Portal:FRED
| The FRED Portal |
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| Learning FRED |
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| 5 Easy Steps |
| FRED Hints and Tips |
| Common FRED Mistakes |
| FRED Examples |
| SEXPs |
| Retail SEXPs |
| SCP SEXPs |
| New FRED Features |
| Skybox |
| Texture Replacement |
| Command Line Options |
| Persistent Variables |
| Improved Team Loadout |
| List of Minor Features |
| Tutorial - Autopilot missions |
| Mission Designer's Reference |
| Nebula Backgrounds |
| Friendly Wing Names |
| Enemy Wing Names |
| FreeSpace 1 Ship Database |
| FreeSpace 2 Ship Database |
| Fighter squadrons |
| Stars and Planets |
| Nodemap |
| FRED Troubleshooting |
| Common Issues FAQ |
Welcome to the FRED portal. Here you will find tips, guides, links, reference material and other information regarding the FreeSpace Editor as well as mission design in general. What you will not find here is information on modding FreeSpace, for that please see the Modding Portal.
The Editor
FRED (main window pictured left) is the editor used by Volition themselves to make the missions and campaigns of both FreeSpace games, and as such is very powerful once the initial learning period is over. Unlike what is often seen for released editors, it's capabilities are not in any way reduced.
As such, it is a fully 3D editor allowing placement of objects along both the x, y and z axis, has full SEXP (Symbolic Expression) support for scripting mission events, allows voicing of both briefings and mission messages, can create both subspace and nebula missions, contains a full fledged campaign editor including the ability to add cutscenes, and much much more.
Versions
There are actually 3 main versions of this editor: FRED, which was the original editor supplied with Descent: FreeSpace - The Great War and is large obsolete by now, FRED2, which was the updated editor supplied with FreeSpace 2, and finally FRED_Open, which is the SCP version of the editor and the only one to support the many additions and improvements made since the source code of FreeSpace 2 was released.
The information found on these pages refers primarily to FRED_Open, as it is the most recent version and the only one continually updated with support for new features, but some reference material is available for legacy FRED2. And of course, the general continuity material in the "Mission Designers's Reference" section is valid for all versions of the editor.
By far the best way to become familiar with FRED2, and by association FRED_Open which is based on it, is to run through the FRED walkthrough. This is provided with retail FreeSpace 2 and covers everything needed to design a working mission, but it may not be easily available to those who have started with FS_Open without ever owning the retail game. To alleviate this problem, a link to an online version of it is provided below for those who need it, but it does not include the sample mission that came with the game. Other than that, look around these pages, especially in the "Learning FRED" section.
Also, keep in mind that FRED_Open is under constant development, and as such it can be easy to miss feature additions. Or it would be, if not for the running tally below, which is updated with every new improvement or addition made to FRED_Open.
| Most Recent FRED Additions | Edit | |
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SEXPs:
Features: | ||
