After a longer than expected release candidate stage, 24.2.0 is out. Plenty of upgrades, bugfixes, and enhancements can be found in the changelog. Take a look at the 24.2.0 thread.

This point release includes one bugfix from the 24.0.1 release. Check it out at the 24.0.2 thread.

Several important bugfixes in this point release. Check it out at the 24.0.1 thread.

Lots of goodies in this one, from new features to stability improvements to VR support! Check it out at the 24.0.0 thread.

This is the SCP's first point release, a bugfix-only update to 23.2.0. 23.2.1 Final is live.See the thread for more details.

Big changes with MSAA, SCPUI and Localized Volumetric Nebulae! 23.2.0 Final is live. See the thread for more details.

Happy Valentines! 23.0.0 Final is live. See the thread for more details.

Added SEXP Containers and LuaAI! 22.2.0 Final is live. See the thread for more details.

Bug fixing is no joke! 22.0.0 Final is live. See the thread for more details.

Harvest time! 21.4.0 Final is live. See the thread for more details.

First attempt at a quarterly release! 21.2.0 Final is live. See the thread for more details.

Another year, another release! 21.0.0 Final is live. See the thread for more details.

It's finally here! The year based scheme now replaces the major and minor revision scheme. 19.0.0 Final is live. See the thread for more details.

Happy CB Day! (Ten-Four good buddy) 3.8.0 Final is live. This is also known as the SDL2-everywhere release. Major feature breakdown in the thread.

Happy Independence Day! 3.7.4 Final is now released. Many bugs have been fixed. See the thread for more details.

After Nvidia threw us a curve ball with their drivers, 3.7.2 Final is now released. I hope it was worth the wait, many of the serious issues with the new pilot file system have been fixed as well as some other new features, for players and modders alike.

After a long wait, the new, completely rewritten and overhauled FSO Installer is now released! This marks the return of the one-stop solution for installing FSO, the MediaVPs, and all your favorite mods. No more need for fussing around with manual installations!

We're starting to ramp up for the 3.7.2 release, and the first step we've posted the first release candidate for 3.7.2.

Can it be? We've really released 3.7.0 Final! Now we'll be able to get past our code freeze and start stabilizing some of the other really cool features we've all been waiting for. Enjoy your new pilot file system!

Quite a few significant bugs have been squashed since RC1, so it's now time for 3.7.0 RC2! Should be slightly less likely to eat pilot files.

We've finally managed to merge in and stabilize the new pilot code from its testing run to the point that we feel it's ready for the RC phase. It might still eat pilots, but we think we've got most of the kinks worked out. Still, you've been warned. Please test! 3.7.0 RC1

After spotting a nasty damage scaling bug in 3.6.16, we postponed our plans to merge in the new pilot code to release one more stable release. I present to you 3.6.18 final! Several other bugs have been fixed since 3.6.16's release as well, the SVN log since then is included at the bottom of the release post.

As hoped, I can now present to you FSOpen 3.6.16 final after only a few short months from 3.6.14. This build is the result of some serious bugsquashing by the team. The Mantis unresolved issue list has been reduced by 2/3. The next few months will see us merging the new pilot code into trunk, stabilizing that, and also adding in some other new goodies.

After a much too lengthy RC phase, 3.6.14 is finally available. We're working to release a follow-up stable release in a much shorter timeframe. The downside is it won't likely have the new pilot code, but the upside is that it should be Diaspora-compatible and out soon.

We've entered in to the 3.6.14 Release Candidate phase. This means we need bug finders to test the latest released RC listed in the SCP forum and report bugs on Mantis, which I've recently updated.

So I flip open my new PC Gamer today, jumping from section to section like I always do, turn to the Reinstall article and see FreeSpace 2 staring me in the face. *glee* Not only that, but it's written by my all-time favorite PC Gamer columnist, sim afficionado Andy Mahood! It got even better when he had nothing but good things to say about our beloved FreeSpace 2, and also the efforts put into it by the modding community over the last decade to keep it fresh and enjoyable.

Granted, I had no heads up this was going out until it hit my mailbox, so all I can say for now is, "excuse me, sorry the house is such a mess." :) Seriously though, we have had some hosting issues recently and we'll be doing our best to keep the FSO Installer running as the preferred installation method.

So, as of revision 6627, many users can expect to be seeing their framerates nearly double across the board. This is thanks to a recent overhaul of some code bottlenecks by Taylor. There's still plenty of room for performance boosts in the code though, and we'll be attempting to hunt down and perform more optimizations on existing code bottlenecks like this in the future. The nightly builds have had this code in them for a little over a week now. Recent Nightly Builds have these optimizations in place.

Also, Swifty's HUD code is now undergoing testing in the Antipodes branch (our proving ground for large code changes before they hit trunk). Check out the Test Builds forum for the Antipodes 7 post.

There have also been several releases and re-releases of campaigns and mods, check the HLP site announcements for more info.

