I've owned the first FreeSpace game on GoG for years, but I've never been able to get back into it for some reason. I spend a lot of time trying to set up the controls, go through the training missions, and then just kind of wander off. FreeSpace Open has been on my radar for a while. I finally decided to buy FreeSpace 2 and try FSO out, and so far I've been really happy.

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Some details...

I own both FreeSpace and FreeSpace 2 on GoG (and FreeSpace on disc).

FreeSpace Open is an open source project that has been improving the FreeSpace 2 game engine for years. It supports total conversion mods, but for FreeSpace related material it requires a legal copy of FreeSpace 2.

Knossos.NET is an excellent launcher tool for installing FSO and mods for it.

The FreeSpace Port mod makes the first FreeSpace game playable in FSO. The FreeSpace Port MediaVPs provide some nice visual upgrades.

Custom Controls:
Pitch/Yaw - Elecom Huge Trackball
Bank left/right - A/D
Forward/Reverse thrust - W/S
Afterburner - Space
Full stop / Max throttle - X/Shift+X
Match Speed - B
Toggle Auto Speed - G
Primary and secondary weapon fire - left and right click
Cycle Primary Weapon / Change fire rate - F/Shift+F
Cycle Secondary Weapon / Change fire rate - V/Shift+V
Countermeasures - C
Cycle Target / Nearest Hostile / Auto target toggle - E/R/T
Cycle Subsystem Target / Stop Targeting Subsystems - Q/Z
Equalize shields - Tab
Open Comms - Left Ctrl