Hi everyone. Sorry for the particularly random question, but I was wondering if I might be able to garner a few opinions from people more experienced with this game.
I've never played Freespace 2, but I gather I've missed something big by doing so. Recently, too, I've become a but interested in getting a VT controller (The monster thing designed for the original XBox game Steel Battalion) working on my PC. The instructions and drivers are out there, and it seems better than letting the massive thing collect dust.
My questions are as such: 1.) Is is okay to just jump into Freespace 2 without playing Freespace 1? Will I be lost in terms of plot?
2.) I'm a tad overwhelmed by the sheer number of mods and alternate installation instructions. Are these FreeSpaceOpen projects better for compatibility on modern machines? Which addons and mods are considered 'essential', or is it better to just install as GOG distributes?
3.) On the off chance that anyone has gone through this, has anyone used the VT controller with FreeSpace, and if so can you provide any advice on the matter of getting it all running?
Thanks!

Some key events of FS1 are explained in FS2, but you'd get more out of it if you played FS1 first. This coming from a person who played FS2 first.
Don't mean to brag or anything, but my installation instructions ( http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,47640.0.html ) are always up to date and will get the job done without any unnecessary hassle. Key components are also explained briefly so that you know what you're actually downloading.
Mod installation with FS2 is a bit dumb and requires extra work. If you go with FSO, mod installation is much easier, if you follow the few basic guidelines.
People with decent (roughly 2004 or newer) computers usually get the MediaVPs without any further discussion. MediaVPs are .vp files (the non-compressed archive format used by FreeSpace) that contain highly upgraded models, textures, effects and music tracks. They'll make the game look like it was released last year or even after that.
Haven't used it myself (or any joysticks/controllers for that matter), but generally FreeSpace Open has better controller support, so if you're going to try it, try it with FSO.

building on what jeff said...
most people who've had joystick/controller issues on these forums had them solved after installing FSO.
FS1 isn't required for FS2, it'll be fairly easy to know what's going on, but its helpful for story and also great to see the progression of tech and ships from game 1 to 2.
as for FSO in general, it usually helps with compatibility issues, makes mods much easier to install, and upgrades graphics, the base install of FSO will basically just make hte game look better without touching any gameplay, so I think its nearly mandatory for a normal gamer.

Note that you can only use the Steel Battalion controller with XP; as far as I know no driver exists for Vista/7 yet.
FS2/FSO won't necessarily detect all the buttons and axes correctly, so you might need to use or [url=http://xpadder.com]Xpadder to bind keyboard and mouse inputs to the controller.

Thanks for the input, everyone! It looks like FreeSpace open is worth the effort to get installed, and with the provided guide, it looks like that won't be very difficult. Thanks for the links.
And thanks for the heads up about Vista/Win7 issue with the VT controller. Fortunately I'm on XP, but maybe I won't be in a rush to upgrade now.

Coincidentally, I just bought a VT controller with exactly this (and Mechwarrior) in mind. It works pretty well. Just use the config files from this webpage: http://vt.beckament.net/