I thought I'd take a second to list out a few of the major features currently coming down the pipe (as in, the bulk of the code is already written and pending review).

First up, probably the most anticipated code in the last five years, is taylor's pilot file rewrite. It's 95% complete, just cleaning some things up, and will not only stabilize the pilot file and campaign system, but also allow removal of many hardcoded limits throughout the engine. It will also allow things like new key binds, so mods can start having in-engine support for completely new player controlled behaviors.

Next up is Swifty's HUD rewrite. He has managed to turn the HUD code inside out, allowing full customization of almost any gauge, creation of new gauges, proper aspect correction for widescreen monitors, custom gauge placement, colors, etc, you name it you'll probably be able to do it.

The wxLauncher is a new launcher, designed to be cross-platform capable from day one, and just as capable as the current windows launcher with its first major releaese. Future improvements over the current launcher include FRED launching, and better OpenAL and other dependency handling. For version 2.0, the launcher will be morphed into a full installer and platform management system, capable of installing any number of mods, total conversions, and engine builds, as well as verifying dependencies across these various releases.

Of niche interest is haptic (force feedback) support for the *nix platforms (Linux and OS X). Taylor seems to have figured out how to get the haptic support in SDL 1.3 backported to the 1.2 we are currently using, and also set up the FSO code to utilize it. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of testers yet, but if you are interested in testing this and need a build, please contact me.

For any new comers to the FSO scene, what this means is that now you can play a whole bevy of campaigns and addons that will look as good as they possibly can.

Once you have FreeSpace 2 and the 3.6.12 builds below installed, I'd grab the new 3.6.12 MediaVPs. Then I'd install the FreeSpace Port 3.2, and its FSO enhancement files. Be sure to grab the remake of the Silent Threat campaign, Silent Threat: Reborn, and give that a go after playing FreeSpace Port.

The next stop in the FreeSpace timeline I'd recommend is to play the retail campaign with the new MediaVPs. When you're done with that, you're in for a real treat.

Many non-canon campaigns have been set in the FS2 universe and are worth playing, but the one that most recently stands out is Blue Planet: Age of Aquarius - Director's Cut, and its newly released sequel, Blue Planet: War in Heaven Part 1. These five campaigns comprise some of the best gaming goodness FSO has to offer.

More campaigns will be tested for 3.6.12 compatibility and fixed as necessary, thanks in part to the FreeSpace Campaign Restoration Project. It's likely many are not in need of any changes to be played with 3.6.12 and the new MediaVPs, save for a tweak to their mod.ini. One of my personal favorites is Transcend.

Be sure to check the recent HLP Highlights forum for the most recently released campaigns, like Vassago's Dirge. Be on the lookup for the next releases of campaigns like the Terran Vasudan War Project, and the next version of FSPort which will include a fully playable Operation Templar!

2010/08/19 edited to link to recently released FSPort 3.2

After a year of development, the next version of the SCP-developed engine, 3.6.12, has been released! Updated 3.6.12 MediaVPs will be right around the corner, so grab it now!

I'd also like to use this space to publicly announce a leadership change. Made official on June 22, I will be heading SCP development, taking some of the administrative load off of Goober5000. One of my primary goals is speeding up release times, so hopefully the next stable iteration of the engine will be far less than a year away (we already made a 66% improvement with this release over 3.6.10!).

This page isn't updated nearly as often as it should be (I shall have to have a word with our alleged web maintainers...) but this certainly warrants it. There's a very nice article on the gaming blog Rock, Paper, Shotgun which favorably compares FreeSpace 2 under the FreeSpace Open engine with StarCraft 2, another great game from the same time period. Word has it that a dedicated FreeSpace article will soon be on the way. Thanks to HLP member General Battuta for the exposure!

The latest version of FreeSpace Open, 3.6.10, has been released by the Source Code Project. Along with the 3.6.10 MediaVPs, it enhances FreeSpace to provide you with the best experience yet. Check it out!

Welcome to the new page for the source code project! It's been awhile since we've had a website rather than a links page. Many thanks to Pyro MX, who came up with the site design for the new website.

For those of you just joining us via Google, here's a brief introduction. The Source Code Project was started in 2002, when Volition released the source code to the game known as "FreeSpace 2". This virtually unknown game consistently won awards for being a great action space sim, but never really caught on when it was released. The Source Code Project has worked, and continues to work, on improving the graphics and gameplay of this ten-year-old game. See the screenshots page; I think they pretty much speak for themselves

Some of the larger projects in the FreeSpace community are The Babylon Project, Beyond the Red Line (a Battlestar Galactica mod), and Wing Commander Saga. There's also a number of campaigns both for these mods and the original game's storyline.

Finally, the forums tend to be the most active part of the project. So if you don't see any newsposts for awhile, check out the forums and skim some of the recent threads or recent builds to get a feel of what's going on.