Absolute idiot's guide to getting FS2 SCP for Windows to work in ten easy steps.

Step One: If you don't have FS2, get it. Freespace Zone has it, all three disks, in RAR format. If you already have it, you can skip this step.

Step Two:Download WinRAR to open the .RAR file.

Step Three: Install Freespace 2 to any directory you choose.

Step Four: Download the Freespace Open Launcher. Use WinRAR to extract it to the FS2 ROOT directory. (Example: C:\Freespace 2)

Step Five: Download the Freespace Open exe. Use WinRAR to extract all the files to the FS2 ROOT directory. (Example: C:\Freespace 2). You will not need fred2_open_3_6_9_debug.exe, or fs2_open_3_6_9_debug.exe. They are useful for diagnosing problems, however. You will need fred2_open_3_6_9.exe and fs2_open_3_6_9.exe, however.
Bear with me on this one folks: the SCP exes are constantly being updated. At the time of this writing, that exe is the most recent. When the next major release comes along, this tutorial will be updated.

Step Six: Download OpenAl. Double click and install it.


Step Seven: Download the media VPs; (they make your game prettier):
Media VP mega pack.
ADV Effects VP patch.
Effects Patch.
Models Patch
Go to your Freespace 2 directory. Right click anywhere where there is not an icon and select "New". Go to "Folder" and click. A new folder will be created - type in "Media VPs" and click somewhere else. Then, use WinRAR to extract ALL OF THE ABOVE FILES to this folder.


Step Eight: Configuring your Launcher. Go to the directory that you installed Freespace 2 in (example: C:\Freespace 2). Double click on "Launcher.exe". Go to Browse at the top right and select it. If you are not already in your Freespace 2 director y (you should be), find it. Then double click on "fs2_open_3_6_9.exe". Then, right below that, go to the "MOD" tab. Click it. Go to "Select Mod". Double click on the folder that says "Media VPs". Select OK.

Step Nine: Set up your graphics options. Go to the "Features" tab. Under "List Type", make sure it says "Graphics". For a moderate to good computer, check off:

- Enable Specular
- Enable Glowmaps
- Enable jpg, tga textures.

Browse through the other options if you want, but those are the only minimums for FS2 Open to run.

Step Ten: Click "Apply" on the bottom right corner of the Launcher, then click "Run" on the bottom left. Have fun!

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Useful Links:

Karajorma's FAQ.
How to get multiplayer working.

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I will be adding a little more to this tutorial shortly. Hope it helps and is simple enough

yay, someone finally types a scp tutorial up here!

stickied

i will link my multiplayer FAQ to this as well

the tut works great!

Will post one about Linux. Because of my negative luck scores with it thus far

great tut but it should be mediavps folder instead of media VPs for mods compatibility

Other places to download FS2 if that one is down:

Swantz:

http://www.nukelol.com/fs/fs2disc1.rar
http://www.nukelol.com/fs/fs2disc2.rar
http://www.nukelol.com/fs/fs2disc3.rar

Game Warden:

http://www.game-warden.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2610

Just found out about the SCP yesterday, and I'm trying to pretty-ify my favorite game even more. The only thing I'm having problems with are the vps. i put them in the folder "mediavps." when i try to load them up in the launcher, it says the pathname cannot contain any spaces (full path is c:/program files/freespace 2/mediavps). is there any way to get around this without removing everything and re-installing in a new dir?

thanks all

Your problem is simply the space in the 'program files'... What build are you using?

You could try these builds (369RC7.9) and the included launcher.

how do you get an x52 to work with freespace?

What is the problem with it? Atleast mine X45 works nicely without any probs

The game will not recognize the throttle side of the x52 nothing I set up over there works in game

Nothing?

This is a bit over due, but where might I find Turey's installer?

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html

That's the FS2_Open installer.

thank's man

I have a question regarding SCP? During the second mission, when I'm near the rebel asteroid base, my game always crashes. First it freezes, I can't do anything and than it automatically goes back to windows saying there was an error in Freespace 2 and that is the reason it shuts down.
Can anyone help me out here?
thanks

Run the debug build and post the fs_open.log you'll find in your data folder.

How do I do that?

You'll find the debug build in the same folder as the rest of the game. Simply click on the fs2_open_3_6_9_debug.exe file.

Well I don't know what I'm looking for. I do know that even without the SCP installed, the game still crashes and gives all sorts of errors when I want to start the campaign.
One of the things that the log says is that compression support is not enabled.
Even with the open launcher I still get many errors. How can I fix it? It's frustrating to download a game that crashes alot and gives many errors. I don't have the cd-roms of it, because I can't buy the game here in Europe. So I don't feel like download it again, causing my download to exceed its monthly limit.