FreeSpace 2

Descent
Descent	1995
Descent II	1996
Descent 3	1999
Descent (cancelled) renamed to S.T.F.U (Ships That Fight Underground)	April 2024

Key points

FS2Open is a modern source port for Windows, OS X and Linux.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Source Code and Modding Community

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Oversized DRM
GOG.com
Steam

All versions of the game can be played on OS X and Linux using FS2Open.

The original demo (an additional level not included in the final game) is freely available here.

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest retail patch is v1.02; digital distribution versions already include this.

Ports

Unofficial Linux port

An unofficial port of Freespace 2 is available here. The installer and the source code of the port itself is available. Keep in mind that the installer is not compatible with GOTY/Sim and non-English version.

FS2Open open source port

FS2Open is an open source port for Windows, OS X and Linux. Aside from bug fixes and optimizations, it includes improved graphical capabilities, and deeper mod support using new functions, support for the Lua scripting language, and the Knossos Launcher for mod management. It has also resulted in 8 standalone games made so far.

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/273620/pfx/^{[Note 1]}

This game does not follow the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\data\players^{[Note 2]}
macOS (OS X)	<path-to-game>/data/players
Linux	<path-to-game>/data/players
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/273620/pfx/^{[Note 1]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

Launcher video settings.

In-game detail settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Use FS2Open.
Multi-monitor		Use FS2Open.
Ultra-widescreen		Use FS2Open.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)	`-fov` flag in the Community launcher command line (format: `-fov #.##`). Community recommendations are for a value of `0.39`.^[2]
Windowed	Under Dev Tools in FSO Community Launcher.
Borderless fullscreen windowed	Run in fullscreen window under Dev Tools in FSO Community Launcher.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	FXAA option available in the FSO Community Launcher.
Vertical sync (Vsync)	The Vertical Sync option in the launcher under Game Speed.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS	Will need to disable VSync and perhaps enable Don't limit frames-per-second in the launcher under Game Speed. Then FPS will be completely unlimited.^{[citation needed]}

Launcher detail settings.
In-game HUD settings.

Launch problems

If you're not using Freespace Open and the game only appears in a part of your screen, that means that your desktop resolution is too high. Set your desktop resolution to something like 1920x1080 and launch the game again. 4k is too high.

Input

Launcher joystick settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Fully Re-bindable under the ingame options menu
Mouse acceleration		Unmodded Mouse is best use for precision work as it lacks the movement range for big changes in direction.^{[citation needed]}
Mouse sensitivity		Controls sensitivity in-game and not in menus
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Optimised for Joystick as number of Axis support is limited, community fix for this using SDL is being developed but still under testing.^{[citation needed]}
Full controller support
Controller remapping		In-game options menu alongside key bindings
Controller sensitivity		Joystick sensitivity and deadzone settings
Controller Y-axis inversion		Every axis can be inverted in the in-game menu

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Reference card.

Audio

Launcher audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Effects, Music, Voice. On/off toggle for Briefing Voice.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		Community Launcher option under Basic Settings.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English				Included in Steam and GOG
Polish				Included in Steam and GOG
German				Retail only, but can be added to digital version via this download or with Freespace Open (Freiraum).

Many further fan translations via Freespace Open.

Network

Launcher network settings.

In-game multiplayer settings.

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Notes
LAN play
Online play

VR support

Devices	State	Notes
TrackIR		Use FS2Open.^[3]

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D
DirectDraw
Glide

Executable	PPC	32-bit	64-bit	ARM	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux					^[4]

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	95
Processor (CPU)	200 MHz
System memory (RAM)	32 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	400 MB
Video card (GPU)	3D accelerated graphics card 4 MB of VRAM DirectX 3.0 compatible

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (273620) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.
↑ When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

References

↑ All of our games run on our own engine that we developed in-house? - Twitter - last accessed on 2015-05-05
↑ http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Command-Line_Reference#-fov
↑ TrackIR and Freespace II - MediaVPs 3.6.12
↑ Debian -- Details of package freespace2-launcher-wxlauncher in buster - last accessed on 2020-12-17

[Proton_path_note-2] 1.0 ^1.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
The app ID (273620) may differ in some cases.
Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[2] File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.

[3] Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.

[4] The app ID (273620) may differ in some cases.

[5] Treat backslashes as forward slashes.

[6] See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[gamedir-3] When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[1] All of our games run on our own engine that we developed in-house? - Twitter - last accessed on 2015-05-05

[4] ttp://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Command-Line_Reference#-fov

[5] TrackIR and Freespace II - MediaVPs 3.6.12

[6] Debian -- Details of package freespace2-launcher-wxlauncher in buster - last accessed on 2020-12-17

[1]

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Developers

	Volition
Linux	Ryan C. Gordon
Publishers
	Interplay Entertainment
Engines
	CTG^[1]
Release dates
Windows	October 1, 1999
Linux	September 16, 2012
macOS (OS X)	October 18, 2012
Taxonomy
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person, Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS, Shooter, Vehicle combat
Vehicles	Space flight
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Sci-fi, Space
Series	Descent