nice to see this up and stickied in these forums :)

Just wanted to say thanks for this -- I own Freespace 1 and 2 on disks and could not get them to work on windows 7 64 bit. I brought both from GOG and they work fine. :) But then I found this link and used the Noob friendly install guide at http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=61606.0 -- Now the game runs in 1920*1080 and the models look amazing. -- I can't get my acceleration to bind to my joystick - other than that i'm having a blast. I see to remember having some problems with the acceleration binding to the joystick acceleration lever when i first played Freespace 2 years ago. As an ADDED BONUS - you can use FS2 open to play Freespace 1 and it's expansion in the much more eye candy FS2 engine Plus a couple of user made campaigns. Buy FS1 on GOG to keep it all legal and enjoy!

I've seen this recently, but what does it even change about the game?

If I have GOG's version of Freespace 2 already running, what do I get on top of that by installing Freespace 2 Open?

much, much better graphics, sound, and lighting

better compatibility with modern OSs and input devices

mods - including FSport which ports FS1 to the FSO engine

you can also choose to play with the older game assets for the classic look in the new engine

Oh.

Well, I guess I'm not interested in any of that, because my gamepad already works with FS2 on my machine.

There are also total conversion mods - like BSG and Wing Commander games that work in the FSO and offer something different from Freespace-stlye combat if that's what you're looking for.