted campaigns. Game Warden is something of a total conversions board as quite a large percentage of the projects hosted there are not based in the FreeSpace universe. Mods like the StarGate, StarFox and BattleStar Galactica 2003 mod have their homes on Game Warden which means that it has a larger percentage of people on it who don't know the FreeSpace universe as well. There are several FreeSpace universe campaigns based there too though.

I love the music. How can I listen to it outside of the game?

One way is to download VPView and search through the .vp files yourself. That way you can listen to and extract any files you like. There are cleaned up versions of some of the tracks on FreeSpace Watch and HLP

I want to make my own missions and my own ships. Can I do that?

The FRED Questions Section of the FAQ should give you all the information you need to get started making your own missions. The modding section covers new weapons, ships and effects.

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